A Case Report of Russell’s Sign in a 50-Year-Old Female With Persistent Delusion
- DOI
- 10.2991/978-94-6463-310-8_21How to use a DOI?
- Keywords
- Russell’s Sign; Delusion Disorders; Persecutory Delusion
- Abstract
Background: Russell’s sign is a condition commonly observed in individuals who intentionally induce vomiting and is characterized by the presence of calluses on the dorsum of the hand.1 This physical manifestation is a significant marker for mental illness and is primarily prevalent among patients diagnosed with eating disorders, such as bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa.2 Meanwhile, delusion disorder is a psychiatric condition with delusion as its main symptom. The diagnosis is often established when a person exhibits the symptoms one or more times, persisting for at least three months.3 Persecutory delusions are the most common delusion disorder, wherein the patients firmly believe they are being abused or harmed.5 Despite the significance of Russell’s sign, there is limited knowledge regarding its association with other psychiatric conditions. The appearance of its symptoms can provide important clues about the underlying disease.
Case Report: We identified a case involving a 50-year-old female who exhibited persecutory delusion. During the examination, we discovered a pale lesion on the back of her right hand. Furthermore, the suspicions of food poisoning drove the patient to frequently induce vomiting after meals, which persisted for five years. We prescribed a daily dosage of 15 mg/day of Aripiprazole tablets to treat this condition. During the treatment, the suspicion towards family members gradually diminished, with total adherence to the prescribed medication.
Conclusion: Russell’s sign highlighted the severity of the patient’s beliefs and prolonged delusion. Furthermore, this case underscored the significance of conducting a comprehensive physical examination when assessing psychiatric disorders, as it could provide valuable insights for the psychiatrist.
- Copyright
- © 2023 The Author(s)
- Open Access
- Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.
Cite this article
TY - CONF AU - Nora AU - Surya Husada PY - 2023 DA - 2023/12/18 TI - A Case Report of Russell’s Sign in a 50-Year-Old Female With Persistent Delusion BT - Proceedings of the 6th International Conference of Neuroscience, Neurology and Psychiatry Universitas Sumatera Utara (ICONAP 2023) PB - Atlantis Press SP - 141 EP - 145 SN - 2468-5739 UR - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-310-8_21 DO - 10.2991/978-94-6463-310-8_21 ID - 2023 ER -