Anorexia Nervosa

Clinical Presentation of Bacteremia in Anorexia Nervosa

October 31, 2023

Advances in Clinical and Medical Sciences

By Leah Puckett, MD, MPH Philip S. Mehler, MD, FACP, FAED, CEDS Dennis Gibson, MD, FACP, CEDS

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Abstract

Objective: To better understand the presentation of bacteremia in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). Method: In this retrospective study, 10 patients with AN and bacteremia were compared to 10 AN patients without bacteremia.

Results: Patients with bacteremia had significantly elevated tachycardia and fever compared to the control group but respiratory rate, white blood cell count, and blood pressure remained similar between the two groups. Systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria (SIRS) and quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) were not useful tools in predicting severe infection in the studied population.

Conclusions: Patients with AN may not manifest the typical physiologic changes associated with a severe infection, and current scoring assessments may be unhelpful in clinical decision-making.

Written by

Leah Puckett, MD, MPH

Dr. Leah Puckett has been with ACUTE as a hospitalist since 2018. Dr. Puckett is also an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She completed her…

Written by

Philip S. Mehler, MD, FACP, FAED, CEDS

Dr. Philip Mehler, MD, FACP, FAED, CEDS founded the ACUTE Center for Eating Disorders and Severe Malnutrition in 2001 and serves as its Executive Medical Director. He began his career at Denver Health…

Written by

Dennis Gibson, MD, FACP, CEDS

Dennis Gibson, MD, FACP, CEDS serves as the Clinical Operations Director at ACUTE. Dr. Gibson joined ACUTE in 2017 and has since dedicated his clinical efforts to the life-saving medical care of…