The Reappearance of Depression in an Elderly Man: What Lurks Behind It?
Case Presentation
Mr. A was an 86-year-old retired pharmacist who was brought by his son to a geriatric psychiatry inpatient unit after 1 year of noticeable depressive symptoms. He had no history of psychiatric symptoms until age 79. At that time, after a failed business venture, he had several months of depressed mood and social isolation but no major somatic complaints. This episode passed without specific treatment, and Mr. A returned to his normal baseline functioning. He was described as an “outgoing” person. At age 81, Mr. A moved from his retirement home to another state to be closer to his son, a mental health professional. At age 85, Mr. A again developed depressive symptoms, including a depressed mood, anergia, anhedonia, social isolation, poor appetite, decreased concentration, and irritability. Mr. A himself also noted some impairments in short-term and long-term memory, concomitant with the depressive symptoms. Mr. A had adult-onset diabetes mellitus, which was managed with insulin. Four months after the onset of his depressive symptoms, he was taken to a local hospital for a hypoglycemic episode. He was stabilized in the emergency room without complications. After Mr. A’s discharge home, his son noted that his anergia, anhedonia, social withdrawal, and irritability worsened. Diminished sexual function as well as reduced ability to carry out daily routines were reported by Mr. A’s son to be associated with his depressive symptoms.
Background
Mr. A was the oldest of three children. He graduated with a pharmacy degree. He spent 2 years in military service, saw no combat, and received an honorable discharge. Subsequently, Mr. A worked as a pharmacist in a large city for many years and had considerable financial success with his own business. He was married twice. His first wife died of cancer, and he had separated amicably from his second wife at age 84. His only child, a son from his first marriage, was a mental health professional. At age 81 he moved into a detached single apartment on his son’s property. Mr. A used alcohol only socially, had a history of smoking 50 packs per year (he quit at about age 60), and never used street drugs. There was no known family history of major depression.
Course of Illness
Formerly at a high level of functioning, Mr. A had failed his written driver’s test three times in the 3 months before his admission; he reported feeling distressed over these failures. Mr. A also began having erectile dysfunction, which, his son noted, might have had an impact on his self-esteem. At that time, Mr. A received a prescription for methylphenidate (5 mg/day) for a diagnosis of major depression. No therapeutic response was noted. Several weeks later Mr. A began to express hopelessness. At about this time his medication was switched to sertraline (25 mg/day and then 50 mg/day). One month before his admission, it was noted that Mr. A had lost nearly 30 lb over the previous several months. He was seen by a gastroenterologist for an outpatient evaluation of his weight loss, which was reportedly negative. The thoroughness of his examination was unclear to us, but it was presumed to have included endoscopy. Mr. A continued generally to deteriorate, although his cognition seemed to have improved after switching to treatment with sertraline. He developed new somatic complaints 3 weeks before admission. Mr. A began complaining of intermittent diffuse cramping pain in his abdomen. The pain varied in duration and intensity and was not notably related to meals or bowel movements, although there was some alleviation with positional change. Two weeks before admission, Mr. A also began complaining of lower back pain that he did not characterize but that he did not associate with his abdominal pain. One week later, he began refusing to leave his bed because of both lack of motivation and pain.
Initial Mental Status Examination
At admission, Mr. A appeared to be his stated age and was well groomed, but he appeared cachectic and was holding his abdomen and rocking. He was, however, cooperative with the examination and extremely polite. He was alert, and his orientation was intact. Mr. A reported that his mood was depressed; his affect was noted to be constricted. His speech was goal-directed with a normal rate, rhythm, and volume. He expressed vague suicidal ideation but neither intent nor plan. He did not report any homicidal ideation, hallucinations, or delusions. On the Mini-Mental State examination (4), he scored 27 out of a possible 30. His score was less than perfect because he was unable to name the state and county he was in and was unable to recall one of the three words he was asked to commit to memory for 5 minutes. Mr. A’s insight and judgment were recorded as being intact.
