You Xiao Xiong, Olten Baris, Gandhi Kunal, Desai Saral, Gerolemou Adela
Department of Psychiatry, Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, Brooklyn, USA.
Cureus. 2021 Sep 14;13(9):e17964. doi: 10.7759/cureus.17964. eCollection 2021 Sep.
Although pica is commonly associated with nutritional deficiencies, it is also observed in psychiatric disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and less commonly in schizophrenia. We describe a case of pica in a 34-year-old male with decompensated schizophrenia. Emergency medical services brought the patient from a state facility as he was scavenging and eating foreign objects. Upon initial evaluation, no notable nutritional deficiencies were noted. After surgical removal of foreign objects, he was started on antipsychotics. His pica was determined to be due to his active psychosis involving delusions, disorganized thought processes, and loosening of associations. His psychosis improved on paliperidone intramuscular injection and oral olanzapine, which coincided with reduction and resolution of pica. Our case highlights the need to understand further the exact psychopathology of pica that may not be limited to nutritional deficiencies.
尽管异食癖通常与营养缺乏有关，但在精神疾病如强迫症中也可观察到，在精神分裂症中则较少见。我们描述了一例患有失代偿性精神分裂症的34岁男性异食癖病例。紧急医疗服务人员将该患者从一家州立机构送来，当时他正在 scavenging（此处可能有误，推测为scavenging，意为搜寻、捡破烂）并吞食异物。初步评估时，未发现明显的营养缺乏。手术取出异物后，他开始服用抗精神病药物。他的异食癖被确定是由于其活跃的精神病症状，包括妄想、思维紊乱和联想松弛。他的精神病症状在接受帕利哌酮肌肉注射和口服奥氮平后有所改善，同时异食癖也减轻并消失。我们的病例强调了需要进一步了解异食癖的确切精神病理学，其可能不限于营养缺乏。
