Obsessive-compulsive disorder after unilateral caudate nucleus bleeding

Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2004 Sep;146(9):1027-31; discussion 1031. doi: 10.1007/s00701-004-0312-6. Epub 2004 Jul 9.

Abstract

Obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) may be encountered after basal ganglia lesions of various aetiologies. These lesions are usually bilateral. We report here the case of a 24 years old man who developed a pure compulsive behavior after a unilateral left-sided caudate nucleus hemorrhage due to a cavernoma. The pathophysiology of this compulsive disorder probably reflects a frontal cortex deafferentation mechanism. Behavioral, psychological and medical (serotoninergic) treatments are usually proposed but the efficacy of such therapy remains to be investigated in secondary OCD.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Brain Neoplasms / complications*
  • Caudate Nucleus / blood supply*
  • Caudate Nucleus / pathology*
  • Hemangioma, Cavernous / complications*
  • Humans
  • Intracranial Hemorrhages / complications*
  • Intracranial Hemorrhages / pathology
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / etiology*