Fregoli syndrome in course of infection-related delirium. A case report

Sindrome di Fregoli in corso di delirium correlato a infezione. Un caso clinico

M. Salviati, C. Carlone, A. Provenzano, G. Valeriani, C. Melcore, F. Macrì, S. Terlizzi, M. Biondi

Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza Università di Roma

Summary

Background

Fregoli syndrome is a rare clinical condition with a variable presentation: from a simple solitary psychiatric entity to an epiphenomenon of other mental disorders (most frequently schizophrenia). Occasionally, Fregoli syndrome may occur as a symptom that dominates the clinical history of organic diseases, which are often undiagnosed.

Clinical case

We report the clinical case of a woman who experienced delusional false recognition, meeting the criteria for Fregoli Syndrome, triggered by an acute pneumonia associated with urinary infection. This is an example of how an organic pathology can hide itself behind a psycho-pathological event.

Conclusions

According to our experience, it is important to manage this psychiatric disorder with correct differential diagnosis, especially in those cases in which the psycho-pharmacological treatment alone does not give satisfactory results in clinical improvement.

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