Potentially fatal asthma and syncope. A new variant of Munchausen's syndrome in sports medicine.

Abstract

We report a case of Munchausen's syndrome in a 19-year-old female college athlete who presented with potentially fatal asthma and recurrent syncopal episodes. Failure to control her asthma with the appropriate medications and the lack of objective findings on both physical examination and diagnostic testing raised the possibility of factitious disease. Munchausen's syndrome, although not described with any frequency in asthmatic patients, should be considered in the differential diagnosis of those patients refractory to aggressive medical management.