A patient using methamphetamine may develop hyperammonemia and an encephalopathy.
Methamphetamine affects the central nervous system and can result in a range of neuropsychiatric changes including encephalopathy. It can also cause hyperammonemia by increasing catabolism of amino acids.
Hyperammonemia can cause an encephalopathy with headache, vomiting, ataxia, and neuropsychiatric change. Reduction in the serum ammonia is associated with an improvement in neurologic findings.
Differential diagnosis:
(1) cocaine-induced encephalitis
(2) hepatic encephalopathy
(3) infectious encephalitis
(4) toxic encephalitis from other cause
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