Pseudologia fantastica is sparsely defined in the psychiatric literature, and has not been reviewed in the English-language psychiatric literature since 1988. To redefine the role of pseudologia fantastica in factitious disorder, the case of a 56-year-old man with factitious disorder is discussed.

Factitious disorder is defined by the intentional production or feigning of physical or psychological symptoms with the objective of assuming the patient role. It is frequently difficult to adequately diagnose this disorder, above all, when the faked symptoms are those of a psychological or a psychiatric disorder. In these cases, there is often high comorbidity with other mental disorders, thus...

Factitious disorder is a rare psychiatric illness characterized by the willful and deceptive induction of illness for the purpose of assuming the sick role. It presents a substantial diagnostic challenge, as patients often go to great lengths to conceal their deception. Accordingly, its presence in the full spectrum of gastrointestinal diseases is likely underappreciated. While factitious gastr...

INTRODUCTION Reflex sympathetic dystrophy can result in severe disability with only one in five patients able to fully resume prior activities. Therefore, it is important to diagnose this condition early and begin appropriate treatment. Factitious lymphoedema can mimic reflex sympathetic dystrophy and is caused by self-inflicted tourniquets, blows to the arm or repeated skin irritation. Patient...

BACKGROUND We describe the first case of a patient with factitious disorder who closely simulated a primary immune deficiency disorder - Common Variable Immune Deficiency (CVID), by surreptitiously ingesting non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents. CASE DESCRIPTION He was treated with several expensive and potentially dangerous drugs before the diagnosis was established through collateral info...

Munchausen syndrome (MS) was first reported in 1951 by Richard Alan John Asher as a factitious disorder. It is a condition in which the patient intentionally produces symptoms to assume a sick role and gain medical attention. Underdiagnosis of this disorder results in the unnecessary use of medical resources, i.e. unnecessary medical tests and evaluations. This makes it one of the most challeng...

Few phenomena in medicine are more confounding than the diagnoses involving deception: malingering, Munchausen syndrome, Munchausen by proxy (MBP), and factitious disorder (Table 1). Physicians rely on patient reports of symptoms as a starting point for evaluation and treatment planning. They expect to be able to trust their patients' reports. When they are misled, deliberately or inadvertently...

Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (FDIA), termed a psychiatric “Factitious disorder by proxy”, compels individuals to solicit unnecessary medical interventions or commit abuses another, almost always child in their care. A recent phenomenon is that of with FDIA using social media such as blogs and online support groups perpetuate abuse, while garnering sympathy from others who access these...