| CASE REPORT |
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| Year : 2021 | Volume
: 7
| Issue : 1 | Page : 36-38 |
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An unusual case of functional neurological disorders and psychogenic coma following physical assault: Clinical and medico-legal considerations
Fiorella Caputo1, Rosario Barranco2, Pietrantonio Ricci3, Santo Gratteri3, Francesca Maria Elena Frigiolini2, Gabriele Rocca2, Francesco Ventura2
1 Department of Legal and Forensic Medicine, University of Genova, Genova; Department of Legal and Forensic Medicine, Institute of Legal Medicine, Magna Græcia University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
2 Department of Legal and Forensic Medicine, University of Genova, Genova, Italy
3 Department of Legal and Forensic Medicine, Institute of Legal Medicine, Magna Græcia University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
Correspondence Address:
Rosario Barranco
Department of Legal Medicine, University of Genova, via De' Toni 12, 16132 Genova
Italy
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/jfsm.jfsm_62_20
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Functional neurological disorders can have different clinical manifestations, including coma, in the setting of an unknown etiology. In this article, we present a case of a young man affected by intellectual disabilities who, after a physical assault reported serious neurological alterations and a functional coma. This case shows how a stressful psychophysical event can bring acute and variable neurological manifestations of functional significance to a victim with previous intellectual disabilities. Despite the growing interest in this field, research is still very limited and studies in this field could better explain the nature of the psychogenic coma. From a medico-legal point of view, problems of evaluation may emerge for these disorders emerge as a result of acute psycho-physical stress and without any detectable structural alterations.
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