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BMC Psychiatry
Published in: BMC Psychiatry 1/2020

01-12-2020 | Anorexia Nervosa | Case report

Case report: cognitive performance in an extreme case of anorexia nervosa with a body mass index of 7.7

Authors: Simone Daugaard Hemmingsen, Mia Beck Lichtenstein, Alia Arif Hussain, Jan Magnus Sjögren, René Klinkby Støving

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2020

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Abstract

Background

Studies show that adult patients with anorexia nervosa display cognitive impairments. These impairments may be caused by illness-related circumstances such as low weight. However, the question is whether there is a cognitive adaptation to enduring undernutrition in anorexia nervosa. To our knowledge, cognitive performance has not been assessed previously in a patient with anorexia nervosa with a body mass index as low as 7.7 kg/m2.

Case presentation

We present the cognitive profile of a 35-year-old woman with severe and enduring anorexia nervosa who was diagnosed at the age of 10 years. She was assessed with a broad neuropsychological test battery three times during a year. Her body mass index was 8.4, 9.3, and 7.7 kg/m2, respectively. Her general memory performance was above the normal range and she performed well on verbal and design fluency tasks. Her working memory and processing speed were within the normal range. However, her results on cognitive flexibility tasks (set-shifting) were below the normal range.

Conclusions

The case study suggests that it is possible to perform normally cognitively despite extreme and chronic malnutrition though set-shifting ability may be affected. This opens for discussion whether patients with anorexia nervosa can maintain neuropsychological performance in spite of extreme underweight and starvation.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02502617. Registered 20 July 2015.
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Metadata
Title
Case report: cognitive performance in an extreme case of anorexia nervosa with a body mass index of 7.7
Authors
Simone Daugaard Hemmingsen
Mia Beck Lichtenstein
Alia Arif Hussain
Jan Magnus Sjögren
René Klinkby Støving
Publication date
01-12-2020
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2020
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-020-02701-1

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