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Psychopharmacological options for adult patients with anorexia nervosa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2015

Mario Miniati ,
Mauro Mauri ,
Agnese Ciberti ,
Michela Giorgi Mariani ,
Donatella Marazziti  and
Liliana Dell’Osso
Mario Miniati*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Mauro Mauri
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Agnese Ciberti
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Michela Giorgi Mariani
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Donatella Marazziti
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Liliana Dell’Osso
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
*
*Address for correspondence: Mario Miniati, MD, Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, 57 Via Roma, Pisa, Italy. (Email: m.miniati@psico.med.unipi.it)
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Abstract

The aim of this review was to summarize evidence from research on psychopharmacological options for adult patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). Database searches of MEDLINE and PsycINFO (from January 1966 to January 2014) were performed, and original articles published as full papers, brief reports, case reports, or case series were included. Forty-one papers were screened in detail, and salient characteristics of pharmacological options for AN were summarized for drug classes. The body of evidence for the efficacy of pharmacotherapy in AN was unsatisfactory, the quality of observations was questionable (eg, the majority were not blinded), and sample size was often small. More trials are needed, while considering that nonresponse and nonremission are typical of patients with AN.

Keywords

Anorexia nervosaantidepressantsantipsychoticseating disorderspharmacological treatment
Type
Review Articles
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , April 2016 , pp. 134 - 142
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2015 

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