ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to assess social cognition in community patients suffering from anorexia nervosa (AN) compared to healthy controls.Methods25 women diagnosed with AN and 25 women matched for education level and age were involved in the study. Both subject groups were assessed using a set of validated experimental tasks, such as the facial expression recognition test, short recognition memory test for faces, ‘Reading the mind in the eyes’ test. Patients were assessed for symptoms of: eating disorder (the eating attitudes test—EAT-26), OCD (the Yale–Brown obsessive compulsive scale—Y-BOCS) and depression (Beck depression inventory—BDI). The research hypothesis indicated that patients suffering from anorexia represent no significant difference in social cognitive functioning in comparison to the healthy controls. These assessment scales were used to identify whether there are any problems according to social cognitive functioning especially emotion recognition and theory of mind (ToM). The primary outcome assessment was to identify social cognitive deficits in anorexic outpatients and secondary outcome was to verify whether these problems in emotional functioning found in women in acute phase of AN are state or trait effects.ResultsAnorexic patients showed significantly higher scores on EAT-26, BDI and Y-BOCS. No significant differences were found in performance of social cognitive tests and facial perception test.DiscussionNo marked alterations were found in social cognitive functioning in community patients with average body mass index (BMI) of 17.6. This may indicate that social cognition is a very complex construct to be reliably measured in anorexia nervosa considering relatively limited psychometric data for many social cognitive tasks. Further longitudinal studies are needed to untangle ongoing controversy whether social cognitive deficits in AN could be state or trait related.

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In this paper, we present a case of a 31-year-old patient with postpartum psychosis of an unusual course. In patients with antipsychotics, there have been significant complications of treatment in the form of a neuroleptic malignant syndrome. Because of the complications of pharmacological treatment, it was decided to withdraw antipsychotics and to use electroconvulsive therapy. Propofol was used for the anaesthesia of the patient; cisatracurium was used for muscle relaxation. In case of neuroleptic malignant syndrome, succinylcholine is contraindicated because of the increased risk of malignant hyperthermia. Due to the use of long-term anaesthetic agents, the patient required temporary intubation and respiratory support. A total of 8 ECT procedures were performed, complete disappearance of positive symptoms was achieved. After electroconvulsive treatment, aripiprazole 5 mg/d was administered, no significant complications were observed. The patient was discharged home with full mental status.