AI Article Synopsis

  • A 48-year-old woman with a long-term eating disorder called anorexia nervosa was found unconscious at home and taken to the hospital because her blood sugar was dangerously low and she had a severe lung infection.
  • Once at the hospital, she faced serious health problems linked to her anorexia and had difficulty recovering, including muscle weakness and brain issues.
  • This case is unique because, while the woman's low blood sugar usually leads to severe damage, she survived and was found to have a rare condition linked to her eating disorder, which had never been discussed before.

Article Abstract

Objective: To report the case of a 48-year female with chronic remitting anorexia nervosa who was found comatose at home and admitted to our hospital with a deep hypoglycemia (glucose level 0.6 mmol/L; 11 mg/dL) and septic shock secondary to a bilateral pneumonia.

Method: Case report.

Results: After admission to the critical care unit, she further displayed a number of pronounced complications known to be associated with anorexia, including hypophosphatemia, disturbed liver functions and depression of all three hematological cell lines. The neurological recovery of the patient was complicated by encephalopathy and transient tetraparesis. With initial deep hypoglycemia at presentation and persisting coma, magnetic resonance imaging performed 5 days later did not demonstrate characteristic post-hypoglycemic abnormalities. Neuroradiological examination did however reveal the presence of extensive calcifications in the basal ganglia known as Fahr's syndrome.

Discussion: The potential relation between anorexia nervosa and Fahr syndrome has not been described before. The fact that this patient survived a glucose level that is usually associated with a very poor outcome is probably related to its special origin.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eat.20863DOI Listing

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