Munchausen Syndrome

To assist clinicians in the diagnosis of factitious disorder.|This is a systematic review of the role of laboratory, radiologic, procedural, and pathological modalities to assist in the diagnosis of factitious disorder (Munchausen's syndrome). The review evaluated 3104 article titles and abstracts that were identified from MEDLINE as of January 2010.|We found 190 articles that demonstrated techniques that will assist clinicians in recognizing fabricated manifestations of disease. The results are divided into 13 areas of clinical medicine for easy reference. They are further sub-divided by the diseases or conditions that patients have been reported to simulate and the diagnostic techniques suggested by the literature in each case.|Factitious disorder is difficult to diagnose and may present as a wide array of fabricated conditions, but there are a range of laboratory and technical means available to assist clinicians in the 21st Century.

This review is designed to aid general pediatricians as they assess cases of possible child maltreatment. The authors have selected salient articles that inform the daily practice of any professional involved in assessing child abuse.|The incidence of child abuse continues to decline in the United States, although a large number of children still suffer from abuse and neglect, and many are subject to more than one type of maltreatment. Clinicians are encouraged to be vigilant about the subtle indicators of physical abuse, with many authors adding to our understanding about how children present after inflicted abdominal or skeletal trauma. Clinicians are also cautioned to watch for signs of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, which may be elusive and difficult to discern.|The field of child abuse pediatrics is still young, with the first board certification in 2009. The volume of research in the field is exploding and there is a greater level of awareness and data collection occurring

Patients with physical signs and symptoms for which no adequate organic cause can be found may receive any one of a large range of diagnostic labels, including functional illness, functional overlay, hysteria, hysterical overlay, conversion reaction, psychophysiological reaction, somatization reaction, hypochondriasis, invalid reaction, neurasthenia, psychogenic reaction, psychosomatic illness, malingering, and Mnchausen syndrome. In this chapter, we describe both common and uncommon "functional" ocular symptoms and signs, including visual loss in one or both eyes, constricted visual fields and other field defects, various types of ocular motor dysfunction, including disorders of ocular motility and alignment, disorders of pupillary size and reactivity, and abnormalities of eyelid position and function. We also discuss and illustrate the methods by which the nonorganic nature of these manifestations can be determined. In many cases simple techniques performed in the clinic are

The aims of this study are to describe the methodological challenges in recruiting a follow-up sample of children referred to an interdisciplinary hospital child protection team (CPT) and to compare participating versus non-participating groups on several demographic variables and maltreatment characteristics.|The aims of this study are to describe the methodological challenges in recruiting a follow-up sample of children referred to an interdisciplinary hospital child protection team (CPT) and to compare

In 1977, Roy Meadow, a pediatric nephrologist, first described a condition he subsequently coined Munchausen syndrome by proxy. The classic form involves a parent or other caregiver who inflicts injury or induces illness in a child, deceive the treating physician with fictitious or exaggerated information, and perpetrate the trick for months or years. A related form of pathology is more insidious and more common but also damaging. It involves parents who fabricate or exaggerate symptoms of illness in children, causing overly aggressive medical evaluations and interventions. The common thread is that the treating physician plays a role in inflicting the abuse upon the child. Failure to recognize the problem is common because the condition is often not included in the differential diagnosis of challenging or confusing clinical problems. We believe that a heightened "self-awareness" of the physician's role in Munchausen syndrome by proxy will prevent or reduce the morbidity and mortality

Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a kind of child abuse in which affected children are often hospitalized for long periods and endure repetitive, painful and expensive diagnostic attempts. We present herein two toxicologically confirmed cases of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Case 1 is a 16-month-old male who had fever, peripheral cyanosis, tremor, and reported cardiac arrest. Symptoms recurred in the hospital when the mother administered fluids. Toxicology detected 3.5 ng/ml mercury (Hg) in the fluid and 9.4 microg Hg/g creatinine in the urine. Case 2 is a 14-year-old female who had irregular blood findings and multiple hospitalizations. Serum analysis detected warfarin. Both mothers were transferred to psychiatric care. Munchausen syndrome by proxy should be suspected when clinical/laboratory findings are negative, illness descriptions are inconsistent, and frequent hospitalization yields no diagnosis. Psychiatric evaluation and toxicological analysis are recommended.

Intra-alveolar deposits of haemosiderin have repeatedly been brought into connection with some diagnostic value, such as markers for previous imposed suffocation, smothering due to Munchausen syndrome by proxy or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). This study is based on 104 SIDS cases and 14 controls (causes of death, e.g. inflammatory changes, internal haemorrhages, asphyxia, blunt force trauma or acute toxicity). The SIDS group comprised 44 females (aged 7 days to 12 months) and 60 males (aged 12 days to 16 months 8 days) with the ages of the controls ranging from 2 months 3 days to 47 months. Routine histology samples from the lungs were stained with Prussian blue and haemosiderin foci were counted in 20 hpf for each lung lobe by a pathologist blinded to the cause of death. Results were assigned to one of five categories for haemosiderin positivity. Data were analysed by the Levene-test revealing identical variances in both groups and with a two-sample t-test showing the mean

Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP) is a psychiatric condition and form of child abuse in which a caregiver, usually a mother, induces illness in a child to gain attention for herself. Because children that are abused by a MSBP perpetrator are likely to be hospitalized multiple times, it is important for the nurse to know warning signs and symptoms of MSBP. Of particular interest is the role of the child's parent that is not involved in the abuse, usually the father. This article presents a review of literature on MSBP, focusing on the role of the nonperpetrating fathers.

To report a patient with bilateral corneal perforations and autoproptosis in a case of ocular Munchausen's syndrome.|Case report.|A 26-year-old white male referred to the oculoplastics service with one month history of decreased vision bilaterally and painful right eye. Multiple eyelid scars and right corneal opacity were noted. The patient was previously seen at another institution for rapid loss of vision in both eyes. Interventions: An orbit decompression among many procedures failed to controlled extreme pain and proptosis.|Resolution of proptosis, stabilization of vision, pain resolution.|Three weeks after enucleation of the right eye was offered, patient presented with spontaneous left ruptured globe. After multiple episodes of self-mutilation and infections, both eyes were exenterated.|Munchausen syndrome can be seen with ophthalmic manifestations and should be considered in the differential diagnosis when ocular abnormalities cannot be explained after a thorough evaluation.

22806302 2012 07 18 2012 12 07 1989-2284 32 4 Jul 17 Nefrologia 552-3 10.3265/Nefrologia.pre2012.Mar.11402 Cruz-Portelles Alain A Fernndez-Chelala Bernardo E BE Pea-Castillo Yuliet Y eng spa Case Reports Letter Review Spain Nefrologia 8301215

Beyond Munchausen Syndrome by proxy: identification and treatment of child abuse in a medical setting.

Pediatric Gastroesophageal Reflux Clinical Practice Guidelines: Joint Recommendations of the Pediatric Gastroenterology, H ( NASPGHAN) and the Europ Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Co-Chairs: Yvan Vandenplas renz An rs, a of Ped sin, M rsity,

NGC is the National Guideline Clearinghouse.