¹MD, Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (HC-UFMG), Brazil

²MD, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil

³MD, Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (HC-UFMG), Brazil

⁴MD, Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (HC-UFMG), Brazil

⁵MD, Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (HC-UFMG), Brazil

⁶MD, Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (HC-UFMG), Brazil

⁷MD, Ph.D, Professor Adjunto, Departamento de Saúde Mental, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil

*Corresponding author: Dr. Paulo Marcos Brasil Rocha, MD, Ph.D, Avenida Professor Alfredo Balena, 190, room 267/Belo Horizonte–MG, Brazil, Postal Code 30130-100, Tel: +55 0xx 31 99121-2064; Email: [email protected].

Received Date: August 31, 2023

Published Date: September 13, 2023

Citation: Rocha PMB, et al. (2023). Catatonia and Brain Tumor: Review and Illustrative Case Report. Mathews J Psychiatry Ment Health. 8(3):41.

Copyrights: Rocha PMB, et al. © (2023).

ABSTRACT

Case Report: This literature review is accompanied by an illustrative case of a woman diagnosed with a Stage IV invasive ductal breast carcinoma who evolved with a catatonic syndrome due to a metastatic brain tumor. Objective: It aims to forward the understanding of how catatonia emerges from organic brain tumoral lesions and how can it be treated properly. Methods: After reporting the above-mentioned case, we revised the scientific literature, searching for case reports and series of cases of patients with catatonic syndrome and brain tumors. We included articles in which patients were diagnosed with one or more tumoral brain lesions. Articles in which patients with paraneoplastic syndrome, anti-NMDA encephalitis, or other encephalitis and tumor in other regions (e.g., adrenal) were reported were excluded. When feasible, all PRISMA recommendations for systematic reviews were followed. Results: As result, we have found that although catatonic syndrome is a classical diagnostic construct in psychiatry, its pathophysiology can be very diverse even when caused by a brain tumor, as no single brain region can be associated with the syndrome. Moreover, patients do appear to respond very differently to treatments implemented. However, even though not always effective, treatment with benzodiazepines (e.g., lorazepam or diazepam) can be performed since it has been successfully used in various cases of secondary catatonia due to brain tumors, including ours. Conclusion: As far as we know, this is the first case report of a brain metastatic tumor, clinically evidenced by brain imaging, secondary to breast cancer that evolved with a catatonic syndrome ever published. The significant response to the use of benzodiazepines associated with other measures suggests some reliability of interventions such as these in patients with catatonic syndrome secondary to tumoral brain lesions.

Keywords: Brain Tumor, Brain Metastasis, Breast Cancer, Catatonia, Catatonic Syndrome.