A pregnant woman who experienced auditory hallucinations concurrent with hyperemesis gravidarum: A case report

We report the case of a pregnant woman who experienced auditory hallucinations only while suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum. To the best of our knowledge, the present report is the first report of a case of obvious auditory hallucinations and hyperemesis gravidarum at the same time in a pregnant woman who had not been diagnosed with any psychiatric disorder. The patient was a 24-year-old pregnant woman with no history of psychiatric disorder. Two years prior to this admission, she became pregnant for the first time, and she was admitted to an obstetrics clinic due to severe hyperemesis gravidarum. She developed mild auditory hallucinations at the same time. After she gave birth, the auditory hallucinations disappeared. When she was 24 years old, she became pregnant again. She suffered from severe hyperemesis gravidarum from the early stage of pregnancy. At 20 weeks of pregnancy, she visited the Department of Psychiatry of our hospital for a detailed psychiatric evaluation and treatment because her moderate auditory hallucinations had relapsed. We administered an antipsychotic agent, perospirone, to treat the auditory hallucinations, which disappeared, although the hyperemesis gravidarum persisted until childbirth. After childbirth, perospirone treatment was discontinued, and her auditory hallucinations did not relapse. The auditory hallucinations may have occurred as a result of complicated biological and psychosocial factors. Physicians should carefully evaluate psychotic symptoms, such as auditory hallucinations, not only during the postpartum period but also throughout the course of pregnancy.