Post-partum psychosis in adult GM2 gangliosidosis. A case report

Br J Psychiatry. 1988 Sep:153:387-9. doi: 10.1192/bjp.153.3.387.

Abstract

Adult hexosaminidase A deficiency is a form of GM2 gangliosidosis with autosomal recessive inheritance. Only 35 cases (mostly among Ashkenazic Jews) have been reported worldwide. Symptoms include, in a third of the cases, psychosis. A 27-year-old sufferer with no prior psychiatric history, developed a post-partum psychosis, with affective and hebephrenic components, 3 days following her first delivery. She responded to lithium within 10 days of initiating treatment; the full episode lasted 1 month. We conclude that lithium is the preferred treatment for psychosis in such adult patients, especially in light of possible long-term neurological deterioration caused by phenothiazines. Ashkenazic Jews with atypical neurological syndromes presenting with psychosis should be tested for hexosaminidase A deficiency.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Female
  • G(M2) Ganglioside
  • Gangliosidoses / complications
  • Gangliosidoses / psychology*
  • Hexosaminidase A
  • Humans
  • Lithium / therapeutic use
  • Lithium Carbonate
  • Pregnancy
  • Psychotic Disorders / drug therapy
  • Psychotic Disorders / etiology*
  • Puerperal Disorders / drug therapy
  • Puerperal Disorders / etiology*
  • beta-N-Acetylhexosaminidases / deficiency

Substances

  • G(M2) Ganglioside
  • Lithium Carbonate
  • Lithium
  • Hexosaminidase A
  • beta-N-Acetylhexosaminidases