Frontiers in Pediatrics (Apr 2018)

Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover: Factitious Disorder Imposed on Children-Report on 2 Cases

  • Noemi Faedda,
  • Valentina Baglioni,
  • Giulia Natalucci,
  • Ignazio Ardizzone,
  • Mauro Camuffo,
  • Rita Cerutti,
  • Vincenzo Guidetti

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2018.00110
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6

Abstract

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Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (FDIA), also known as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSbP) is a very serious form of child abuse. The perpetrator, usually the mother, invents symptoms or causes real ones in order to make her child appear sick. Usually this is due to a maladaptive disorder or to an excessive of attention-seeking on her part. We report here two new cases of FDIA. The first one is a 9-year-old boy with a history of convulsive episodes, reduced verbal production, mild psychomotor disorder and urological problems who underwent several invasive procedures and hospitalizations before a diagnosis of FDIA was made. The second is a 12 year-old girl with headache, abdominal pain, lipothymic episodes, seizures and a gait impairment, who was hospitalized in several hospitals before an FDIA was diagnosed.

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