Fatal non-thrombotic pulmonary embolization in a patient with undiagnosed factitious disorder

BMC Research Notes

Jaime S Green³  Jennifer McEntee²  Caroline Cross¹  Ryan J Koene³  Younghoon Kwon³ 

[1] Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA;Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA;Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, 420 Delaware Street S.E., Minneapolis 55455, MN, USA

关键词: Factitious disorder;    Catheter-associated bloodstream infections;    Microcrystalline cellulose emboli;    Fever of unknown origin;   

Others  :  1231552
DOI  :  10.1186/s13104-015-1265-y

 received in 2014-12-04, accepted in 2015-06-30,  发布年份 2015

【 摘 要 】

Background

Factitious fever is extremely challenging to diagnose in patients with complicated chronic medical problems, and represents as much as 10% of fevers of unknown origin. Factitious fever caused by self-injecting oral medications through indwelling central catheters is a diagnostic challenge.

Case presentation

We present a 32-year-old Caucasian female with history of short gut syndrome, malnutrition requiring total parental nutrition, and pancreatic auto-islet transplant with fever of unknown origin. Multiple episodes of bacteremia occurred with atypical pathogens, including α-hemolytic Streptococcus, Achromobacter xylosoxidans, and Mycobacterium mucogenicum. Chest computed tomography was notable for extensive tree-in-bud infiltrates. Sudden cardiac arrest with right-sided heart failure following acute hypoxemia led to her death. Diffuse microcrystalline cellulose emboli with foreign body granulomatosis was found on autopsy. Circumstantial evidence indicated that this patient suffered from factitious disorder, and was self-injecting oral medications through her central catheter.

Conclusion

A high index of suspicion, early recognition, and multifaceted team support is essential to detect and manage patients with factitious disorders before fatal events occur.

【 授权许可】

   
2015 Kwon et al.

【 图 表 】

Figure1.

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