긴장증의 임상적 특성에 대한 고찰 = The Clinical Characteristics of Catatonia

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

26 cases(9 males and 17 females) with catatonia features on admission were analyzed in terms of its clinical characteristics.
The results obtained were as follows :
1) In the diagnostic distribution, more than a half of the cases were schizophrenic disorders(57.5%) and the others were major depressions(26.9%) and schizophreniform disorders(15.4%).
2) The catatonia signs were nonspecific and evenly distributed among a variety of clinical diagnostic entities. But the signs of negativism, mutism, and posturing appeared frequently in all cases.
3) Acute onset was prevalent(65.4%), ECT was more frequently applied(61.5%) and
treatment response was better(70.9%) in the catatonia group than non-catatonia.
Although the definition of catatonia is not clear yet, above results support the opinions of previous studies that catatonia should be understood as a heterogenous symptom complex. And not only schizophrenia but also affective disorder are associated with catatonia features. This suggests that we have to re-evaluate the concept of Kahlbaum's old description.