Clinical manifestations of psychiatric patients who are carriers of tay-sachs disease. Possible role of psychotropic drugs.
Patients with late-onset Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) may manifest with neuropsychiatric features. We hypothesized that the prevalence of TSD carriers in psychiatric patients is higher than in the general population and their clinical profile is different from that of their noncarrier counterparts. Among 500 Ashkenazi-Jewish psychiatric patients, 19 were found to be TSD carriers. Their prevalence in the study population is proportional to that in the general Ashkenazi population. However, abnormal neurological findings, especially cognitive impairment, were commoner among TSD carriers (47.4 vs. 26.2%, p = 0.04). It is possible that chronic use of some psychotropic drugs plays a role in this phenomenon.
Zelnik
N
N
Department of Pediatrics, Carmel Hospital and the B. Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa, Israel. Zelnik@ibm.net
Khazanov
V
V
Sheinkman
A
A
Karpati
A M
AM
Peleg
L
L
D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D005260:Female; D006580:Genetic Carrier Screening / Q000379:methods*; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013661:Tay-Sachs Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D001619:beta-N-Acetylhexosaminidases / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics
D001619:beta-N-Acetylhexosaminidases