Treatment for Late-Onset Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder with Parkinsonism

Abstract

Dysfunction of the basal ganglia and frontal subcortical structures occurs in both obsessive-compulsive disorder and parkinsonism. Treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder with parkinsonism is a therapeutic challenge, especially in old age as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors may aggravate motor symptoms and worsen clinical conditions. The authors present a series of patients with late onset obsessive-compulsive disorder demonstrating improvement in obsessive-compulsive disorder as well as parkinsonian signs.

Is late-onset OCD a distinct phenotype? Findings from a comparative analysis of “age at onset” groups

“…Structural brain lesions involving the frontal regions and basal ganglia have been most commonly reported. 15,18 Neurological disorders in the elderly, such as dementia 19 and Parkinson's disease, 20 may also present with OC symptoms.…”