A 76-year old white married female had rapid onset dementia with myoclonus and was admitted to an HMO hospital where she was initially diagnosed as Alzheimer's disease. The physician-husband suggested that the condition might be due to the Pepto-Bismol which she had taken chronically to control her irritable bowel syndrome. An elevated serum bismuth level of 242 μg/L (normal is 5 υg/L) established bismuth toxicity as the cause of the dementia. With treatment the patient returned to a normal mental state. The possibility of bismuth encephalopathy needs to be considered in the differential diagnosis of possible Alzheimer's dementia.
CITATION STYLE
Summers, W. K. (1998). Bismuth toxicity masquerading as Alzheimer’s dementia. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 1(1), 57–59. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-1998-1104
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