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Long-term cardiac assessment in a sample of adolescent-onset anorexia nervosa
  • +6
  • Itziar Flamarique,
  • Bárbara Vidal,
  • Maria Teresa Plana,
  • Susana Andrés-Perpiñá,
  • Miguel Gárriz,
  • Paula Sanchez,
  • Carolina Pajuelo,
  • Luis Mont Girbau,
  • Josefina Castro-Fornieles
Itziar Flamarique
Hospital Clínic de Barcelona

Corresponding Author:itziar.flamarike@gmail.com

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Bárbara Vidal
Hospital Clínic de Barcelona
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Maria Teresa Plana
Hospital Clínic de Barcelona
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Susana Andrés-Perpiñá
Hospital Clinic de Barcelona
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Miguel Gárriz
Consorci Parc de Salut MAR de Barcelona
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Paula Sanchez
Hospital Clinic de Barcelona
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Carolina Pajuelo
Hospital Plató
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Luis Mont Girbau
Hospital Clinic de Barcelona
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Josefina Castro-Fornieles
Hospital Clínic de Barcelona
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Abstract

Purpose: To study cardiac structural and functional abnormalities some 20 years after initial treatment in a sample of adolescent-onset anorexia nervosa (A-AN) and to compare them with matched healthy controls (HC). Methods: A sample of 29 women diagnosed and treated for AN during adolescence (A-AN) were assessed more than 20 years later. A complete cardiac evaluation was carried out including an electrocardiogram (ECG) and a standard 2D echocardiography. Thirty matched HC were also assessed. Results: In the A-AN group, four subjects had a body mass index lower than 18.5 and met full DSM 5 criteria for AN at follow-up (Low-Weight group). They were compared with the rest of the sample (n=25) who had normalized their weight (Normal-Weight group), though some still showed some eating disorder symptoms. Both groups were compared with the HC group. Subjects in the Low-Weight group presented statistically significant decreases in the left ventricular end-diastolic and left atrium dimensions and left ventricular mass in comparison with the Normal-Weight group and the HC. No other differences in cardiac parameters were found between groups. Conclusions Echocardiographic and ECG parameters of adults who had presented A-AN twenty years earlier and currently maintained normal weight were similar to those of HC who had never been treated or diagnosed with AN. Adult subjects with A-AN who still had low weight in the long term present certain cardiac abnormalities similar to those seen in short-lasting disease. More studies are needed to confirm these results in a larger sample.