[Diagnosis of 2 complex psychiatric cases of hepato-cerebral dystrophy]

Abstract

The author describes two cases of associated hepatocerebral dystrophy and mental diseases where the difficulties in the diagnosis were determined, in the first case, by the manifestation of hepatocerebral dystrophy (HCD) after a severe craniocerebral and spinal injury, and in the second case, by the fact that the disease began from mental disorders whereas the additional neurological ones were attributed to the treatment with neuroleptics. Emphasis is laid on the necessity of taking into account potential HCD in all the cases of long-existing disorders such as muscular rigidity, hyperkineses, speech and swallowing disorders, and so forth as well as on the necessity of examining in such cases Kayser-Fleischer rings, copper metabolism and liver function.