Clinical manifestations of psychiatric patients who are carriers of Tay-Sachs disease - Possible role of psychotropic drugs

Patients with late-onset Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) may manifest with neuropsy chiatric features. We hypothesized that the prevalence of TSD carriers in p sychiatric patients is higher than in the general population and their clin ical profile is different from that of their noncarrier counterparts. Among 500 Ashkenazi-Jewish psychiatric patients, 19 were found to be TSD carrier s. Their prevalence in the study population is proportional to that in the general Ashkenazi population. However, abnormal neurological findings, espe cially cognitive impairment, were commoner among TSD carriers (47.4 vs. 26. 2%, p = 0.04). It is possible that chronic use of some psychotropic drugs p lays a role in this phenomenon. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.