Abstract

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is characterized by restricted eating, emaciation, and distorted body image and tends to be a chronic and deadly disorder with a high risk of developing a relapsing course described as a severe and enduring anorexia. This case study reports a patient with AN with comorbid depression and anxiety who was treated by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Our patient’s first hospitalization in our ED clinic was at the age of 25 in 2012. Her anorexia symptoms have been developing over 1.5 years. The body mass index (BMI) at admission was 12.21 kg/m². She was stimulated by use of a MAGSTIM Super Rapid 2 device, every Monday through Friday (5 days a week) with the frequency 10 Hz, 15 trains/day, 100 pulses/train, intertrain interval 107 s for 10 days. The specific spot of stimulation was over the left DLPFC. The therapy was evaluated, both by the team and by the patient, as ineffective. Shortly after the therapy was finished, the patient was discharged with final weight of 46 kg and BMI 13.15 kg/m². We showed, that despite our positive clinical experiences with rTMS therapy in depression and anxiety, the treatment of AN and comorbid depressive disorder with anxious distress, our patient’s anorexic, anxious, and depressive symptoms remained unaffected. In this case, only invasive medical intervention helped the patient to reach normal weight, but without any significant changes in her psychology. This case study shows the need for further investigation of the influence that body weight might have and whether the number of sessions has an effect on rTMS efficacy.

Keywords: Anxiety, Depression, Eating Disorders, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation