Factitious disorders may trouble any physician during his/her career. A considerable number of cases of Munchausen's syndrome (self-induced disorder) are misdiagnosed in clinical practice. A 36-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of fever and abdominal pain. Physical examination showed signs of inflammation of the abdominal wall, and histological examination revealed severe panniculitis. We investigated various aetiologic factors that could probably be related to fat necrosis, but we found no explanation of the phenomenon until we verified the diagnosis of Munchausen's syndrome. 2 years later, the patient underwent surgery for removal of needles, which she herself had deliberately located under her skin. High index of suspicion and physician's persistence are necessary to make the correct diagnosis in the various protean manifestations of Munchausen's syndrome
Although panniculitis is rarely reported in the literature as a feature of factitious disorders, it is still one of its presentations. The diagnosis of this disorder is handicapped by the long time required not only to exclude organic disease but also get necessary evidence to prove the diagnosis of Munchausen's syndrome. The prevalence of factitious disorders is unknown because they mimic a variety of syndromes; the patients are usually of high intelligence quotient, and the doctor is always afraid of missing a disease of organic origin.
In 1951, the term Munchausen's syndrome was established to describe patients with factitious disorders and exclusively physical symptoms (5). These patients have experience in causing body injury, produce a wide variety of symptoms and signs and have hospital and polysurgical addiction. Their prognosis is worse comparing with those with only psychiatric symptoms. Munchausen's syndrome by proxy is a particular form of the syndrome; the target is another person, and the maltreatment usually takes place from mother to child or from health-care workers to patients (6). The syndrome mimics an amazing variety of illnesses. Fever, abdominal pain (1), haemoptysis (7), hypoglycaemia (8), bacteremia (9), even systemic lupus erythematosus (10) and sickle-cell crisis (11) are reported in the literature, and the invented mechanisms are impressive. For example, patients produced bacteremia by injecting themselves contaminated materials, including stool.
Despite the fact that the Munchausen's syndrome is always a possibility, a scrutinising clinical and laboratory examination is usually necessary, in order to exclude any possible existing cause of the disease. In our patient, a very careful examination was carried out, which included even surgical procedures (was it what the patient wanted?).
Until recently, extensive and severe fat necrosis was synonymous to Weber–Christian disease, but that term tends to be abandoned, because acute panniculitis is included in the clinical spectrum of different syndromes and should always be an indication for further evaluation (12). Thus, after histological confirmation of acute panniculitis, our patient underwent a complete checkout for a variety of local or systematic causes associated with fat necrosis. We excluded trauma, cold, drugs and lipodystrophy (13), and we performed tests for autoimmune, collagen and vascular diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus and scleroderma (14,15), lymphoproliferative disorders, a1 anti-thrypsin deficiency, pancreatic disease, bacterial or virus infections (16,17) and protein and complement abnormalities (13). Cesarean section is not considered to be a pre-disposing factor for fat necrosis (18). Our major diagnostic problem was enlightened when we seriously suspected the factitious origin of the syndrome. The case completed the criteria and took the name of Munchausen's syndrome. The diagnosis was confirmed, 2 years later when she was again hospitalised for surgical removal of self-inserted needles.
Skin, mucosa and subcutaneous tissue are the most easily approachable areas for the patients who want to harm themselves. This is concluded by reviewing the literature, where artifact dermatitis and acute panniculitis by skin stigmatisation are frequently reported, especially in young females (19–21).
Impressively, patients have presented with a great variety of symptoms and signs, extending from pyoderma gangrenosum (22) to recurrent herpes zoster (23). Only a few diagnostic clues can help the physician to escape from the deceit. For example, lesions sparing certain areas of the body, such as tattoos, could hide a factitious disorder (21). Extensive haemorrhagic subcutaneous infiltration seen in the microscope may imply hypodermatitis due to deliberate trauma (24). The way in which our patient created her disease remained unknown. Local trauma (24), cold, drugs and injections containing toxic or allergic materials, such as collagen and silicone (25–27), may produce local or systemic panniculitis.
