Factitious proteinuria - the most dominant feature in a young female patient with Munchausen syndrome.

We report the case of a young femalepatient with factitious proteinuria in thenephrotic range and a fairly eventful medicalhistory. After performing many expensive andunnecessary investigations and procedures,the real origin of the proteinuria was determined;it was found to be caused by the patientcarefully adding calibrated egg albuminto her urine samples. This discovery rousedsuspicions about multiple, non-corroboratedconditions from her history (e.g., multiplemiscarriages, breast cancer, and thyroid disorders).The diversity of diseases presented by asingle Munchausen patient tends to be bizarre,and thus is a challenge for health care providersto diagnose the condition. Teamwork istherefore of the utmost necessity to diagnoseMunchausen syndrome. PMID: 23364208 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Clinical Nephrology - Category: Urology & Nephrology Authors: Tags: Clin Nephrol Source Type: research