title: [Anorexia nervosa: a follow-up of nutritional, hormonal and psychiatric parameters].
abstract: Well known is the need to treat "acute onset" Anorexia Nervosa in care units. Nevertheless even the "successfully treated" patients show a very high percentage of relapse. The aim of our study has been to revalue different clinical, nutritional (hemoglobin, transferrin, IGF1), hormonal (thyroid function, gonadotropins) and psychiatric (EDI: Eating Disorder Inventory Test) parameters in a group of nineteen women aged 20-34 years (median 27 years) admitted to our department 1-11 years (median 6 years) before for anorexia nervosa treatment. On admission their weight loss was -33% +/- 10% according to Ideal Body Weight (IBW); a "low T3 syndrome" was present and all the patients not treated with estro-progestins were amenorrhoic. After a long hospitalization (median 51 days) the patients showed a significant decrease in weight loss (25% +/- 6%; p < 0.01). At follow-up seventeen patients had a weight better than at discharge (13% +/- 12%; p < 0.01) and 9/17 patients non treated with estro-progestins had spontaneous menses. Nutritional (hemoglobin*: 13 +/- 0.2 g%, transferrin*: 313 +/- 57 mg%, IGF-1: 187 +/- 15 ng/ml) and hormonal (LH*: 9.4 +/- 1 mUI/ml, FSH*: 15 +/- 1.3 mUI/ml, T3: 1 +/- 1 ng/ml) parameters were significantly improved (*p < 0.01, p < 0.05) compared to those at admission (hemoglobin: 12 +/- 0.2 g%, transferrin: 218 +/- 58 mg%, IGF-1: 154 +/- 21 ng/ml, LH: 5.6 +/- 0.8 mUI/ml, FSH: 9.5 +/- 1 mUI/ml, T3: 0.8 +/- 1 ng/ml). The EDI test has shown a persistence of anorexic condition ("overt" or latent) in 2/3 of patients. This study confirms the endocrine and nutritional modifications of anorexia nervosa and underlines the persistence of psychiatric ones in a great number of patients including the "clinically cured", justifying long-term follow-up and the high percentage of disease relapse.
authors.affiliation: Cattedra di Endocrinologia, Università degli Studi, Genova.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Foppiani
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Uva
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Falivene
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Valenti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Traversa
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rasore
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giusti
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000568:Amenorrhea / Q000175:diagnosis; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D005067:Euthyroid Sick Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006728:Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012008:Recurrence
chemical_list: D006728:Hormones
vernacular_title: Anoressia nervosa: follow-up di parametri nutrizionali, ormonali e psichiatrici.