A growth in bipolar disorder?

• Published in: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Vol. 115; no. 3; pp. 246 - 250
• Main Authors: Xu, J., Rasmussen, I.‐A., Berntsen, E. M., Moss, K., Shnier, R., Lagopoulos, J., Malhi, G. S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.03.2007
• Subjects: Adult; bipolar disorder; Bipolar Disorder - complications; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Cerebral Ventricle Neoplasms - complications; Cerebral Ventricle Neoplasms - diagnosis; Cerebral Ventricle Neoplasms - pathology; diagnosis; diffusion tensor imaging; Electroencephalography; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Mania; neuroimaging; Positron-Emission Tomography; tumour
• ISSN: 0001-690X; 1600-0447; 0065-1591
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2006.00907.x

Objective:  This case report suggests that screening of patients with psychiatric symptoms using modern neuroimaging can help identify organic causes of mental illness. Method:  A single case study was reported. Results:  We report the case of a 25‐year‐old woman with a recent diagnosis of bipolar II disorder having an magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan as part of a research project that reveals an intraventricular brain tumour. The latter is most likely the cause of her irritability and ‘hypomanic’ symptoms and is defined anatomically using diffusion tensor imaging and structural and functional imaging using MRI and positron emission tomography. Conclusion:  The lesion in this individual case most probably produces mood symptoms by impinging upon the fornix, a component of the limbic system. However, more generally, the increase in diagnosis of bipolar disorder has to be tempered against alternate causes of similar symptoms and necessitates vigilance of potential organic mechanisms.