SummaryA patient had at least 15 hospital admissions for symptoms of acute dyspnoea accompanied by loud stridorous sounds. These episodes had been diagnosed as acute airway obstruction and she was treated on all occasions on an emergency basis. In the absence of a definitive etiology and with other clues, it was then recognized that the patient was imitating the clinical appearance of laryngeal obstruction. Following the establishment of this, psychiatric care was initiated with the goal of rehabilitation of the patient, and there have been no further episodes to the present time.
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