Feigning Acute Intermittent Porphyria

Acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) is an autosomal dominant genetic defect in heme synthesis. Patients with this illness can have episodic life-threatening attacks characterized by abdominal pain, neurological deficits, and psychiatric symptoms. Feigning this illness has not been reported in the Eng...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rania Elkhatib, Modupe Idowu, Gregory S. Brown, Yasmeen M. Jaber, Matthew B. Reid, Cheryl Person
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2014-01-01
Series:Case Reports in Psychiatry
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/152821
Description
Summary:Acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) is an autosomal dominant genetic defect in heme synthesis. Patients with this illness can have episodic life-threatening attacks characterized by abdominal pain, neurological deficits, and psychiatric symptoms. Feigning this illness has not been reported in the English language literature to date. Here, we report on a patient who presented to the hospital with an acute attack of porphyria requesting opiates. Diligent assessment of extensive prior treatment records revealed thirteen negative tests for AIP.
ISSN:2090-682X
2090-6838