Late-onset periodic catatonia with atypical course: A diagnostic quandary

Abstract

We describe a case of late-onset periodic catatonia with atypical course in an elderly male with onset at the age of 70 years with brief episodes of sudden agitation lasting for a few hours of the day, followed by immobility, mutism, ambitendency, withdrawal, and urinary incontinence for the next few days. Four such episodes with complete recovery over the next few days and no residual behavioral symptoms lasting for several years (up to 7 years) without any long-term prophylactic psychotropic use. During the fourth such episode, the patient presented to our facility with a similar abrupt onset of symptoms. All biochemical investigations and neuroimaging findings were found to be noncontributory. On clinical examination, a diagnosis of periodic catatonia was suspected, which was later confirmed by immediate response to the intravenous diazepam challenge given under vitals monitoring in a high-dependency unit setting.

Keywords

• catatonia
• delirium
• late-onset catatonia
• periodic catatonia