Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis presenting as Leonhard's speech-prompt catatonia

Br J Psychiatry. 1976 Jul:129:29-31. doi: 10.1192/bjp.129.1.29.

Abstract

A woman aged 20, first presenting with what appeared to be hysterical blindness as part of the syndrome of hysterical pseudo-dementia, soon showed the picture of speech-prompt catatonia, one of the subtypes of chronic schizophrenia described by Karl Leonhard. However, within a short time the neurological, EEG and laboratory findings indicated that the condition was one of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Blindness / etiology
  • Catatonia / diagnosis*
  • Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins / analysis
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Electroencephalography
  • Female
  • Fluorescent Antibody Technique
  • Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests
  • Humans
  • Hysteria / diagnosis
  • Intelligence
  • Leukocyte Count
  • Lymphocytes / analysis
  • Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis / diagnosis*

Substances

  • Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins