[Severe anorexia nervosa: five fatal cases].

The Centre for Eating Disorders at Odense University Hospital receives about 140 patients yearly. We reviewed the five lethal cases that occurred during the last 10 years. None of the patients died from suicide, which is unexpected, because patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) are known to have an increased suicide rate. Although compulsory treatment has shown to be efficient in treating AN, only three of the five patients were compulsorily admitted and only one was admitted several times. Dropout remains a significant problem in the treatment of AN, as four out of the five patients died after they had dropped out of the treatment program.