Refractory anorexia nervosa in adulthood and nucleus accumbens deep brain stimulation

Anorexia Nervosa is a life-threatening mental illness with numerous consequences. Some cases are chronic and refractory to multiple treatments. Consequently, there is great interest in therapeutic alternatives that may improve severe patients. We present an adult patient with anorexia nervosa that underwent to bilateral nucleus accumbens deep brain stimulation (NAc-DBS).

The patient was a healthy 46-year-old woman with higher education and an adequate premorbid socio-labour situation. Her disease had a late onset (25 years). The patient never presented clinical remission or weight stability. In recent years, the patient's body mass index (BMI) was 13.16 (32kg). The case was evaluated with multiple neuropsychological tests as well as the BMI before and after surgery. The clinical follow-up was 50 months. After bilateral NAc-DBS the patient experienced an important clinical benefit and significant improvement in neuropsychological tests and weight (BMI 17.28, 42 kg; 50th month) Programming: 4,5V, 130Hz, 210 µs.

Despite the patient´s age and the long duration of the disease, our results suggest that bilateral nucleus accumbens stimulation may be a useful and effective therapeutic strategy for cases such as the one presented. Additionally, this case presents a surgical midlife patient with both the latest disease onset and the longest follow-up after treatment in the literature.