Intractable hypocalcemic seizures with neuropsychiatric symptoms- An under-diagnosed case

Abstract

Idiopathic hypoparathyroidism is one of the important and treatable causes of hypocalcaemia. Patients with hypocalcaemia as a consequence of hypoparathyroidism can have varied neuropsychiatric presentations such as intractable seizures, depressive symptoms, psychosis, generalized parasthesias and extrapyramidal syndrome. Many times these patients are being wrongly treated as a case of depression without addressing the underlying cause. We present a case of 26-year-old female patient who presented in emergency with multiple episodes of complex partial seizures since the last 6 months and under the treatment for depression for 2 years. She was diagnosed as a case of hypocalcemia and hypoparathyroidism was considered as the underlying cause.

Keywords

• hypocalcemia
• idiopathic hypoparathyroidism
• neuropsychiatric symptoms