title: Fire-related post-traumatic stress disorder: brain 1H-MR spectroscopic findings.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the MR imaging and (1)H-MR spectroscopic findings of acute fire-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixteen patients (M:F=10:6; mean age, 16 years) with fire-related PTSD underwent MR imaging and (1)H-MR spectroscopy, and for control purposes, the procedures were repeated in eight age-matched normal volunteers. In all patients and controls, the regions of interest where data were acquired at MRS were the basal ganglia (BG), frontal periventricular white matter (FWM), and parietal periventricular white matter (PWM).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In all patients with PTSD, MR images appeared normal. In contrast, MRS showed that in the BG, NAA/Cr ratios were significantly lower in patients than in volunteers. This decrease did not, however, show close correlation with the severity of the neuropsychiatric symptoms. In patients, neither NAA/Cr ratios in FWM nor PWM, nor Cho/Cr ratios in all three regions, were significantly different from those in the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Decreased NAA/Cr ratios in the BG, as seen at (1)H-MRS, might be an early sign of acute fire-related PTSD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Inha University Hospital College of Medicine, Choong-gu, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Myung Kwan
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Chang Hae
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.forename: Hyung Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sung Tae
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jeong Seop
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Min Hee
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Ji Hye
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jung Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005390:Fires; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine