Down syndrome and schizophrenia: a case report
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25118/2763-9037.2019.v9.65Keywords:
Schizophrenia, Down syndrome, comorbidityAbstract
Schizophrenia and Down syndrome are prevalent in the general population, however comorbidity of the two conditions is rare. Scarcity of material available in the scientific literature covering such comorbidity justifies the publication of the present report. The patient here described was 15 years old and had Down syndrome. She was referred to the Pediatric Psychosocial Care Center by the basic health unit where she received psychiatric care. From a psychiatric point of view, the patient presented symptoms such as soliloquys, auditory hallucinations and delusions, which improved after the introduction and progressive increase of olanzapine until 10 mg/day. However, she also presented extrapyramidal symptoms, controlled with biperiden 4 mg/day. In addition, symptoms of anxiety and trichotillomania were observed and controlled with fluoxetine up to a dose of 80 mg/day. In her latest evaluation, the patient presented with an important improvement of psychotic symptoms, but occasional residual symptoms. As also reported by Buttler et al., our case showed an improvement of psychotic symptoms with a low dose of antipsychotics, however Buttler et al. did not describe the presence of extrapyramidal symptoms or residual symptomatology, which hinders comparison between both cases. In our review of the literature, neither previous reports of schizophrenia with early onset in patients with Down syndrome nor recent publications on the topic were found. However, the recognition and early treatment of comorbidity could potentially improve prognosis.
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