The approach of Munchausen's syndrome is not easy. Differential diagnosis starts from the initial symptom, and then spreads to a cycle of expensive and time-consuming examinations, often hazardous for a patient who in fact is undiagnosed. The doctor is troubled despite the detailed exploration, and he or she continues to be troubled even when the syndrome is suspected because he or she deals with a difficult patient, familiar with medicine, who is constantly protesting about lack of diagnosis, but is eventually satisfied by hospitalisation here and there. Physicians must move near the patient gently, patiently and persistently, in order not to lose the diagnosis of the syndrome.
Although panniculitis is rarely reported in the literature as a feature of factitious disorders, it is still one of its presentations. The diagnosis of this disorder is handicapped by the long time required not only to exclude organic disease but also get necessary evidence to prove the diagnosis of Munchausen's syndrome. The prevalence of factitious disorders is unknown because they mimic a variety of syndromes; the patients are usually of high intelligence quotient, and the doctor is always afraid of missing a disease of organic origin.
In 1951, the term Munchausen's syndrome was established to describe patients with factitious disorders and exclusively physical symptoms (5). These patients have experience in causing body injury, produce a wide variety of symptoms and signs and have hospital and polysurgical addiction. Their prognosis is worse comparing with those with only psychiatric symptoms. Munchausen's syndrome by proxy is a particular form of the syndrome; the target is another person, and the maltreatment usually takes place from mother to child or from health-care workers to patients (6). The syndrome mimics an amazing variety of illnesses. Fever, abdominal pain (1), haemoptysis (7), hypoglycaemia (8), bacteremia (9), even systemic lupus erythematosus (10) and sickle-cell crisis (11) are reported in the literature, and the invented mechanisms are impressive. For example, patients produced bacteremia by injecting themselves contaminated materials, including stool.
Despite the fact that the Munchausen's syndrome is always a possibility, a scrutinising clinical and laboratory examination is usually necessary, in order to exclude any possible existing cause of the disease. In our patient, a very careful examination was carried out, which included even surgical procedures (was it what the patient wanted?).
Until recently, extensive and severe fat necrosis was synonymous to Weber–Christian disease, but that term tends to be abandoned, because acute panniculitis is included in the clinical spectrum of different syndromes and should always be an indication for further evaluation (12). Thus, after histological confirmation of acute panniculitis, our patient underwent a complete checkout for a variety of local or systematic causes associated with fat necrosis. We excluded trauma, cold, drugs and lipodystrophy (13), and we performed tests for autoimmune, collagen and vascular diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus and scleroderma (14,15), lymphoproliferative disorders, a1 anti-thrypsin deficiency, pancreatic disease, bacterial or virus infections (16,17) and protein and complement abnormalities (13). Cesarean section is not considered to be a pre-disposing factor for fat necrosis (18). Our major diagnostic problem was enlightened when we seriously suspected the factitious origin of the syndrome. The case completed the criteria and took the name of Munchausen's syndrome. The diagnosis was confirmed, 2 years later when she was again hospitalised for surgical removal of self-inserted needles.
Skin, mucosa and subcutaneous tissue are the most easily approachable areas for the patients who want to harm themselves. This is concluded by reviewing the literature, where artifact dermatitis and acute panniculitis by skin stigmatisation are frequently reported, especially in young females (19–21).
Impressively, patients have presented with a great variety of symptoms and signs, extending from pyoderma gangrenosum (22) to recurrent herpes zoster (23). Only a few diagnostic clues can help the physician to escape from the deceit. For example, lesions sparing certain areas of the body, such as tattoos, could hide a factitious disorder (21). Extensive haemorrhagic subcutaneous infiltration seen in the microscope may imply hypodermatitis due to deliberate trauma (24). The way in which our patient created her disease remained unknown. Local trauma (24), cold, drugs and injections containing toxic or allergic materials, such as collagen and silicone (25–27), may produce local or systemic panniculitis.
The approach of Munchausen's syndrome is not easy. Differential diagnosis starts from the initial symptom, and then spreads to a cycle of expensive and time-consuming examinations, often hazardous for a patient who in fact is undiagnosed. The doctor is troubled despite the detailed exploration, and he or she continues to be troubled even when the syndrome is suspected because he or she deals with a difficult patient, familiar with medicine, who is constantly protesting about lack of diagnosis, but is eventually satisfied by hospitalisation here and there. Physicians must move near the patient gently, patiently and persistently, in order not to lose the diagnosis of the syndrome.
