Anorexia Nervosa in Thai Male Adolescents: Case Report
Siriwan Piyawattanametha MD¹, Kusalaporn Chaiudomsom MD¹, Suchaorn Saengnipanthkul MD², Suwannee Wisanuyotin MD², Rosawan Areemit MD²
Affiliation : ¹ Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand ² Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder that is uncommonly reported from developing countries such as Thailand. The authors aim to
report the clinical presentation and course of two Thai adolescent males, one with restricting type and one with binge-purge type. The first was
a 16-year-old boy who presented with facial puffiness, bilateral leg edema, normotensive bradycardia, chronic kidney disease, and persistent
metabolic alkalosis. Diagnosis of AN binge-purge type, mild severity was made. Beyond clinical presentation, this case highlights the relevance of
psychosocial assessments for adolescents. The second patient was a 13-year-old boy who presented with significant weight loss, sinus bradycardia,
hypercholesterolemia, transaminitis, and euthyroid sick syndrome secondary to AN extreme severity. This patient’s presentation was typical
for AN and highlights the severity of the illness that can present in male adolescents. Both lived in rural regions of Northeastern Thailand and
experienced symptoms as young as 13 and 12 years of age. Even though, AN is uncommon in males, two cases presented at the authors’ tertiary
care center in two consecutive years. Each case had different subtypes, but what they had in common were low to middle socioeconomic status
and living in rural areas, which confirms that AN is found in both females and males in Asian cultures. Further studies to estimate the prevalence
of eating disorders should be done to understand the disease in both male and female Thais.
Received 23 November 2020 | Revised 10 March 2021 | Accepted 11 March 2021
doi.org/10.35755/jmedassocthai.2021.05.12240
Keywords : eating disorder, male, Asian, renal insufficiency, depression, adolescent
