[A case of anorectic dwarfism, its methods of care and their theories]

The management of a young female anorectic dwarf followed over ten years is studied. The author attempts to recognize specific earmarks in the patient's relationships during periods of resumed growth. Certain psychoanalytic [2, 5, 6, 9, 26, 36, 38, 52] and systemic [3, 12, 18, 32, 50], concepts are referred to as they provide material for understanding the relationships between self and self [45, 53], environment [11, 42], body [5, 6, 9, 36, 38, 56] and family [3, 13, 33, 49, 51, 57]. The author believes the periods of resumed weight gain, followed by statural gain, to be concomitant with decreases in the cleavages induced by the patient, and with a framing of her conflictual relationships. Further study is needed to confirm this hypothesis.