Münchhausen Syndrome after Anterior Temporal Lobectomy for Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: A Case Report

Abstract

A 28-year-old female with factitious disorder “Münchhausen syndrome” after left anterior temporal lobectomy for intractable temporal lobe epilepsy was reported. Two years after left anterior temporal lobectomy and 6 months after additional hippocampectomy, she factitiously opened her operative wound in the left temporal region, pretending that maladaption of the wound was attributed to the head trauma during her “epileptic seizures (pseudoseizures)”. Furthermore, she mixed her blood with her urine to forge hematuria, injured her vagina to forge gynecological disease, and performed bloodletting to forge anemia. This abnormal psychological process could be interpreted as one of the manifestation of postoperative distress conditions, in which the reversed rehabilitation process of learning to live without handicap of epilepsy was failed. In considering the surgical indication for intractable epilepsy and at the postoperative follow-up, postoperative development of Münchhausen syndrome should be noted.