Phase 1 Study of Deep Brain Stimulation and Capsulotomy for the Treatment of Refractory Anorexia

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a serious eating disorder mostly affecting adolescent girls and young adult women. Although the etiology of AN is still unclear, it is unanimous that social, genetic and psychological factors appear to be involved in the onset and maintenance of this disorder. There are many methods in the treatment of AN, such as family therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychotherapy and so on. However, almost 50% of patients are refractory to all current medical treatment and never fully recover and the standardized mortality ratio over the first 10 years is about 10%. For treatment-refractory anorexia, stereotactic functional neurosurgery may be the better choice. Neurosurgery has been used in the treatment of mental diseases for more than fifty years. Deep brain stimulation and capsulotomy are the most used methods which has been proved effective in obsessive and compulsive disorders, depression and other psychiatric disorders. Many case reports indicate that deep brain stimulation or capsulotomy may be effective in the treatment of AN. As there are some common pathways between AN and other psychiatric disorders. The investigators have a hypothesis that deep brain stimulation and capsulotomy may be promising methods in the treatment of AN.