Piracetam in a case of acute cerebral hypoxemia
A 57 years old patient was admitted to hospital with melancholia induced by Reserpine. He improved rapidly on Anafranil infusions. The neurological and internal conditions were normal on admission. Patient choked with food, became unconscious and obstruction of the air passages resulted in cyanosis, complete areflexia, no spontaneous breathing, no pulse, fecal and wrine losses. He was then admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. Four hours later the neurological picture was one of deep coma, with only the corneal reflex and extension cramps present. Within 72 hours both the clinical and the electroencephalographic neurological conditions improved when given Piracetam lg/hr, corticosteroids, diazepam, and Cedelanide. Clinically, when comparing the severity of the clinical and electroencephalographic pictures after the mishap and the rapid improvement that followed we feel that the effect of Piracetam cannot be quite foreign of that improvement.