Endocrine, metabolic, and cranial computed tomographic findings in anorexia nervosa

Computerized tomographic brain scans were completed in 50 inpatients with anorexia nervosa and were compared with an age- and sex-matched control group. Seventy percent of the anorectic patients displayed enlarged lateral ventricles. There was a close link between ventricular size and low weight, but not between ventricular size and duration of the eating disorder. In addition, sulcal widening was observed more frequently in patients with enlarged ventricles than in patients without these structural changes. After weight gain, a statistically significant decrease in ventricular dilatation could be observed even when mean ventricular size still far exceeded that of the control subjects. The analysis of the endocrine and metabolic parameters, known to be indicators for the process of starvation, revealed a significant inverse correlation between triiodothyronine and ventricular size. Various possible pathogenetic mechanisms for the morphological brain alterations in patients with eating disorders are discussed.