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Munchausen's syndrome
Author(s) -
BAKER C. E.,
MAJOR E.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.839
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2044
pISSN - 0003-2409
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2044.1994.tb04353.x
Subject(s) - medicine , asthma , munchausen syndrome , respiratory distress , acute respiratory distress , presentation (obstetrics) , intensive care medicine , sedation , pediatrics , anesthesia , surgery , poison control , emergency medicine , lung , injury prevention , child abuse
Summary We present a variant of Munchausen's syndrome not previously described in which acute severe asthma is the presenting complaint. The clinical presentation is so extreme that the patient has received artificial ventilation on several occasions despite having had normal arterial blood gas values. The patient appears to be able to mimic the signs of severe respiratory distress by means of a protracted Valsalva manoeuvre, and all signs of acute asthma instantaneously disappear with sedation. Because of the chronic‘asthma’, and the frequent dramatic acute episodes, the patient successfully claims invalidity benefit, and has done so for many years.