Association Between Creatine Kinase and Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome in Psychiatric Inpatients

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a rare but potentially fatal adverse reaction to medications used in the treatment of psychosis. It is associated with various clinical and laboratory abnormalities, but can be difficult to definitively diagnose. One blood marker that can be elevated is creatine kinase (CK), which is in some diagnostic criteria, however is felt by others to not be sufficiently specific or sensitive to diagnose or exclude NMS. Data exploring the use of CK as a diagnostic and/or prognostic marker in psychiatric inpatients (including those suspected of NMS) are lacking. To explore this topic, we intend to examine the outcomes in SLaM inpatients with an elevated CK on admission, and assess the clinical and diagnostic utility of this test.