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Original Article
Brief Report
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Volume 330:1418-1419 May 19, 1994 Number 20
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Factitious Diarrhea Detected by Measurement of Stool Osmolality
Mark Topazian, and Henry J. Binder

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Patients with chronic unexplained diarrhea present a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Many disorders can cause chronic diarrhea, but despite extensive evaluation the cause may remain unknown. Surreptitious abuse of laxatives1 and ingestion of drugs whose laxative properties are not recognized2 are leading causes of chronic diarrhea in patients referred to university hospitals for evaluation3,4. Factitious diarrhea has traditionally been diagnosed by evaluating stools for laxatives.

We recently studied two patients with chronic unexplained diarrhea who were found to have diluted their stool samples. Dilution was suspected when the measured stool osmolality was found to be considerably lower than plasma . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Case Reports

Patient 1

Patient 2

Discussion


Source Information

From the Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Digestive Diseases, and the General Clinical Research Center, Yale University School of Medicine.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Topazian at Yale University School of Medicine, 1080 LMP, 333 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06510.

References


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