Othello syndrome secondary to right cerebrovascular infarction

The Othello syndrome, or delusional jealousy, occurs in idiopathic psychoses and in neurodegenerative diseases, but has rarely been described in patients with cerebrovascular infarction. A patient was observed to exhibit the delusion shortly after cerebral ischemic injury in the absence of other psychiatric symptoms. The underlying pathology was consistent with recent reports on content-specific delusions, implicating right hemisphere and frontal lobe involvement in the misinterpretation and misidentification of complex information. Psychological factors were hypothesized to shape the content of the delusional misinterpretations.