Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum in A Patient With Bipolar Disorder

Abstract

Background

The corpus callosum (CC) is the largest white matter structure in the brain, which plays a crucial role in interhemispheric communication. Agenesis of the CC is a rare development anomaly, with unknown cause. It could be asymptomatic or associated with mental retardation and neurologic symptoms. Some case reports, post-mortem studies and image studies have linked thickness reduction and agenesis of CC with psychotic symptoms, mainly in schizophrenia patients. Lately, anatomical abnormalities in the CC have been reported in patients with Bipolar Disorder (BD).

Case report

A 52-year-old woman was brought to the emergency room by the authorities after being physically aggressive to her 13-year-old daughter and inappropriate behavior in public. At the emergency department her mood was elevated with emotional lability, dispersible attention, slight increase of motor activity, pressured and difficult to interrupt speech, grandious and self-referent delusional ideas.

Her past history revealed hippomaniac episodes characterized by periods of excessive shopping and hyperphagia. In 2008, she had a major depressive episode.

Head CT-SCAN revealed agenesia of CC. She received the diagnosis of Manic Episode with mixed features and was treated with valproic acid, flurazepam and olanzapine.

Conclusion

This case reinforces the fact that changes in CC, probably due to deficiency in myelination, could have a crucial importance in the pathophysiology of Bipolar Disorder.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.