title: Persistent delusional theme over 13 episodes of psychotic depression.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Unipolar psychotic depression (PD) is a highly debilitating condition, which needs intense monitoring and treatment. Among patients with recurrent PD, delusions tend to be very similar or identical over several separate episodes during the course of illness, but case-reports illustrating this clinical phenomenon in detail are lacking from the literature.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case report describing the 45-year-old Ms. J, who has experienced multiple episodes of PD. The report is based on a review of her medical file.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The delusional theme of Ms. J's initial episode of PD reappeared at several subsequent episodes. During the majority of admissions, Ms. J was treated with electroconvulsive therapy, which resulted in significant improvement in the depressive, psychotic and catatonic features.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ms. J's case illustrates that PD can be a stable phenotype over many episodes and that it is important to recognize psychotic symptoms in order to prescribe the best possible treatment.
authors.affiliation: Unit for Psychiatric Research, Aalborg Psychiatric Hospital, Aalborg University hospital, Aalborg, Denmark ; Institute of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark ; Depression Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Ostergaard
authors.affiliation: Copenhagen University Medical School, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Leadholm
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School and UMass Memorial Health Care, Worcester, USA.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Rothschild
keywords: Affective Disorder; Delusions; Depression; Psychosis