Endogenous Juvenile-asthenic Failure Syndrome: Thirty-Year Follow-up of a Case

Endogenous juvenile-asthenic failure syndrome (EJ-AFS; Glatzel and Huber [2]), three core features of which are cenesthopathy, alienation, and thought disorder, develops at a young age and is considered to be the initial stage or an abortive form of schizophrenia. It is rarely been discussed in the English-language literature, however, a number of cases have been continuously reported in Japan. In this paper, a case study is presented of a patient who showed the psychopathology of EJ-AFS early on and progression to severe personality and social dysfunction 30 years later. From the 21 reported cases in Japan, an overall trend was observed of the symptoms remaining unchanged or improving somewhat, but persisting, in most cases. Only 3 of the cases had been followed for more than 10 years. The present case leads us to reexamining the concept of EJ-AFS and to consideration of long-term course of an attenuate form of schizophrenia.