Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Email this article to a Colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Articles & Searches Download to citation manager Citing Articles via Google Scholar Articles by Chambers, E. Articles by Camps-Romero, E. Search for Related Content PubMed Citation Articles by Chambers, E. Articles by Camps-Romero, E.

Factitious Aortic Dissection Leading to Thoracotomy in a 20-Year-Old Man

Received May 2, 2005; revised September 26, 2006; accepted October 3, 2006. From the 35th Aerospace Medicine Squadron, Misawa Air Base, Japan, and the Dept. of Psychiatry, Univ. of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM. Send correspondence and reprint requests to Joel Yager, M.D., Professor and Vice Chair for Education and Academic Affairs, Dept. of Psychiatry/MSC09 5030,Univ. of New Mexico School of Medicine, 1 Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001. e-mail: jyager{at}unm.edu
© 2007 The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine

A 20-year-old man presented to an emergency department with dramatic, sudden-onset, tearing chest pain. He also claimed to have been previously diagnosed with Ehler-Danlos syndrome and a previous Type I aortic dissection (intimal tear of ascending aorta), rapidly increasing his treating physician’s suspicion of an emergent aortic dissection. The patient was quickly transferred to a large university hospital, where he underwent a median sternotomy and thoracotomy, with no aortic pathology found on operation and biopsy. After the patient’s postoperative recovery, he was treated at a mental health facility, where he remained ambivalent about his psychiatric condition and did not respond well to treatment. This case report describes a unique case of factitious disorder that led to a serious operative intervention and subsequent psychiatric care and assesses factors that might have contributed to his hospital course.

Get information about faster international access.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2007 Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. All rights reserved.

Home | Search | Current Issue | Past Issues | Subscribe | All APPI Journals | Help | Contact Us