Abstract: A case study is described in which a 23 year-old female model who had been practicing a routine of interspersing 3-4 days of complete starvation with bouts of gorging, died shortly after hospital admission from abdominal distension. The night before admission the subject had eaten, at 1 meal, 19 pounds of food. She was admitted with abdominal pain, a grossly swollen abdomen, and severe respiratory stress. Necropsy and clinical examination revealed extensive bleeding into the submucosal layers of the stomach and small intestine, pervasive bowel invasion by Clostridium perfringens, massive abdominal distension, diaphragmatic splitting, a high serum potassium level, and the stomach wall was torn. The patient died 1 hour after surgery had been abandoned. A history from her next of kin revealed that the patient had been excessively concerned about her weight for several years. (wz)