A Case of Schizophrenia Like Psychosis Due to Fahr's Disease

Abstract

Fahr's disease (FD) is a rare idiopathic degenerative neurological disorder, which can be present in different heterogeneous manifestations and characterized by bilateral symmetrical cerebral calcification. We present a case of a 55-year-old male who presented with the psychotic feature, bilateral tremors of hand and bilateral symmetrical calcification of basal ganglia. Hence our case suggests that psychiatrists should evaluate the cases of psychosis thoroughly when the age of presentation is atypical, and they should consider the diagnosis of FD when psychosis presents with motor abnormalities.

Fahr Syndrome followed for many years with the diagnosis of schizophrenia; A case report

“…Presently, current treatment approaches are for the control of symptoms that cause calcification. In the studies conducted on this subject, it was stated that the response to antipsychotics was variable, patients should be carefully monitored for the development of neuroleptic malign syndrome and especially atypical antipsychotics should be preferred in the treatment (11,14). The preference of clozapine treatment in our case is consistent with these results.…”

“…Psychiatric symptoms include cognitive, psychotic and mood disorders, especially at the onset of the syndrome (12). Paranoid and psychotic features are usually observed between the ages of 20 and 40 years (14). In our case, it is noteworthy that the delusions of persecution started at the age of 26 years, and in the following period, increased short memory abnormalities and movement disorders were added to the clinical course.…”

“…A female patient who was followed up with a diagnosis of schizophrenia in an outpatient clinic for many years and diagnosed with FS after hospitalization was included in this report. FS includes both neurological and psychiatric symptoms (13,14). Neurological symptoms include Parkinson-like movement disorder, vertigo, epilepsy, syncope, cerebellar ataxia and dementia (15).…”

SLC20A2-Associated Idiopathic Basal Ganglia Calcification-Related Recurrent Psychosis Response to Low-Dose Antipsychotics: A Case Report and Literature Review

“…A review reported mood disorders in IBGC had complex syndromes [11]; however, psychosis in IBGC is underrecognized and limited to some case reports ( Table 1). Most of the reported cases have a short observational period and are complicated with cognitive impairment or movement disorders [12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Only a few cases [19], including ours, have reported psychiatric symptoms alone.…”

Imaging and neuropsychological profile of four patients with Fahr’s disease.

“…Importantly, psychiatric symptoms such as psychosis, mood disorders, personality changes, anxiety and apathy are common (López-Villegas et al, 1996), and they were present at onset in several cases (Calabrò, Spadaro, Marra, & Bramanti, 2014;Gülsün, Baykiz, Kabatas ¸, & Belli, 2006). About 40% of patients with FD present initially with psychiatric features (Mohapatra & Satapathy, 2016) and may rapidly develop progressive behavioral abnormalities (Benke, Karner, Seppi, & Delazer, 2004). However, some patients can remain asymptomatic throughout life (Manyam et al, 1992).…”