Lupus catatonia in a young girl who presented with fever and altered sensorium

ABSTRACT

We report a case of 20 Years old girl who presented with catatonia resulting from cerebral lupus. There are few cases of catatonia being described in Systemic Lupus Erythmatoses [SLE]. The patient presented to us with fever and altered sensorium. She was initially treated on lines of Acute Bacterial Meningitis/encephalitis but lumbar puncture examination and CT scan showed no evidence of these conditions. Patient's behavior was also not improved after this treatment and she further deteriorated in the sense that she exhibited mutism, negativism and psychosocial withdrawal. Psychiatric analysis was done and she was found to be having catatonia and on further investigation came out to be a case of SLE. Keeping in mind her previous history of joint pains, oral ulcers and alopecia her autoimmune profile such as ANA and dsDNA was done that came out to be positive. Patient responded to treatment with steroids, Hyroxychloroquine and azathioprine in addition to clonazepam and fluoxetine for her catatonic behavior. Thus this case history illustrates the importance of considering organic disease in patients presenting with catatonia