Purpose@#
Eating disorders often result in somatic
complications, including cardiac
abnormalities. Cardiac
abnormalities may involve any part of the
heart, including the cardiac conduction system, and can
lead to
sudden cardiac death. The current study aimed to evaluate the
incidence of cardiac
complications in pediatric
patients with
eating disorders and their associated factors. @*
Methods@#We retrospectively analyzed
patients aged 10–18 years
who were diagnosed with
DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorder-V)
eating disorders and underwent
electrocardiography (
ECG) and/or
echocardiography between January 2015 and May 2020. @*Results@#In total, 127
patients were included, of whom 113 (89.0%) were
female. The median
body mass index (BMI) was 15.05±3.69 kg/m2 . Overall, 74
patients (58.3%) had
ECG abnormalities, with sinus
bradycardia being the most common abnormality (91.9%).
Patients with
ECG abnormalities had significantly lower BMI (14.35±2.78 kg/m2 vs. 16.06± 4.55 kg/m2 , p<0.001) than
patients without
ECG abnormalities, as well as lower
phosphorus and higher
cholesterol levels. Among the 46
patients who underwent echocardiographic evaluation, 23 (50.0%) had echocardiographic
abnormalities, with
pericardial effusion being the most common (60.9%). The median left ventricular mass (LVM) and ejection fraction were 67.97±21.25 g and 66.91±28.76%, respectively. LVM and BMI showed a positive correlation (r=0.604, p<0.001). After
weight gain, the amount of
pericardial effusion was reduced in 3
patients, and 30
patients presented with normal
ECG findings. @*Conclusion@#Cardiac
abnormalities are relatively frequent in
patients with
eating disorders.
Physicians should focus on this somatic complication and careful
monitoring is required.