Grey matter deficit in long-term recovered anorexia nervosa patients

✍ Scribed by Andreas Joos; Armin Hartmann; Volkmar Glauche; Evgeniy Perlov; Thomas Unterbrink; Barbara Saum; Oliver Tüscher; Ludger Tebartz van Elst; Almut Zeeck

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 239 KB
• Volume: 19
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1072-4133
• DOI: 10.1002/erv.1060

✦ Synopsis

Objective: Cerebral grey matter (GM) reduction has repeatedly been shown in anorexia nervosa (AN). Evidence concerning completeness of GM restitution in recovered patients is contradictory. Methods: Five long-term recovered patients with AN were compared to symptomatic subjects and healthy controls using voxel-based morphometry. Whole brain GM, white matter and cerebrospinal fluid fractions were studied. Additionally, voxels that had shown significant GM reductions in symptomatic patients were investigated. Results: Recovered subjects had been severely affected when symptomatic (mean body mass index: 12.1 kg/m 2 ) and were in remission for a very long time period (>5 years). Whole brain tissue fractions did not differ from controls. Regional analysis showed persistent GM volume reduction, in particular of the precuneus. Conclusions: This study further supports the assumption that GM volume restitution is incomplete in subjects, who had previously been severely affected by anorexia nervosa. The meaning of GM reduction in long-term recovered AN patients, that is, its pathophysiological relevance, however, remains unclear. Furthermore, the precise aetiology of GM reduction remains an open question.