Alice in wonderland syndrome (AIWS) has been described as body image illusions involving distortions of the size, mass, or shape of the patient’s own body or its position in space, often occurring with depersonalization and derealization. Most cases typically affect young children.
Common distortions are micropsia, macropsia, metamorphopsia, and pelopsia.
The term was adopted from the book by Lewis Carroll, wherein the main character perceived her size and shape to change in different scenarios.
These distortions are often expressed as sensory perceptions rather than illusions or hallucinations, and are often distressing to the patient.
AIWS onset has been found to be associated with infection, among most frequent pathogens are epilepsy, migraine, depression, and Epstein Barr Virus. The most common which have been reported to show association are infection and migraine/head trauma.
This case describes a relatively quick onset of symptoms of AIWS in a patient after a prolonged hospital stay
