Catatonia, beyond a psychiatric syndrome

ABSTRACT Although catatonia is a well-known psychiatric syndrome, there are many possible systemic and neurological etiologies. The aim of this case report was to present a case of a patient with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and infarction in which catatonia was the clinical manifestation of a possible nonconvulsive status epilepticus. To our knowledge, only one such case has been reported in the literature, which had a simplified diagnostic investigation. It is important to correctly recognize the organic cause underlying catatonia in order to treat the patient as soon as possible thereby improving outcome. Therefore, physicians need to update their knowledge on catatonia, recognizing that it can be part of a psychiatric or neurologic condition.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Figueiredo,Nathália Stela Visoná de, Angst,Débora Bartzen Moraes, Lima Neto,Antônio de Matos, Machado,Michel Ferreira, Rocha,Maria Sheila Guimarães, Brucki,Sônia Maria Dozzi
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Academia Brasileira de Neurologia, Departamento de Neurologia Cognitiva e Envelhecimento 2017
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1980-57642017000200209
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:ABSTRACT Although catatonia is a well-known psychiatric syndrome, there are many possible systemic and neurological etiologies. The aim of this case report was to present a case of a patient with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and infarction in which catatonia was the clinical manifestation of a possible nonconvulsive status epilepticus. To our knowledge, only one such case has been reported in the literature, which had a simplified diagnostic investigation. It is important to correctly recognize the organic cause underlying catatonia in order to treat the patient as soon as possible thereby improving outcome. Therefore, physicians need to update their knowledge on catatonia, recognizing that it can be part of a psychiatric or neurologic condition.