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Suspicion of Somatoform Disorder in Undiagnosed Tabes Dorsalis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Christopher G. Fichtner  and
William W. Weddington
Christopher G. Fichtner*
Affiliation:
Loyola University Medical Center, and Staff Psychiatrist, Biological Psychiatry Section (116A7), Veterans Administration Hines Hospital, Hines, Illinois 60141, USA
William W. Weddington
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60612
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

We present a case of tabes dorsalis, which consisted of intermittent, sharp pains and diffuse neurological abnormalities, and was initially considered to be a somatoform disorder. The unusual behavioural presentations of neurosyphilis may lead to premature psychiatric diagnoses. It is thus important that psychiatric consultants be aware of the myriad manifestations of the disease.

Type
Brief Reports
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 159 , Issue 4 , October 1991 , pp. 573 - 575
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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