Kleptomania in patients with neuro-Behçet's disease

This study was conducted to characterize the prevalence and clinical features of kleptomania, an impulse control disorder, in patients with Behçet's disease involving the central nervous system.

Medical records of 350 patients with neuro-Behçet's disease were evaluated, and clinical and neuropsychological features of patients with kleptomania were noted.

Of the 350 neuro-Behçet's disease patients 6 (1.7%) had presented with symptoms that fulfilled the criteria of kleptomania according to the revised 4th version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The 6 patients (5 men, 1 woman) had parenchymal lesions and had developed kleptomania during remission. Magnetic resonance imaging done on the 6 patients before the onset of kleptomania mostly revealed brainstem lesions. Psychiatric assessment did not show any comorbid psychiatric disorders and neuropsychological evaluation showed executive dysfunction in all patients.

The 6 patients with kleptomania had developed a frontal lobe syndrome.