Portal hypertension in prolonged anorexia nervosa with laxative abuse: a case report with liver and kidney biopsy data.

PURPOSE: We previously reported three cases of portal hypertension in patients with prolonged anorexia nervosa (AN) with laxative abuse and self-induced vomiting; we now report a fourth, similar case. METHODS: A 34-year-old woman with anorexia nervosa, binge-eating/purging type (AN-BP), presented to the Kohnodai Hospital National Center for Global Health and Medicine Psychosomatic Medicine Department for treatment of low body weight. We conducted hepatic and renal biopsies and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) to evaluate her complicated liver disease, renal failure, and cardiac insufficiency, respectively. RESULTS: Enhanced computed tomography revealed ascites, splenomegaly, and gastroesophageal varices, indicating portal hypertension. The liver and kidney biopsies demonstrated chronic hepatitis without evidence of hepatic cirrhosis and tubulointerstitial nephritis, respectively. CMR demonstrated decreased myocardial mass. CONCLUSION: We found tubulointerstitial nephritis and decreased myocardial mass in a patient with non-cirrhotic portal hypertension and prolonged AN with laxative abuse and habitual self-induced vomiting. We propose that reciprocal interactions between multiple factors related to AN, including laxative toxicity, dehydration, renal disorder, and cardiac insufficiency, result in portal hypertension. Level of Evidence Level V.

Cognitive behavioral therapy with interoceptive exposure and complementary video materials for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): protocol for a multicenter randomized controlled trial in Japan.

BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence of the treatment efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). CBT is recommended by several practice guidelines for patients with IBS if lifestyle advice or pharmacotherapy has been ineffective. Manual-based CBT using interoceptive exposure (IE), which focuses on the anxiety response to abdominal symptoms, has been reported to be more effective than other types of CBT. One flaw of CBT use in general practice is that it is time and effort consuming for therapists. Therefore, we developed a set of complementary video materials that include psycho-education and homework instructions for CBT patients, reducing time spent in face-to-face sessions while maintaining treatment effects. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of CBT-IE with complementary video materials (CBT-IE-w/vid) in a multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT). METHODS: This study will be a multicenter, parallel-design RCT. Participants diagnosed with IBS according to the Rome IV diagnostic criteria will be randomized to either the treatment as usual (TAU) group or the CBT-IE-w/vid + TAU group. CBT-IE-w/vid consists of 10 sessions (approximately 30 min face-to-face therapy + viewing a video prior to each session). Patients in the CBT-IE-w/vid group will be instructed to pre- view 3- to 13-min videos at home prior to each face-to-face therapy visit at a hospital. The primary outcome is the severity of IBS symptoms. All participants will be assessed at baseline, mid-treatment, post-treatment, and follow-up (3 months after post assessment). The sample will include 60 participants in each group. DISCUSSION: To our knowledge, this study will be the first RCT of manual-based CBT for IBS in Japan. By using psycho-educational video materials, the time and cost of therapy will be reduced. Manual based CBTs for IBS have not been widely adopted in Japan to date. If our CBT-IE-w/vid program is confirmed to be more effective than TAU, it will facilitate dissemination of cost-effective manual-based CBT in clinical settings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered to the University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trial Registry: UMIN, No. UMIN000030620 (Date of registration: December 28, 2017).