scholarly journals Electroconvulsive therapy for severe depression, psychosis and chorea in a patient with Huntington's disease: case report and review of the literature

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Walied Mowafi ◽  
Jon Millard
Keyword(s):  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Electroconvulsive Therapy ◽  
Severe Depression ◽  
Good Control ◽  
Psychomotor Retardation ◽  
Pharmacological Therapy ◽  
Conflicting Evidence ◽  
Disease Case ◽  
Psychiatric Manifestations

Aims and method The psychiatric manifestations of Huntington's disease are myriad and difficult to control. The use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is not commonly considered for this condition. We describe a patient with severe depression, psychomotor retardation, delusions and weight loss who responded to ECT with good control of her symptoms. Results Both our case and the literature appear to confirm the efficacy of ECT in the treatment of depression in Huntington's disease and suggest that other psychiatric manifestations of Huntington's are also responsive. Clinical implications ECT is an effective and safe treatment that should be considered earlier in the course of the disease in cases that show limited response to pharmacological therapy. It should also be considered as an adjunct to medical therapy that may simplify polypharmacy and allow better control in patients with debilitating psychiatric manifestations of the disease. There is limited and conflicting evidence for its efficacy in chorea.

“organic Personality Disorder” as Part of Early Neuropsychiatric Manifestations in Huntington’s Disease - a Case Report

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
J. Maia
Keyword(s):  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Personality Change ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Autosomal Dominant Disorder ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Manifestations ◽  
Psychiatric Manifestations

Huntington's Disease (HD) is an inherited autosomal dominant disorder characterized by motor, cognitive and psychiatric symptomatology, being considered a paradigmatic neuropsychiatric disorder that includes all three components of the "Triadic Syndromes": dyskinesia, dementia and depression.Firstly described in 1872 as an "Hereditary Chorea" by George Huntington only in 1993 was its responsible gene identified. A person who inherits the HD gene will sooner or later develop the disease. the age of onset, early signs and rate of disease progression vary greatly from person to person.Neuropsychiatric symptoms are an integral part of HD and have been considered the earliest markers of the disease, presenting sometimes more than 10 years before a formal diagnosis is done. Patients may experience dysphoria, mood swings, agitation, irritability, hostile outbursts, psychotic symptoms and deep bouts of depression with suicidal ideation. Personality change is reported in 48% of the cases, with the paranoid subtype being described as the most prevalent. the clinical case presented illustrates a case of HD which started with insidious psychiatric symptoms and an important personality change.Despite a wide number of medications being prescribed to help control emotional, movement and behaviour problems, there is still no treatment to stop or reverse the course of the disease. Furthermore, psychiatric manifestations are often amenable to treatment, and relief of these symptoms may provide significant improvement in patient's and caregivers quality of life.A greater awarness of psychiatric manifestations of HD is essential to an earlier diagnosis and an optimized therapeutic approach.

scholarly journals Worsening of movement disorder following treatment with electroconvulsive therapy in a patient with Huntington’s disease

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. e230389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hesitha Abeysundera ◽  
Allan Campbell ◽  
Shanthi Sarma
Keyword(s):  
Case Report ◽  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Movement Disorder ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Electroconvulsive Therapy ◽  
Movement Disorders ◽  
Treatment Resistant Depression ◽  
Treatment Resistant ◽  
Medical Practitioners ◽  
Resistant Depression

This paper describes a patient who presented with treatment-resistant depression with comorbid anxiety symptoms in the context of Huntington’s disease (HD) and developed worsening movement disorder symptoms after commencing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for depression. The aim of this case report is to provide medical practitioners with a greater awareness of the possibility of worsening movement disorders when using ECT for depression in a patient with HD.

scholarly journals Modified electroconvulsive therapy for the treatment of refractory schizophrenia-like psychosis associated with Huntington’s disease

2012 ◽  
Vol 260 (1) ◽  
pp. 312-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi Nakano ◽  
Shinji Ono ◽  
Junji Yamaguchi ◽  
Ryu Sugimoto ◽  
Naohiro Yamaguchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Electroconvulsive Therapy ◽  
Modified Electroconvulsive Therapy

Deep rTMS for Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Huntington's Disease: Case Report

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 960-961 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Davis ◽  
Angela Phillips ◽  
Aron Tendler ◽  
Angela Oberdeck
Keyword(s):  
Case Report ◽  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Disease Case

scholarly journals Functional and motor response to low dose olanzapine in huntington's disease: case report

2004 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 1092-1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerson Laks ◽  
Marlos Rocha ◽  
Claudia Capitão ◽  
Romeu Côrtes Domingues ◽  
Giovanna Ladeia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Motor Response ◽  
Low Dose ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Behavioral Impairment ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Disease Case ◽  
Disease Rating

Previous reports on the use of olanzapine in Huntington's disease (HD) used doses ranging from 10-30 mg. We report a case of HD with marked delusions and behavioral impairment assessed by the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale at baseline and four months later treated with a low dose of olanzapine. The patient improved in motor, psychiatric and activity of daily living symptoms after four months of treatment. The response to a low dose of olanzapine in HD may be an indicator of efficacy in similar cases. Further randomized controlled trials can properly assess these findings.

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