[Regional cerebral blood flow-SPECT "OFF-ON": a case report of catatonia]. / SPECT-perfusión cerebral regional «off-on¼: a propósito de un caso de catatonia.

We report the case of a patient with a long history of dysthymia and major depressive episodes requiring repeated hospitalization. We describe the most recent episode, associated with catatonia symptomatology and features suggestive of cognitive impairment. The absence of a clear initial psychopharmacological response alongside the clinical severity made the patient a potential candidate for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). A regional cerebral blood flow SPECT (SPECT-rCBF), performed to rule out concomitant Alzheimer disease (AD), revealed a markedly decreased neocortical uptake, with no definitive pattern of concomitant primary cognitive impairment. Because a gradual clinical improvement was observed in the patient, with evidence of enhanced cerebral reperfusion in a second SPECT-rCBF study at two weeks after admission, the application of ECT was discounted and an expectant attitude was adopted.

SPECT-perfusión cerebral regional "off-on": a propósito de un caso de catatonia / Regional cerebral blood flow-SPECT "OFF-ON": a case report of catatonia

Se expone el caso de una paciente con distimia de larga evolución y episodios depresivos graves que precisaron hospitalización. En el último de ellos, que se describe a continuación, se asoció sintomatología de tipo catatoniforme junto a rasgos sugerentes de deterioro cognitivo. La ausencia de una clara respuesta psicofarmacológica inicial junto a la severidad clínica de la paciente plantearon la posibilidad de utilizar terapia electroconvulsiva (TEC). Para descartar una posible enfermedad de Alzheimer (EA) concomitante se exploró mediante tomografía de perfusión cerebral regional (SPECT-PCr) observándose una marcada hipocaptación neocortical sin un claro patrón de deterioro primario sobreañadido. El inicio de una mejoría clínica gradual y la objetivación de una reperfusión cerebral global, corroborada en una segunda SPECT-PCr a 2 semanas de su ingreso, desestimaron el empleo de TEC sugiriendo la pertinencia de adoptar una actitud expectante (AU)

We report the case of a patient with a long history of dysthymia and major depressive episodes requiring repeated hospitalization. We describe the most recent episode, associated with catatonia symptomatology and features suggestive of cognitive impairment. The absence of a clear initial psychopharmacological response alongside the clinical severity made the patient a potential candidate for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). A regional cerebral blood flow SPECT (SPECT-rCBF), performed to rule out concomitant Alzheimer disease (AD), revealed a markedly decreased neocortical uptake, with no definitive pattern of concomitant primary cognitive impairment. Because a gradual clinical improvement was observed in the patient, with evidence of enhanced cerebral reperfusion in a second SPECT-rCBF study at two weeks after admission, the application of ECT was discounted and an expectant attitude was adopted (AU)