P-413 - Psychiatric issues in huntington's chorea

Abstract

Huntington's Chorea is a hereditary disease with dominant autosomic transmission. In the paper we analise psychic disorders occurring in a sample of patients affected by Huntington's Chorea under our observations. Nine patients have been observed (six female, three male) aged between 30 and 45 years, with a diagnosis of Huntington's Chorea. Three cases (two women, one man) have been diagnosed as mood disease with mixed symptoms; three female cases resulted in mood disease with depressive symptoms; one male case of psycotic disease; insanity with delirium and hallucinations in one female and male case. Chlorpromazine (200 mg/day), Aloperidol (6 mg/day) and escitalopram (10 mg/day) have been prescribed for mood disease with mixed symptoms; Chlonazepam (3 mg/day) and sertraline (50 mg/day) for two patients and escitalopram (10 mg/day) for one case, plus aloperidol (3 mg/day) in mood disease with depressive symptoms; Chlorpromazine (300 mg/day) and aloperidol (8 mg/day) in the remaining cases. One out of the nine patients died because of natural causes while being admitted. One committed suicide. The remaining seven patients benefited by therapy with a reduction of the affective and psychotic synthoms and in three cases with reduction of choreatetosic movements. Four patients worsened their cognitive deficiency. In relation with the complexity of interactions between neurological and psychiatric context, an interdisciplinary approach is of paramount importance in order to reach a real improvement of quality of life, with a reduction of emotional, relational, and physical difficulties, due to the course of disease, with a recover of the meaning of life.