Severe tardive dyskinesia induced by domperidone in presenile and non-dementia type 2 diabetes man with alcohol misuse showing albuminocytological dissociation and white matter hyperintensity.

Domperidone has difficulty passing the blood-brain barrier, thus rarely causes tardive dyskinesia. Furthermore, its symptoms in adults are generally mild. Although both alcohol and diabetes are thought to increase the risk of development of tardive dyskinesia, their impact remains controversial, especially diabetes, and factors related to worsened tardive dyskinesia have not been clearly elucidated. A 59-year-old man with type 2 diabetes and history of alcohol misuse, who had been chronically prescribed domperidone at 15 mg/day, showed severe tardive dyskinesia, which was remitted within several days by stopping the drug. In our case, albuminocytological dissociation and white matter hyperintensity on MRI were confirmed, which were thought to be related to blood-brain barrier dysfunction. This present findings indicate that alcohol misuse and type 2 diabetes, as well as albuminocytological dissociation and white matter hyperintensity may result in severe tardive dyskinesia, even in individuals receiving domperidone. © BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.