Quetiapine responsive catatonia in an autistic patient with comorbid bipolar disorder and idiopathic basal ganglia calcification.

BACKGROUND

Bipolar disorder (BD) has been linked with the manifestation of catatonia in subjects with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Idiopathic basal ganglia calcification (IBGC) is characterized by movement disorders and various neuropsychiatric disturbances including mood disorder.

CASE: We present a patient with ASD and IBGC who developed catatonia presenting with prominent dystonic feature caused by comorbid BD, which was treated effectively with quetiapine.

CONCLUSION

In addition to considering the possibility of neurodegenerative disease, careful psychiatric interventions are important to avoid overlooking treatable catatonia associated with BD in cases of ASD presenting with both prominent dystonic features and apparent fluctuation of the mood state.