[Consciousness disturbances: a case report of Munchausen by proxy syndrome in an elderly patient].

In this article an 80-year old female who was admitted to our hospital because of syncope. After effective therapy the decision about discharging of the patient was taken. This information was met with firm refusal of the patient's granddaughter. From this time the state of health of the elderly patient was getting worse after each granddaughter's visit. The consciousness disturbances from somnolence to coma appeared. The clinical symptoms increased in the afternoon and in the evening decreased late at night and in the morning. In some toxicological tests there was very high serum benzodiazepines level (160.7 ng/ml). The inspection of the doctor's permanent and temporary orders excluded the possibility of administering the benzodiazepines by the hospital's staff. After the honest talk with the granddaughter and reducing her contacts with the patient, the serum benzodiazepines started to decrease to the zero level and the consciousness disturbances disappeared.