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[Psychotic crisis symptomatic of an outbreak of multiple sclerosis]
J J Zarranz1, A R Antigüedad, J Bárcena
1Hospital de Cruces, Departamento de Neurociencias, Universidad del País Vasco.
Mental disorders (especially depression and dementia) are highly prevalent among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Schizophrenic-type psychosis has been reported only rarely most often in advanced cases and its possible pathophysiological and even causal relation to the demyelinating disease is disputed. We describe a woman with MS who experienced 2 episodes of acute psychosis after having had only one prior episode of focal neurological dysfunction. The coincidence of psychiatric symptoms and the appearance of new white matter lesions in both hemispheres was confirmed by CT and MRI during the second episode. We suggest that in this patient the psychotic symptoms do not depend on the strategic anatomical location of plates, but rather on the effect of nonspecific lesions in a patient previously predisposed to psychiatric disorder.
Mental disorders (especially depression and dementia) are highly prevalent among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Schizophrenic-type psychosis has been reported only rarely most often in advanced cases and its possible pathophysiological and even causal relation to the demyelinating disease is disputed. We describe a woman with MS who experienced 2 episodes of acute psychosis after having had only one prior episode of focal neurological dysfunction. The coincidence of psychiatric symptoms and the appearance of new white matter lesions in both hemispheres was confirmed by CT and MRI during the second episode. We suggest that in this patient the psychotic symptoms do not depend on the strategic anatomical location of plates, but rather on the effect of nonspecific lesions in a patient previously predisposed to psychiatric disorder.