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Self-mutilation of the nose in a schizophrenic patient with Cotard syndrome.

Ghaffari-Nejad A, Kerdegari M, Reihani-Kermani H

Department of Psychiatry, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Beheshti Hospital, Boulvar Avenue, Kerman, Iran. ghaffari_ar@yahoo.com

Cotard syndrome is a rare condition, which its main symptom is nihilistic delusion. Self-mutilation of the nose is also a rare condition, which has not been seen in schizophrenic patients with Cotard syndrome. A single case is presented here. A 32-year-old woman who was diagnosed as having schizophrenia and believed that she was dead, cut the tip of her nose. She had no guilt feeling and described her act as a cosmetic surgery. We try to explain how various symptoms that seem to be very far from each other could exist side by side. Misinterpretation of her face is suggested to be the starting point in her complex symptoms.

Published 1 October 2007 in Arch Iran Med, 10(4): 540-2.
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