Pseudodementia in the mentally retarded. A case report and review.
Intellectual and behavioral deterioration in an individual who is mentally retarded presents a diagnostic challenge to the clinician, since the deterioration may be the result of the primary disorder or a new process. The mentally retarded individual's limitations in communication make the diagnostic assessment more difficult. The authors report the case of pseudodementia in a mentally retarded teenager presumed to have been caused by impacted otic cerumen and corrected by removal of the cerumen. The discussion includes a review of medical, neurologic, psychiatric, and environmental causes of intellectual and behavioral deterioration.
D000293:Adolescent; D005162:Factitious Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000150:complications*; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000150:complications; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000150:complications