Paranoid Personality Masking an Atypical Case of Frontotemporal Dementia

Nneka Iroka, Waqas Jehangir, Jay Littlefield II, Vishwanath Pattan, Abdalla Yousif, Arunesh K Mishra

Abstract


Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a debilitating disease that is well described in the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5), and typically presents with memory impairment, progressive decline in cortical functioning, and behavioral changes. Age of onset is generally in the late fifties, and usually the first presentation involves a change in behavior and emotional blunting. Treatment of FTD involves management of any neurobehavioral symptoms while trials of atypical antipsychotics are ongoing but suggest some efficacy. We present a case of a patient who first presented with severe paranoid personality traits and frank persecutory delusions. This atypical presentation of our patient first led to her incorrect diagnosis of a psychotic disorder and paranoid personality disorder. As a result of this diagnosis, she was treated unsuccessfully. A subsequent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) then showed atrophy of frontal and temporal lobes bilaterally (left more prominent than right) which confirmed the diagnosis of FTD. The importance of this case involves the atypical presentation of paranoia and delusions, and our patients incorrect diagnosis based on her clinical presentation led to a trial of unsuccessful treatment. Only after performing an MRI, which showed atrophy, was the patient appropriately treated and deemed medically stable. This case report illustrates the importance of considering a rare presentation of frontotemporal lobe dementia with patients who are in the typical age range and present with paranoia and delusions.




J Clin Med Res. 2015;7(5):364-366
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jocmr2099w

Keywords


Frontotemporal dementia; Paranoia; Delusions

Full Text: HTML PDF
 

Browse  Journals  

 

Journal of Clinical Medicine Research

Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism

Journal of Clinical Gynecology and Obstetrics

 

World Journal of Oncology

Gastroenterology Research

Journal of Hematology

 

Journal of Medical Cases

Journal of Current Surgery

Clinical Infection and Immunity

 

Cardiology Research

World Journal of Nephrology and Urology

Cellular and Molecular Medicine Research

 

Journal of Neurology Research

International Journal of Clinical Pediatrics

 

 
       
 

Journal of Clinical Medicine Research, monthly, ISSN 1918-3003 (print), 1918-3011 (online), published by Elmer Press Inc.                     
The content of this site is intended for health care professionals.
This is an open-access journal distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted
non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Creative Commons Attribution license (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International CC-BY-NC 4.0)


This journal follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendations for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals,
the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines, and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.

website: www.jocmr.org   editorial contact: editor@jocmr.org     elmer.editorial2@hotmail.com
Address: 9225 Leslie Street, Suite 201, Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4B 3H6, Canada

© Elmer Press Inc. All Rights Reserved.


Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the published articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the editors and Elmer Press Inc. This website is provided for medical research and informational purposes only and does not constitute any medical advice or professional services. The information provided in this journal should not be used for diagnosis and treatment, those seeking medical advice should always consult with a licensed physician.