Musical hallucination caused by ceftazidime in a woman with a hearing impairment

Abstract

Musical hallucinations remain a poorly understood clinical phenomenon, possibly because these types of hallucination have multiple causes and are rarely the focus of published reports. Here, the case of a 51-year-old female patient with a hearing impairment who developed musical hallucinations during treatment with ceftazidime, a third-generation cephalosporin, is presented. She responded to the discontinuation of ceftazidime and the initiation of low-dose olanzapine treatment. Musical hallucinations associated with ceftazidime are very rare, and the mechanisms underlying its occurrence remain unknown. Further studies will be necessary to determine the pathophysiology of adverse psychiatric reactions associated with ceftazidime.