Aj. Park et Gv. Scerri, MUNCHAUSENS-SYNDROME - MASQUERADING AS NECROTIZING FASCIITIS, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 89(3), 1996, pp. 170-171
We would like to present a novel form of Munchausen's syndrome which p
resented us with a difficult problem in the midst of the recent media
hysteria regarding flesh eating bacteria. This condition, first descri
bed by Richard Asher in 1951(1), is often very difficult to diagnose a
nd it is not, therefore, surprising that the victims have been through
several epsiodes of treatment before the suspicions of staff are rais
ed, It owes its name to a fictitious character, Baron Karl Friedrich H
ieronymus Freihess von Munchausen, who recounted extraordinary and wil
dly exaggerated exploits of adventure and daring, not unlike patients
who present with this condition. Our enquiries revealed that the laid
down procedure when faced with a patient with this condition is that t
he regional medical officer (RMO) should be contacted. it is then his
responsibility to contact other RMOs, who in turn pass the information
on to accident and emergency consultants in their area.