MYELOGRAPHY with metrizamide (Amipaque) is an increasingly popular technique useful in the evaluation of radiculopathy. The most common neurologic side effects are headache, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness.1-3 More serious neuropsychiatric side effects reported include confusional states, hallucinations, sleep disturbances, agitation, and other signs of altered mental status.1-5 These changes have been reported as brief, lasting less than 48 hours, and benign in outcome.
We report a case, the first, to the best of our knowledge, in which the symptoms appearing after metrizamide myelography were severe and prolonged. A brief discussion of the etiology and treatment of these side effects follows the case presentation.
Report of a Case
A 56-year-old woman had a three-year history of low back and right leg pain precipitated by a minor injury. After an exacerbation of the pain that was not relieved by 14 days of bed rest, she was admitted to the hospital.