The case presented describes a 24-year-old female with mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke (MELAS) who was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa (AN) and treated for the eating disorder for two years before her mitochondrial cytopathy was detected. Upon closer scrutiny of her symptoms, she did not have body image disturbance and thus did not meet criteria for AN despite a body mass index (BMI) of 12 and significant reduction of food intake. Additionally, neurological and gastrointestinal symptoms, for which an eating disorder could not account, were present, prompting a broadening of the differential leading to the correct diagnosis. Eating disorder symptoms have been documented to occur comorbidly with a mitochondrial cytopathy but not as a presenting syndrome in the absence of an eating disorder as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.