title: Obsessive-compulsive disorder after unilateral caudate nucleus bleeding.
abstract: Obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) may be encountered after basal ganglia lesions of various aetiologies. These lesions are usually bilateral. We report here the case of a 24 years old man who developed a pure compulsive behavior after a unilateral left-sided caudate nucleus hemorrhage due to a cavernoma. The pathophysiology of this compulsive disorder probably reflects a frontal cortex deafferentation mechanism. Behavioral, psychological and medical (serotoninergic) treatments are usually proposed but the efficacy of such therapy remains to be investigated in secondary OCD.
authors.affiliation: Service de Neurologie D, Hôpital Neurologique et Neurochirurgical Pierre Wertheimer, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thobois
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jouanneau
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bouvard
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sindou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology*; D006392:Hemangioma, Cavernous / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D020300:Intracranial Hemorrhages / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000209:etiology*