Preliminary study of magnetic resonance imaging characteristics in 8- to 16-year-olds with mania.
OBJECTIVE
To examine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics in children and adolescents with mania according to DSM-III-R criteria.


METHODS
A convenience sample of consecutively referred 8- to 16-year-old manic (n = 10) and normal (n = 5) subjects were assessed using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present Episode Version, the Children's Global Assessment Scale, and the Family History-Research Diagnostic Criteria. MRI scans were obtained from unsedated subjects using a 1.5 T MR scanner to acquire T1-weighted coronal and sagittal images and T2-weighted axial images. Images were assessed by blind clinical interpretation, ratings of T2-weighted deep white matter hyperintensities and petalia, and computer-assisted volumetric analysis of ventricular and cerebral volumes.


RESULTS
Eight of 10 manic subjects and all 5 controls completed the scans. Scans of 4 manic subjects and 1 control subject showed ventricular or white matter abnormalities by clinical interpretation. Significant findings were positive correlations between increasing age and both right and left ventricular volumes. Two of the 8 manic subjects and no controls had confluent subcortical hyperintensities.


CONCLUSIONS
MRI brain scanning was feasible in 8- to 16-year-olds. Preliminary findings from clinical interpretations and structured ratings suggest structural differences between young manic and normal subjects. Investigations of larger samples are needed to better characterize the differences.
Botteron
K N
KN
Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Vannier
M W
MW
Geller
B
B
Todd
R D
RD
Lee
B C
BC
D000293:Adolescent; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*