Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T17:14:17.888Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Urogenital Malformations Associated with Anorexia Nervosa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Katherine A. Halmi
Affiliation:
University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 52240, U.S.A.
Constantine Rigas
Affiliation:
University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 52240, U.S.A.

Extract

Lindsten (5), Mellbin (7), and Pitts and Guze (8) have described a total of three cases of anorexia nervosa occurring in conjunction with gonosomal aneuploidy (Turner's syndrome or gonadal dysgenesis with XO sex chromosome pattern). The incidence of both conditions is low, and the small likelihood of their concurrent appearance in one individual by chance can be estimated from the following figures. According to Maclean et al. (6), the XO chromosome abnormality occurs in four out of 10,000 live births. Baikie et al. (1) have found that the incidence of the XO gonosome pattern in the general population is not significantly different from that at birth. Anorexia nervosa has an average annual incidence of 45 (Theander (9)) or 61 (Kidd and Wood (4)) cases per 10,000,000 people. On the assumption that the two conditions are independent, the probability of their occurring together would therefore be 0.18 to 0.24/100,000,000. Since the incidence data for the XO anomaly and for anorexia nervosa were obtained from different populations, it must be recognized that these figures are only order of magnitude estimates. Nevertheless, we considered it of interest to examine the available case records of anorexia nervosa patients seen at the University of Iowa Hospitals from 1920 to 1972 for Turner's syndrome and other anomalies of the urogenital tract.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1973 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Baikie, A. G., Garson, O. M., Weste, S. M. et al. (1966). ‘Numerical abnormalities of the X chromosome.’ Lancet, i, 398400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2 Bliss, E. L., and Branch, G. H. (1960). Anorexia Nervosa. New York: Paul B. Hoeber.Google Scholar
3 Feighner, J. P., Robins, E., Guze, S. B. et al. (1972). ‘Diagnostic criteria for use in psychiatric research.’ Arch. gen. Psychiat., 26, 5763.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4 Kidd, C. B., and Wood, J. F. (1966). ‘Some observations on anorexia nervosa.’ Postgrad, med. J., 42, 443–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5 Lindsten, J. (1963). The Nature and Origin of X Chromosome Observations in Turner‘s Syndrome. Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell.Google Scholar
6 Maclean, N., Harnden, D. G., Court Brown, W. M. et al. (1964). ‘Sex-chromosome abnormalities in newborn babies.’ Lancet, i, 286–90.Google Scholar
7 Mellbin, G. (1966). ‘Neuropsychiatrie disorders in sex chromatin negative women.’ Brit. J. Psychiat., 112, 145–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8 Pitts, F. N., and Guze, S. B. (1963). ‘Anorexia nervosa and gonadal dysgenesis (Turner's syndrome).’ Amer. J. Psychiat., 119, 1100–02.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9 Theander, S. (1970). ‘Anorexia nervosa.’ Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Supplementum 214.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.