A case of Turner syndrome associated with schizophrenia

Abstract

The authors present the case of a young woman with mosaic karyotype Turner's syndrome who was admitted to a partial hospitalization program due to comorbid schizophrenia. Psychiatric history of the patient included the diag¬nosis of mild mental retardation and an outpatient appointment due to depressive symptoms. Medical history in¬cluded hormone replacement therapy due to primary ovarian insufficiency and autoimmune thyroiditis as well as a single case of physical polytrauma due to a road traffic accident years before her admission. On admission, the physi¬cal characteristics of Turner's syndrome, chronic phonemic hallucinations and paranoid delusion were found with secondary anger management and social adjustment problems. Brain imaging revealed global cerebral atrophy and a clinically not significant frontal meningioma. Neuropsychological tests confirmed the mild mental retardation and an imbalanced intelligence profile with better verbal than non-verbal functioning. Medication therapy was initiated with social skill training and outpatient follow-ups. Ten months after the initial admission, the antipsychotic monotherapy resulted in a good therapeutic response without a full remission of symptoms. We present our case in the context of a literature review.