Case report of Cushing＇s syndrome with an acute psychotic presentation

一位36岁的中国女性因出现狂躁、被害妄想和自杀意念3天被送至某综合医院急诊。六个月来患者易醒、过度警觉并出现躯体症状。入心身病房后,体检发现该患者满月脸、突眼,且双腿有紫纹,因此考虑急性精神症状继发于库欣综合征。血浆皮质醇、促肾上腺皮质激素(adrenocorticotropic hormone ACTH)水平升高,腹部计算机断层扫描(computed tomography,CT)发现左肾上腺肿块,证实了该诊断。使用小剂量喹硫平(75-125 mg/d)和阿普唑仑(0.4 mg/qn)来控制精神病性症状并改善其睡眠。将一个良性的非ACTH依赖性肾上腺肿瘤手术切除后,患者的皮质醇和ACTH水平恢复正常,其精神症状也在一个月内逐渐减少,此时该患者出院。患者出院后一直门诊随诊,维持喹硫平治疗(因为担心停药对睡眠和情绪稳定的影响),总时间持续1年左右,剂量从50mg渐减至25mg至减停。这时她的精神症状已经完全消失。该病例中,病人具有库欣综合征的特殊症状,因此相对容易诊断;但在库欣综合征中急性精神病性症状可能会危及生命,也可能不出现库欣综合征的典型躯体症状(如果皮质醇增多症不严重),所以临床精神科医师在鉴别难以解释的急性精神病时,应该始终考虑将库欣综合征纳入可能的鉴别诊断。

Summary： A 36-year-old Chinese woman was brought to the emergency department of a general hospital with a 3-day history of mania, persecutory delusions, and suicidal ideation; she also had a 6-month history of disrupted sleep, hypervigilance, and somatic symptoms. Her physical exam on admission to the psychosomatic ward identified a moon-shaped face, exophthalmos, and purple striae on her legs, so acute psychiatric symptoms secondary to Cushing＇s syndrome was suspected. Elevated plasma cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone （ACTH） and identification of a mass on her left adrenal gland on the computed tomography （CT） scan of her abdomen confirmed the diagnosis. Low close quetiapine （75- 125 mg/d） and alprazolam （0.4 mg/d） were prescribed to control the psychotic symptoms and improve her sleep. After surgical removal of a benign ACTH-independent adrenal tumor, her cortisol and ACTH levels returned to normal and her psychiatric symptoms gradually diminished over a one-month period, at which point she was discharged. Low-dose quetiapine was continued for 2 months after discharge and then discontinued; by this time her psychiatric symptoms had completely disappeared. In this case the patient had pathognomonic symptoms of CS, so it was relatively easy to make the diagnosis; but acute psychotic symptoms in CS can be life-threatening and may not be associated with the typical physical symptoms of CS （if there is only modest hypercortisolemia）, so psychiatric clinicians should always consider CS among the possible differential diagnoses for unexplained acute psychosis.