[Bipolar affective disorder and Ekbom syndrome: apropos of a case]

A delusion of parasitosis may be seen in patients with a variety of organic and psychiatric disorders. It may also be a primary delusion often referred to as the "Ekbom syndrome". The nosological categorization of this rare condition is still under debate. We report the case of a 81 year-old woman followed in our department during more than 20 years for a bipolar affective disorder. Five years ago she developed a persistent delusion of parasitosis displaying phenomenological characteristics that are typical of the Ekbom syndrome. Given the complete independence of the respective courses of affective and delusional symptoms, we concluded in favour of a genuine comorbid association between two independent disorders. To our knowledge this association has not heretofore been described in the French or English language literature. It raises questions regarding the connections between affective disorders and delusions of parasitoris.