White matter hyperintensity on magnetic resonance imaging: clinical and neuroanatomic correlates in the depressed elderly.
In a prospective study of depressed elderly patients referred for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), subcortical white matter hyperintensity (WMH) was seen in all 51 patients 60 years or older who received magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) prior to treatment. In over half of the patients the WMH was formally rated as at least moderately severe, and it was commonly associated with other structural brain changes. The majority (80%) of patients had late-age-onset depression, suggesting that structural brain changes may interact with aging to facilitate the emergency of depression in late life.
Coffey
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Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710.
Figiel
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Djang
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Saunders
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Weiner
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D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001284:Atrophy; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000473:pathology; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged