ANOREXIA NERVOSA TREATED BY PREFRONTAL LOBOTOMY*

Excerpt

This paper deals with a refractory case of anorexia nervosa treated by prefrontal lobotomy.

Anorexia nervosa may develop on the basis of many factors, but it is primarily associated with a psychic background.¹ It has been pointed out by Berkman² that there is a wide line of demarcation between undernourishment and anorexia. This point had been expressed previously by Gull³ when he considered that anorexia nervosa was a condition resulting from starvation. Voluntary or forced starvation in itself presents a picture similar to true anorexia nervosa, and extensive studies⁴ have given no evidence of a primary metabolic disorder. Most patients