[A suspected case of factitious disorder]

Factitious disorder (FD) is defined as the intentional production or feigning of disease in oneself to relieve emotional distress by assuming the role of a sick person. We describe a case of a 46-year-old woman with unexplained prolongation of the prothrombin time and hematomas. A careful evaluation, history taking and multidisciplinary discussion led to a suspected diagnosis of factitious disorder. With this case report we want to emphasize the importance of being attentive to this complex diagnosis and the need for more research.