Abstract
An 81-year-old woman with akinetic mutism, following diarrhea, appetite loss, nausea and vomiting, was admitted to our hospital after she had taken Lithium carbonate 600 mg/day for 3 years. Because the blood lithium concentration was high (2.02 mEq/L, effective level; 0.06-0.12 mEq/L) in addition to the clinical symptoms, she was considered to have chronic lithium toxicosis and treatment was started. On the 6th day after admission she began to suffer from high fever of over 38°C and severe discomfort of the chest, twisiting the upper half of her body. Remarkable negative T wave appeared on ECG on the next day. It was considered to be the emergence of cardiomyopathy and heart failure during the withdrawal of the lithium toxicosis.
