Risk for Cardiovascular Conditions Increased With Anorexia Nervosa Diagnosis

Significantly increased risks seen for major adverse cardiovascular events and any cardiovascular condition

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Dec. 19, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Patients with an anorexia nervosa (AN) diagnosis have an increased risk for cardiovascular conditions, according to a study published online Dec. 19 in JAMA Network Open.

Mei-Chih Meg Tseng, M.D., Ph.D., from Taipei Medical University in Taiwan, and colleagues examined the trajectories of cardiovascular condition risk in a nationwide cohort of patients with AN in Taiwan. Patients with AN and controls were identified through propensity score matching at a 1:10 ratio; the study population included 2,081 patients and 20,810 controls.

The researchers found that 4.8 and 0.8 percent of patients with AN and controls, respectively, had a major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) and 6.0 versus 2.3 percent had any cardiovascular condition. The cumulative incidence rates of MACE and any cardiovascular condition were 4.82 and 6.19 percent, respectively, at the five-year follow-up. The AN group had significantly higher risks for MACE and any cardiovascular condition compared with the control group (adjusted hazard ratios, 3.78 and 1.93, respectively). In the initial follow-up period, there were significantly increased risks for congenital heart failure, conduction disorder, and structural heart disease, which disappeared after 60 months of follow-up. The risk for ischemic heart disease was only increased after 60 months of follow-up (adjusted hazard ratio, 3.01).

“Clinicians should monitor comorbid cardiovascular conditions in patients with AN in different stages of treatment,” the authors write. “The underlying mechanisms for the intermediate-term outcome of ischemic heart disease warrant further investigation.”