Medical History and Examination
Mr. A had adult-onset diabetes mellitus, which had been diagnosed years earlier, and benign prostatic hyperplasia. He also had peripheral vascular disease with intermittent claudication; 1 year before admission, he had been diagnosed with bilateral iliac artery thromboses. His surgical history included a cholecystectomy at age 65. He did not report experiencing any recent fever, nausea, vomiting, or bowel changes. He was taking the following medications: docusate sodium (500 mg/day orally) for chronic constipation, sertraline (50 mg/day) for depression, pentoxifylline (400 mg t.i.d. orally) for claudication, terazosin (10 mg orally at bedtime) for benign prostatic hyperplasia, and isophane insulin (25 U subcutaneously every morning) for type II diabetes mellitus. He weighed 119 lb; the ideal weight for a man of his height was estimated to be 148 lb. His systolic blood pressure was elevated, 162 mm Hg, but he had normal diastolic pressure (79 mm Hg) and a normal heart rate (79 bpm). His respiratory rate and oral temperature were normal. The results of his general physical examination were notable for abdominal tenderness to palpation without palpable mass in the right upper quadrant, an absence of lymphadenopathy, a loud bruit over his aorta and bilateral iliac arteries, generalized weakness, and a symmetrically enlarged prostate. The results of his head, heart, lung, abdomen, back, integument, and musculoskeletal examinations were otherwise benign, and his rectal examination was negative for occult bleeding. A neurologic examination revealed only an unsteady gait.
Hospital Course
Mr. A was admitted to a geriatric psychiatry inpatient unit to assess fully his depressive symptoms, cognitive decline, and weight loss. He continued to receive sertraline, and he was given a combination of acetaminophen and hydrocodone bitartrate as needed for pain. The results of blood chemistry, coagulation, and liver panels and a CBC were abnormal only for an elevated blood glucose level of 220 mg/dl. Mr. A’s hemoglobin A1c level was 11.9%, indicating poor diabetes control. His thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level was 4.85 mU/liter, which was within normal limits, and his prostate-specific antigen level was 6.9 ng/ml, which was consistent with his benign prostatic hyperplasia. His vitamin B12 and folate levels were normal. The results of a urinalysis revealed abnormally high glucose and protein levels and large amounts of blood. An ECG revealed a right bundle branch block. A computerized tomography (CT) scan of his head without contrast showed scattered involutional changes that were greater than expected for Mr. A’s age and foci of low density in the right cerebellum and left frontal deep white matter. These were thought to represent old infarcts.Mr. A was socially isolative, lying alone in bed and resisting interaction with other patients. While he continued complaining of abdominal pain, he ate close to 100% of all his meals. He consistently refused help with dressing and grooming and was able to accomplish both adequately. He did have occasional bouts of confusion; he was unable to keep track of which grooming activities he had completed. On neuropsychological testing, Mr. A scored 123 out of 144 on the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (5), indicating mild to moderate global cognitive impairment.Mr. A underwent a general ultrasound survey of his abdomen in order to investigate his abdominal pain. A 6-cm heterogeneous mass was visualized adjacent to the pancreatic head, and the left hepatic lobe was prominent and diffusely heterogeneous. An abdominal CT scan without contrast was then performed for better characterization of the lesion, confirming that the mass was heterogeneous, was centered on the pancreatic head, and appeared to encase the gastric antrum. The mass was thought to be either a pancreatic pseudocyst or a pancreatic cancer. Also noted was a single 1.5-cm, low-density lesion in the left hepatic lobe, which was possibly a metastasis.Mr. A showed appropriate concern over these findings and consented to an ultrasound-guided biopsy of the pancreatic mass, which was then performed by the interventional radiology service. A pathologic examination of the biopsy revealed a poorly differentiated pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The prognosis, given the advanced stage of disease and the histopathology, was poor. There was a significant risk of gastric outlet obstruction. Radiation treatment and chemotherapy were offered for palliation.Over the next 10 days, Mr. A remained in the hospital with increasing depressive symptoms and delirium, including delusions and disorientation. His symptoms were noted to vary directly with his dose of intravenous narcotics for the control of abdominal pain. The delirium was considered multifactorial in etiology; it was secondary to the primary disease, his intermittent constipation, and the narcotics taken for pain control. Aggressive bowel care and reductions in the pain-control drug regimen offered some improvement. After a 16-day stay, Mr. A was discharged for home with a 24-hour caregiver; his care was to be managed by a home hospice. He received adequate pain control, although his delirium and depression persisted. For these symptoms, he continued taking sertraline (50 mg/day), methylphenidate (5 mg/day), and clonazepam (0.5 mg at bedtime). Mr. A reportedly died from complications of his pancreatic cancer several months after his discharge.
Discussion
Diagnostic Implications
First Episode of Depression
Second Episode of Depression
Cognitive Impairment
General Medical Conditions
Delirium
Pancreatic Cancer and Depression
Recommendations
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