A cholinergic crisis is an over-stimulation at a neuromuscular junction due to an excess of acetylcholine,
Signs and symptoms
As a result of cholinergic crisis, the muscles stop responding to the high synaptic levels of acetylcholine, leading to flaccid paralysis, respiratory failure, and other signs and symptoms reminiscent of organophosphate poisoning. Cholinergic crisis is sometimes known by the
mnemonic "SLUDGE syndrome" (salivation, lacrimation, urination, defecation, gastrointestinal distress, and emesis).
Some of the symptoms of increased cholinergic stimulation include:
Causes
Cholinergic crisis can be a consequence of:
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Contamination with – or excessive exposure to – certain chemicals including:
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Ingestion of certain poisonous fungi (particularly the muscarine-containing members of the genera Inocybe and Clitocybe).
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Taking too high a dose of medications such as cholinesterase inhibitors, in patients with myasthenia gravis
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Providing too high a dose of a cholinesterase inhibitor drug in order to reverse surgical muscle paralysis following general anaesthesia.
Nicotine poisoning can also be thought of as a subset of cholinergic crisis, as it also involves excessive parasympathetic stimulation.
Treatment
Some elements of the cholinergic crisis can be reversed with
antimuscarinic like
atropine or
diphenhydramine, but the most dangerous effect — respiratory depression - cannot.
The neuromuscular junction, where the brain communicates with muscles (like the diaphragm, the main breathing muscle), works by acetylcholine activating nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and leading to muscle contraction. Atropine only blocks muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (a different receptor class than the nicotinic receptors at the neuromuscular junction), so it will not improve the muscle strength and ability to breathe in someone with cholinergic crisis. Such a patient will require neuromuscular-blocking drugs and mechanical ventilation until the crisis resolves on its own.
See also
