Narcolepsy and psychosis; case report.

Narcolepsy is an infrequent neurological disorder, included in the catalog of rare diseases. Despite the existenceof precise diagnostic criteria, this entity remains underdiagnosed. It is characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness associated with cataplexy; in some cases, hypnagogic or hypnopompic hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, and/or delusional ideation may appear. The occurrence of psychotic symptoms makes differential diagnosis extremely difficult (narcolepsy, schizophrenia, or both). Furthermore, therapeutic management may be complex, since the treatment of one of the disorders may worsen the other. Here we describe the case of a patient with this rare comorbidity, which illustrates the major difficulties associated to both differential diagnosis and therapeutic management once a definitive diagnosis has been reached.

De la respuesta a la locura, a la locura como respuesta / From the answer to madness and madness as an answer

Se presenta el caso clínico de una mujer de cuarenta años de edad que es atendida en el Servicio de Urgencias (por recomendación de su hija) al contactar con su difunto cuñado, y sentirlo “como si estuviera dentro de ella”. La paciente comentó que el fallecido le había trasmitido que deseaba que su viuda rehiciera su vida de pareja y familiar. Durante la observación psicopatológica se aprecia, entre otros datos, verbalizaciones de ideas de perjuicio. La hija de la paciente especifica reiteradamente que existía una asociación entre la toma de tratamiento anticonceptivo con dispositivo intrauterino hormonal (levonorgestrel) y síntomas premórbidos (caracterizados por apatía, abulia y abandono parcial de sus tareas cotidianas). Se planteó el diagnóstico diferencial entre un trastorno psicótico de debut o un trastorno disociativo, a descartar una posible inducción del tratamiento hormonal. La evolución clínica y el conocimiento de la situación vital de la paciente permitirá discernir el cuadro (AU)

A case involving a 40-years old woman attended by the Emergency Service (at the request of her daughter). The woman claimed she had had contact with her late brother-in-law and felt “as if he had been inside her”. The patient also said that the deceased had expressed his desire to see his widow recover her intimate personal and family life. During the psychopathological observation, vocalizations of prejudicial ideas, among other data, were noted. The patient’s daughter repeatedly specified an association between the intake of contraceptive treatment with hormonal intrauterine device (levonorgestrel) and premorbid symptoms (characterized by apathy, abulia and partial abandonment of her routine activities). A differential diagnosis was proposed among which, a psychotic disorder, a dissociative disorder, or a possible induction by the hormonal treatment, was presented. The clinical progress and the knowledge of the patient’s vital situation will help determine the linical picture (AU)