The 12-lead electrocardiogram in anorexia nervosa: A report of 2 cases followed by a retrospective study.
Anorexia nervosa (AN) has been associated with various cardiac disorders and several electrocardiographic abnormalities, the most prominent being sudden death and prolonged QT duration and dispersion. We report 2 cases of AN with marked repolarization abnormalities, the first clearly related to electrolyte imbalance, the second without a good explanation from metabolic, electrolytic or pharmacological sources. A retrospective analysis of 47 other consecutive patients with AN showed that sinus bradycardia was the most common ECG finding, but that QT or QTc interval prolongation was not a typical feature, being present in only 1 patient. The sole variable slightly correlated with QTc duration was the serum potassium concentration. Consequently, marked repolarization changes (QT interval and/or T wave morphology) in AN should not be taken as a feature of the disease, but should call for the search of potential causes such as metabolic and electrolytic disturbances, drug effects, or a possible genetic component.
Vanderdonckt
O
O
Department of Internal Medicine, Saint-Luc Hospital, and Faculty of Medicine, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Lambert
M
M
Montero
M C
MC
Boland
B
B
Brohet
C
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001146:Arrhythmia, Sinus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D001919:Bradycardia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014883:Water-Electrolyte Imbalance / Q000150:complications