Clinicians were challenged to successfully treat a young man who appeared to have acute psychosis, but it turned out to be a rare form of stroke.
A 26-year-old man hospitalized for acute psychosis was found 11 days later to have a cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST)—a rare form of stroke—that challenged clinicians to pinpoint the actual source of his psychiatric symptoms and determine the most effective course of medication. His eventual return to normalcy after the discontinuation of all medicines holds an instructive lesson for professionals about the treatment of a condition that crosses the line between psychological and neurological.