The authors present a follow-up of a previously described patient with
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Her condition continued to worsen, and
she died 5 years after disease onset. Neuropathological findings were
consistent with the diagnosis of Pick's disease. They revealed, in addition
to the "knife-edge" frontotemporal atrophy, striking atrophy with extensive
neuronal loss and gliosis involving the caudate nuclei and, to a lesser
degree, the putamens and globus pallidus. Neuroimaging data had showed
isolated atrophy of the caudate nuclei in the early stages of Pick's
disease in this patient when OCD was the leading clinical manifestation.
Relevant literature is reviewed, and the role of caudate nuclei atrophy in
the development of OCD is discussed.Abstract Teaser