Acute psychosis and Behأ§et's disease: a case report
Author: Nkam I, Cottereau MJ.
Source:
Encephale. 2006 May-Jun;32(3 Pt 1):385-8.
BACKGROUND: Behأ§et's disease is a multisystem vasculitis of unknown origin. The
prevalence of the disease varies widely and is high in the Eastern Mediterranean
Basin, North Africa, Iran and Japan. Many clinical features of Behأ§et's disease
have been described and the international study group for Behأ§et's disease has
defined a set of diagnostic criteriThese require the presence of recurrent
oral ulcers plus two of the following: recurrent genital ulcerations, typical
defined eye lesions, typical defined skin lesions or a positive pathergy test (a
skin hypersensitivity reaction to a non-specific physical insult; when positive,
the response consists of a papule or pustule that develops after 24 to 48 hours
at the site of a needle prick to the skin). Although not included in these
diagnostic criteria, there are some other features commonly seen in patients with
Behأ§et's disease: thrombophlebitis, oligo-arthritis, gastrointestinal ulcerations
and neurological involvement. Neuro-Behأ§et is well described in Behأ§et's disease,
with variable prevalence rates between 5.3 and 35%. This prevalence is probably
affected by the type of study (retrospective or prospective) and regional and
ethnic variations in disease expression. Psychiatric symptoms usually occur as
incidental findings in some patients with neurological disease; they are
misdiagnosed and mistreated. CASE-REPORT: The patient described here developed
acute psychotic symptoms without parenchymal cerebral involvement, and negative
symptoms during Behأ§et's disease. Two hypotheses were evoked: schizophrenia
associated with Behأ§et's disease versus psychiatric syndrome induced by
vasculitis. Such a case has not been reported in the literature. We describe the
case of a 31-year-old Haitian female, admitted because of an acute psychosis. She
developed hallucination, misrecognition, psychomotor hyperactivity and delusion
about her million childbirths. The patient had three years history of mistreated
Behأ§et's disease, in particular recurrent oral ulcers, iritis and cardiovascular
manifestations. She also had a history of uterine tumour, rectal carcinoid tumour
and recurrent pleurisies. One year ago, she presented breast lymphangitis,
anxiety, unusual thought content, hostility, suspiciousness, and poor impulse
control: cranial computerised tomography scan was normal. After ten days of
hospitalization, she complained of oral and genital aphta and no neurological
sign was found. The cerebral angiographic magnetic resonance imaging showed a
thrombophlebitis of the left lateral sinus without parenchymal involvement.
Haloperidol, Heparin, Colchicine, Cyclophosphamide and Prednisone were
introduced. Six months after, delirium and Behأ§et's symptoms had disappeared with
the following treatment: Risperidone, Alprazolam, Zolpidem, Colchicine,
Prednisone, and Azathioprine. The patient has developed enduring negative
symptoms: blunted affect, social withdrawal, difficulty in abstract thinking,
lack of spontaneity and flow of conversation and poor rapport. They are still
present. This patient had two acute psychotic symptoms without parenchymal
pattern. After treatment, she had persistent negative symptoms and psychosocial
deterioration. This evolution is commonly seen in schizophreniDISCUSSION:
Retrospective analysis of this patient's course suggests that -psychiatric
episodes were always associated with physical manifestations. However,
pleurisies, lymphangitis, uterine and rectal tumours have never been described in
Behأ§et's disease. This vasculitis occurs less frequently in the Caribbean than in
Mediterranean, Middle East or Japan. It seemed that this patient had a psychotic
syndrome and a chronic relapsing multisystem disorder, more complex than Behأ§et's
disease. A prospective study would be useful to characterize psychiatric patterns
of Behأ§et's disease and establish their relationships with physical
manifestations, especia