Storage of polyvinylpyrrolidone mimicking a congenital mucolipid storage disease in a patient with Munchausen's syndrome.

A 24-year-old woman from the Sinai peninsula had, since the age of 15 years, repeatedly undergone surgery because of gastrointestinal bleeding. The bleeding was found to have been caused by self-inflicted injuries. Histiocytes in the patient's liver and lymph nodes (the spleen had been removed nine years previously) contained a peculiar material which was, in part, basophilic and had puzzling histochemical characteristics. The material is believed to be polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), which had been administered to the patient during one of her operations. The importance of recognizing this change, especially in countries where PVP is administered as a plasma expander, is stressed.