Aging-Related Catatonia with Reversible Dopamine Transporter Dysfunction in Females with Depressive Symptoms: A Case Series

Abstract

The authors describe five depressive patients with initially decreased striatal accumulation of dopamine transporter (DAT) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), which improved in parallel with clinical symptoms. Patients who exhibited decreased striatal accumulation and recovery of DATSPECT were identified among patients with the symptoms of depression. Their clinical and neuroimaging data were reviewed. Five patients were identified. All patients were presenile or senile women who presented with catatonia subsequent to symptoms of depression that remitted with treatment. DAT-SPECT showed a decreased striatal accumulation in all patients, which increased after treatment. Two patients had met the diagnostic criteria of probable dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), but no longer did so after their symptoms improved. Reversible DAT dysfunction observed in this study suggests that reversible impairment of dopaminergic transmission in the striatum partly underlies catatonia. Careful consideration should be given to diagnosing DLB in patients with decreased DAT-SPECT accumulation, especially when catatonia is present.