A young woman with visual hallucinations, delusions of persecution and a history of performing arson with possible three‐generation Fahr disease

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Fahr disease (FD) is a rare neurological and psychiatric disorder. The disease is classified by intracranial calcification of the basal ganglia with the globus pallidus region being particularly affected. We examined a young woman with visual hallucinations, delusions of persecution and a history of performing arson with possible third-generation FD. METHOD: Case report of third-generation FD. RESULTS: A 23-year-old woman was arrested for two arsons: i) The patient exhibited progressive psychotic symptoms, including visual hallucinations, delusion of injury, irritability, lability of mood, mental retardation and visual disorders and ii) Computed tomography (CT) imaging demonstrated bilateral calcifications of the basal ganglia (globus pallidus) in the patient, her mother and her grandmother. CONCLUSION: We found a family with a three-generation history of FD who exhibited calcification in the brain and mental retardation. Compared to her mother, the patient described here displayed anticipation of disease onset.