PRESENILE PSYCHOSIS
Report of Two Cases with Brain Biopsy Studies
PHILLIP POLATIN M. D.1,
PAUL H. HOCH M. D.1,
WILLIAM A. HORWITZ M. D.1, , and
LEON ROIZIN M. D.1
1 The Departments of Clinical Psychiatry and Neuropathology of the New York State Psychiatric Institute, 722 West 168th St., New York City.
Two cases of Pick's disease are presented in which brain biopsy studies were made. The clinical, differential diagnostic, and neuropathological aspects of these cases are discussed.
This long neglected and poorly understood clinical entity—the presenile psychosis —is now receiving the close attention and careful scrutiny of more progressive neuropathologists and biochemists. The emphasis is no longer on changes in morphology but rather on the alterations occurring in the metabolism of brain tissue. With newer methods and finer techniques we can look forward to a better understanding of previously obscure neuropsychiatric disorders.
