Reversibility of cerebral ventricular enlargement in anorexia nervosa, demonstrated by quantitative magnetic resonance imaging☆,☆☆,★
Section snippets
Subjects
The study population consisted of 12 female adolescents with anorexia nervosa who agreed to undergo an additional magnetic resonance imaging scan after weight gain. The subjects were 11 to 21 years of age (mean, 16.1 ± 3.0 years) who were admitted to the Schneider Children's Hospital Eating Disorders Center for nutritional rehabilitation. All patients met the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (third edition, revised)12 for anorexia nervosa and had lost an
RESULTS
Patients and control subjects were of similar age, 16.1 ± 3.0 and 16.3 ± 3.3 years, respectively, but those with anorexia nervosa had lower weight, a lower percentage of ideal body weight, and lower BMI (Table). At baseline, total ventricular volume in adolescents with anorexia nervosa was significantly higher than in the control subjects: 17.1 ± 5.5 cm3 vs 11.7 ± 4.3 cm3 (p <0.01) (Fig. 1). Compared with control subjects, the degree of enlargement of the third ventricle in subjects with
DISCUSSION
Structural brain changes similar to those found in our patients are seen in children with kwashiorkor15 and in adults with schizophrenia,16, 17, 18 alcoholism,19 or Cushing syndrome,2, 20 and those taking corticosteroids.21
Neuropsychologic testing of patients with anorexia nervosa has revealed impairment of attention and concentration and deficits in visuospatial abilities, visual associative learning, and perceptual motor functioning.5, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 These deficits are subtle and
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Cited by (118)
Anorexia nervosa
2023, Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Health, First EditionEating Disorders
2018, Complex Disorders in Pediatric Psychiatry: A Clinician's GuideNeuromodulation in Anorexia Nervosa
2018, Neuromodulation: Comprehensive Textbook of Principles, Technologies, and Therapies, Second Edition: Volume 1-3Abnormal white matter properties in adolescent girls with anorexia nervosa
2015, NeuroImage: ClinicalSerum brain-derived neurotrophic factor and cognitive functioning in underweight, weight-recovered and partially weight-recovered females with anorexia nervosa
2014, Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological PsychiatryCitation Excerpt :Some of these changes were related to poor cognitive functioning (Ohrmann et al., 2004). Most of the (pseudo-)atrophical changes in the brain structure seem to be reversible (Golden et al., 1996; Gunston et al., 1992; Hentschel et al., 1995; Mainz et al., 2012), which would support our aforementioned hypothesis of BDNF counteracting the adverse effects of undernutrition on the (developing) brain, even though our own serological studies did not provide support for apoptosis or necrosis of brain cells (Ehrlich et al., 2008a, 2008b). However, compensatory reparative processes or processes related to changes in neuronal cell size and dendritic arborisation might be intensified in acute patients with particularly severe undernutrition, cortical atrophy and temporarily decreased cognitive functioning.
Adolescent anorexia nervosa: Cognitive performance after weight recovery
2014, Journal of Psychosomatic Research
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From the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Adolescent Medicine and Department of Radiology, Division of Neuroradiology, Schneider Children's Hospital of Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New Hyde Park, New York
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Reprint requests: Neville H. Golden, MD, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Room 187, Schneider Children's Hospital of Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New Hyde Park, NY 11042.
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0022-3476/96/$5.00 + 0 9/27/70005