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Persistent delusional theme over 13 episodes of psychotic depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2013

Søren Dinesen Østergaard ,
Anne Katrine K. Leadholm  and
Anthony J. Rothschild
Søren Dinesen Østergaard*
Affiliation:
Unit for Psychiatric Research, Aalborg Psychiatric Hospital, Aalborg University hospital, Aalborg, Denmark Institute of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark Depression Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Anne Katrine K. Leadholm
Affiliation:
Copenhagen University Medical School, Copenhagen, Denmark
Anthony J. Rothschild
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts Medical School and UMass Memorial Health Care, Worcester, MA, USA
*
Søren Dinesen Østergaard, Unit for Psychiatric Research, Aalborg Psychiatric Hospital, Aalborg University Hospital, Mølleparkvej 10, DK-9000 Aalborg, Denmark. Tel: +45 61282753; Fax: +45 97643754; E-mail: sdo@rn.dk
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Abstract

Objective

Unipolar psychotic depression (PD) is a highly debilitating condition, which needs intense monitoring and treatment. Among patients with recurrent PD, delusions tend to be very similar or identical over several separate episodes during the course of illness, but case reports illustrating this clinical phenomenon in detail are lacking from the literature.

Methods

Case report describing the 45-year-old Ms. J, who has experienced multiple episodes of PD. The report is based on a review of her medical file.

Results

The delusional theme of Ms. J's initial episode of PD reappeared at several subsequent episodes. During the majority of admissions, Ms. J was treated with electroconvulsive therapy, which resulted in significant improvement in the depressive, psychotic and catatonic features.

Conclusion

Ms. J's case illustrates that PD can be a stable phenotype over many episodes and that it is important to recognise psychotic symptoms in order to prescribe the best possible treatment.

Keywords

affective disorderdelusionsdepressionpsychosis
Type
Case Report
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 25 , Issue 6 , December 2013 , pp. 370 - 373
Copyright
Copyright © Scandinavian College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2013 

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