Treatment Dilemma in Juvenile Huntington's Patient Presenting with Psychiatric Symptoms

Nevra Öksüz; Mustafa Kömür; Okan Doğu

doi:10.29399/npa.28058

Treatment Dilemma in Juvenile Huntington's Patient Presenting with Psychiatric Symptoms

Noro Psikiyatr Ars. 2023 Feb 20;60(1):87-89. doi: 10.29399/npa.28058. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Nevra Öksüz¹, Mustafa Kömür², Okan Doğu¹

Affiliations

¹ Mersin University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Mersin, Turkey.
² Mersin University School of Medicine, Department of Child Neurology, Mersin, Turkey.

Abstract

The Westphal variant of Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by a rigid-hypokinetic syndrome rather than choreiform movements. This variant is a distinct clinical entity of HD and is often associated with a juvenile onset of the disease. We present the case of a 13-year-old patient diagnosed with the Westphal variant with an onset at approximately 7 years of age and primarily exhibited developmental delay and psychiatric symptoms. In the light of findings from both physical and clinical examinations, possible difficulties in the diagnosis and treatment of juvenile HD are discussed in here.

Keywords: Chorea; Westphal variant; parkinsonism.

Publication types

Case Reports