DEEP VENOUS THROMBOSIS OF THE LEG DUE TO PSYCHIATRIC STUPOR

We report the cases of two patients with psychiatric stupor who develo ped venous thrombosis. A 29-year-old schizophrenic woman had been hosp italized in psychiatric institutions three times because of stupor ass ociated with auditory hallucinations and thought blocking. These sympt oms recurred and she was admitted to our hospital with deep Venous thr ombosis of her left leg. The other patient was a 67-year-old woman wit h depression. She had also suffered from insomnia. Following admission to our hospital, she developed a depressive stupor complicated by dee p venous thrombosis of her left leg. Both cases were treated with sodi um heparin and urokinase, and completely resolved. It is well known th at dehydration, infection and decubitus ulcers are important physical complications of psychiatric stupor, but there have been few reports o f deep venous thrombosis as a physical complication of stupor.