#hypochondriasis

• abdomen - A major anatomical region located between the thorax and the pelvis, bounded superiorly by the diaphragm and inferiorly by the plane of the pelvic inlet. It contains the main organs of the digestive and urinary systems. In psychiatric and neurological semiology, the clinical examination of the abdomen is crucial for identifying somatopsychic correlations, such as hypochondriasis (somatic delusion focused on abdominal organs), digestive manifestations of severe anxiety, or altered abdominal cutaneous reflexes in pyramidal syndromes.
• abdomenoscop - An archaic or historical name for the endoscope previously used for the direct examination of the abdominal cavity (a precursor to the modern laparoscope). In early clinical semiology, the introduction of the abdomenoscope allowed physicians to visually verify the somatic hypotheses of alienated patients, eliminating suspicions of real tumors in cases of severe hypochondriacal delusion or imaginary pregnancy (pseudocyesis).
• abdominoscopie - An archaic or historical diagnostic method consisting of the direct visual examination of the abdominal cavity and internal organs using an abdomenoscope inserted through a small incision in the belly wall. In early neuropsychiatric semiology, performing an abdominoscopy served as a differential diagnostic tool to exclude real tumoral or inflammatory pathologies in alienated patients presenting with severe somatic fixations, persistent hypochondriacal delusions, or pseudocyesis phenomena (imaginary pregnancy).