On the subject of Munchausen's syndrome

The Munchausen's syndrom has been described by the english physician Richard Asher in 1951. It was immediatly a successfully description in the anglo-saxon medical world. The DSM-IV and the CIM-10 assimile it to factitious chronic disorders, with physical symptoms. In France howewer, were some difficulties to insert this syndrome in the fram of ''pathomimies'', widely described at the beginning of the century by Dieulafoy. Finally, it has been done owing to the specific psychological context of people presenting Munchausen's syndrome.