Pericardial Effusions in Adolescent Girls With Anorexia Nervosa: Clinical Course and Risk Factors |
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| Authors: | Martine K. F. Docx Marc Gewillig Annik Simons Philippe Vandenberghe Joost Weyler JosÉ Ramet |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Paediatrics, Chronic Diseases, and Hypertension, Queen Paola Children's Hospital , Antwerp, Belgium martine.docx@zna.be;3. Department of Paediatric Cardiology, University Hospitals Leuven , Leuven, Belgium;4. Department of Child Psychology, Queen Paola Children's Hospital;5. and University of Antwerp , Antwerp, Belgium;6. Department of Paediatric Cardiology, Queen Paola Children's Hospital , Antwerp, Belgium;7. Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Antwerp , Antwerp, Belgium;8. Department of Paediatrics, Queen Paola Children's Hospital , Antwerp, Belgium |
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| Abstract: | The aim of this study was to evaluate cardiac, biochemical and endocrine differences between female adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN) with and without pericardial effusions. We studied 128 female adolescents (9.8–17.7 years) with anorexia nervosa (AN) diagnosed according to DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994 American Psychiatric Association. 1994. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th, Washington, DC: Author. [Google Scholar]) criteria. They all underwent an echocardiographic evaluation. In 29 patients (22.2 %) a pericardial effusion (ranging between ≥ 0.35–2.5 cm) was noted. None of the patients were clinically symptomatic. After 3 months of refeeding, the effusions disappeared in 18/29 patients while in 7/29 patients a pericardial effusion > 0.3 cm persisted. Risk factors for development of effusions were a BMI ≤ 13,5 kg/m², weight loss ≥ 25% and IGF-1-level ≤100 ng/ml. Pericardial effusions are common in adolescent AN patients. They are mostly asymptomatic not requiring any intervention and spontaneously regress with refeeding. They are more common in the patients with the most significant weight loss. |
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