Importance of early recognition and management of delusional parasitosis

Abstract

Delusional parasitosis (DP) is a psychiatric condition characterized by an individual's persistent belief that she or he is infested with pathogens when no such infestation is medically present. Family education on safety is needed before discharge due to the high risk of self-injury when patients try to rid themselves of the parasite. We present the case of a woman who presented twice with self-inflicted injury with a foreign body to the head to eliminate supposed tapeworms in her brain; she declined antipsychotic medication and psychiatric referral after the first emergency department visit only to come back with a more serious injury requiring a frontoparietal craniotomy. This clinical situation underscores the importance of psychiatric assessment to ascertain a patient's risk to themselves. Neuroimaging should be considered in the evaluation of elderly patients presenting with new-onset psychiatric complaints.

Keywords: Antipsychotics; delusional parasitosis; penetrating head injury; traumatic brain injury.