DELUSIONS OF PREGNANCY IN A CASE WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

Approximately one third of the patients with Alzheimer's disease have hallucinations and delusions. Delusions of persecution and delusions of stealing and visual hallucinations are frequently reported, while somatic delusions and hallucinations are rarely reported. In this article, an Alzheimer's disease patient with delusions of pregnancy will be discussed. A 71-year-old, illiterate, female patient with Alzheimer's disease was admitted to the Geriatric Psychiatry clinic as she believed that she was pregnant and she requested termination of her pregnancy. She had been followed up for a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease with behavioral disturbances for the previous year. Her relatives reported several medical visits due to unexplained somatic symptoms like pain and numbness before the onset of dementia. In literature, only four dementia cases presenting with delusions of pregnancy were reported. Since there were no objective signs of pregnancy, this patient cannot be diagnosed as pseudocyesis which is classified under "somatoform disorders not otherwise specified" in DSM-IV-TR. The presence of somatization disorder in her history, might be associated with development of somatic delusions after the onset of dementia.