Transtorno de personalidade orgânica secundária a neurocisticercose

Abstract

Neurocysticercosis is the most common type of neuroparasitic infection. In this condition, the central nervous system (CNS) is infested with larvae from the tapeworm Taenia solium. Reported neuropsychiatric manifestations associated with neurocysticercosis include depression, cognitive dysfunction, dementia, and visual hallucinations. Organic personality disorder is a behavioral and personality change that may be a residual or concomitant disorder resulting from brain injury, dysfunction, or disease. There is no literature linking neurocysticercosis and personality disorders. In this article, we report a novel case of a 58-year-old man presenting with personality disorder after a neurocysticercosis episode. Upon evaluation, the patient displayed impulsivity, poor inhibitory control, expressed thoughts of killing his wife, and showed no remorse. He has a history of alcoholism and neurocysticercosis with 19 cysts on imaging studies at the age of 10. The patient’s personality prior to the neurocysticercosis episode was characterized as hyperthymic. Diagnostic hypotheses of bipolar affective disorder type 2, corticobasal dementia, and organic personality disorder secondary to neurocysticercosis are raised. The literature presents poorly understood mechanisms behind the development of mental disorders due to neurocysticercosis. Cases of mental disorders associated with neurocysticercosis and its high prevalence in the psychiatric population are welldocumented. We conclude that this report is novel and highly significant in encouraging further studies on mental disorders associated with neurocysticercosis, promoting clinical investigation of this condition in psychiatric patients, and encouraging investigation in patients with personality disorders.