NYMC Faculty Publications

Confounding Psychosis in the Postpartum Period

Author Type(s)

Faculty

DOI

10.1007/s11126-013-9271-5

Journal Title

The Psychiatric Quarterly

First Page

91

Last Page

96

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-1-2014

Department

Medicine

Keywords

Adult, Demyelinating Diseases, Diagnosis, Differential, Diagnostic Errors, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Postpartum Period, Psychotic Disorders, Radiography

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

Abstract

This case report alerts the psychiatric clinician to consider nonpsychiatric etiologies of psychosis appearing during the postpartum period besides postpartum psychosis. The case includes a description of the patient's psychiatric presentation, admission to the inpatient psychiatric unit with subsequent transfer to the medicine department including neuroimaging and neurological consultation. The patient had a remission of psychosis after only two and half days of antipsychotic medication administration. Positive findings on the MRI suggested a demyelinating disease and a 4-month follow up MRI continued to be positive. The etiology was presumed to be a demyelinating disease. In conclusion, psychiatrists need to be alert to include nonpsychiatric pathologies in the differential diagnosis when a patient presents with psychosis in the postpartum period.

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