Tetanus and psychiatry: unexpected bedfellows.
Six patients who were admitted with the initial diagnosis of tetanus to a general hospital serving 130 000 people over a 10-year period are reviewed. In three of these patients psychogenic factors played a major part in the presenting pictures. These cases followed a markedly different course from the others. Guidelines to the early differentiation of such atypical cases, and to the way psychogenic factors can be identified and their importance evaluated, are discussed.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D013742:Tetanus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*