Case Reports in Psychiatry (Jan 2014)
Feigning Acute Intermittent Porphyria
Abstract
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.