A case of psychotic mood disorder in an AIDS patient

The following case is reported not because it is uncommon, but rather because cases like it will become more common as the AIDS endemic in sub-Saharan Africa progresses. This is a case of a young woman previously undiagnosed as being HIV positive who was admitted to a psychiatric unit. She clinically presented with a manic episode. The case is remarkable in that it demonstrates the complicated differential diagnosis that needs to be considered in evaluating immune-compromised patients who present primarily with disturbances of mood, cognition, or behaviour.