Manic episode after ventricular-peritoneal shunt replacement in a patient with radiation-induced hydrocephalus: the role of lifetime subthreshold bipolar features

Case Rep Psychiatry. 2014:2014:953728. doi: 10.1155/2014/953728. Epub 2014 Jan 12.

Abstract

We present a case report of a woman hospitalized for a ventricular-peritoneal shunting replacement, who developed a manic episode with psychotic symptoms after hydrocephalus resolution. We have no knowledge of cases of manic episodes due to hydrocephalus resolution by ventricular-peritoneal shunt replacement, although previous case reports have suggested that hydrocephalus might induce rapid-onset affective episodes or mood cycles. The patient's history revealed the lifetime presence of signs and features belonging to the subthreshold bipolar spectrum, in absence of previous full-blown episodes of a bipolar disorder. Our hypothesis is that such lifetime sub-threshold bipolar features represented precursors of the subsequent full-blown manic episode, triggered by an upregulated binding of striatum D2 receptors after the ventricular-peritoneal shunt replacement.