Behavior Disturbance of Non-Psychiatric Etiology: A Clinical Case of Wilson’s Disease

Authors

  • David Teixeira Departamento de Psiquiatria e Saúde Mental, Centro Hospitalar Tondela-Viseu
  • Luís Isidoro Serviço de Neurologia, Centro Hospitalar Tondela-Viseu
  • João Machado Serviço de Medicina Interna, Centro Hospitalar Tondela-Viseu
  • Verónica Cabreira Serviço de Neurologia do Centro Hospitalário Universitário de São João
  • Sandra Borges Departamento de Neurociências e Saúde Mental, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25752/psi.20910

Keywords:

Wilson’s Disease, Metabolic Diseases, Neuropsychiatry, Therapeutics, Mental Health Stigma

Abstract

Introduction: Wilson’s disease, or hepatolenticular degeneration, is a rare genetic disease associated with copper metabolism, with autosomal recessive transmission. Recognized for its dramatic systemic and neurological effects, this disease has very relevant psychiatric symptoms which are often 
underestimated.

Objectives: To describe a neuropsychiatric clinical case of Wilson’s disease, summarizing the current scientific knowledge about 
neuropsychiatric pathology in this disease.

Methods: Presentation of a clinical case with a non-systematic literature review about neuropsychiatric symptoms in Wilson’s Disease.

Results: The authors present the case of a 19-year-old woman with an early manifestation of neuropsychiatric symptoms of Wilson’s disease, whose diagnosis and initiation of treatment were postponed due to the lack of recognition of this entity and the psychiatric stigma associated with behavioral alterations.

Conclusion: A comprehensive and multisystemic medical approach should always be carried out before making a psychiatric diagnosis.

Downloads

Published

2022-09-07

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 1&2 (2019)

Section

Case Reports

License

Articles are published under the license CC-BY-3.0 by Creative Commons, in full open-access, without any cost or fees of any kind to the author or the reader. In this scheme, the authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication, allowing the free sharing of work, provided it is correctly attributed the authorship and initial publication in this journal.  Readers and end-users are allowed to copy, use, distribute, transmit and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works, in any digital medium for any responsible purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship. The authors are permitted to take on additional contracts separately for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (eg, post it to an institutional repository or as a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to publish and distribute their work online (eg, in institutional repositories or on their website) as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as increase the impact and citation of published work.