New onset obsessive compulsive disorder following high frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation over left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for treatment of negative symptoms in a patient with schizophrenia

Abstract

Obsessive-compulsive symptoms and/or obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) are frequently comorbid with schizophrenia, though the exact clinical and etiological relationship between them is poorly understood. Here we describe a case that, to the best of our knowledge, is the first report of new-onset OCD in a patient who was receiving high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation over left dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex as an adjuvant therapy for negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Thisreport supports our understanding of OCD as a brain disorder involving hyperactivity of pre-frontal cortex and cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical circuit dysfunction.