Although panniculitis is rarely reported in the literature as a feature of factitious disorders, it is still one of its presentations. The diagnosis of this disorder is handicapped by the long time required not only to exclude organic disease but also get necessary evidence to prove the diagnosis of Munchausen's syndrome. The prevalence of factitious disorders is unknown because they mimic a variety of syndromes; the patients are usually of high intelligence quotient, and the doctor is always afraid of missing a disease of organic origin.
In 1951, the term Munchausen's syndrome was established to describe patients with factitious disorders and exclusively physical symptoms (5). These patients have experience in causing body injury, produce a wide variety of symptoms and signs and have hospital and polysurgical addiction. Their prognosis is worse comparing with those with only psychiatric symptoms. Munchausen's syndrome by proxy is a particular form of the syndrome; the target is another person, and the maltreatment usually takes place from mother to child or from health-care workers to patients (6). The syndrome mimics an amazing variety of illnesses. Fever, abdominal pain (1), haemoptysis (7), hypoglycaemia (8), bacteremia (9), even systemic lupus erythematosus (10) and sickle-cell crisis (11) are reported in the literature, and the invented mechanisms are impressive. For example, patients produced bacteremia by injecting themselves contaminated materials, including stool.
Despite the fact that the Munchausen's syndrome is always a possibility, a scrutinising clinical and laboratory examination is usually necessary, in order to exclude any possible existing cause of the disease. In our patient, a very careful examination was carried out, which included even surgical procedures (was it what the patient wanted?).
Until recently, extensive and severe fat necrosis was synonymous to Weber–Christian disease, but that term tends to be abandoned, because acute panniculitis is included in the clinical spectrum of different syndromes and should always be an indication for further evaluation (12). Thus, after histological confirmation of acute panniculitis, our patient underwent a complete checkout for a variety of local or systematic causes associated with fat necrosis. We excluded trauma, cold, drugs and lipodystrophy (13), and we performed tests for autoimmune, collagen and vascular diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus and scleroderma (14,15), lymphoproliferative disorders, a1 anti-thrypsin deficiency, pancreatic disease, bacterial or virus infections (16,17) and protein and complement abnormalities (13). Cesarean section is not considered to be a pre-disposing factor for fat necrosis (18). Our major diagnostic problem was enlightened when we seriously suspected the factitious origin of the syndrome. The case completed the criteria and took the name of Munchausen's syndrome. The diagnosis was confirmed, 2 years later when she was again hospitalised for surgical removal of self-inserted needles.
Skin, mucosa and subcutaneous tissue are the most easily approachable areas for the patients who want to harm themselves. This is concluded by reviewing the literature, where artifact dermatitis and acute panniculitis by skin stigmatisation are frequently reported, especially in young females (19–21).
Impressively, patients have presented with a great variety of symptoms and signs, extending from pyoderma gangrenosum (22) to recurrent herpes zoster (23). Only a few diagnostic clues can help the physician to escape from the deceit. For example, lesions sparing certain areas of the body, such as tattoos, could hide a factitious disorder (21). Extensive haemorrhagic subcutaneous infiltration seen in the microscope may imply hypodermatitis due to deliberate trauma (24). The way in which our patient created her disease remained unknown. Local trauma (24), cold, drugs and injections containing toxic or allergic materials, such as collagen and silicone (25–27), may produce local or systemic panniculitis.
The approach of Munchausen's syndrome is not easy. Differential diagnosis starts from the initial symptom, and then spreads to a cycle of expensive and time-consuming examinations, often hazardous for a patient who in fact is undiagnosed. The doctor is troubled despite the detailed exploration, and he or she continues to be troubled even when the syndrome is suspected because he or she deals with a difficult patient, familiar with medicine, who is constantly protesting about lack of diagnosis, but is eventually satisfied by hospitalisation here and there. Physicians must move near the patient gently, patiently and persistently, in order not to lose the diagnosis of the syndrome.
2006-10-22 09:49:28
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answer #4
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answered by royalmeddy 3
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