Abnormal thalamic volume in treatment-naïve boys with Tourette syndrome.
OBJECTIVE
Thalamic abnormality has been implicated in the pathophysiology of Tourette's syndrome (TS). We examined the presence of aberrant thalamic volume from the treatment-naïve boys with TS using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).


METHODS
Volumetric MRI was performed on 18 treatment-naïve boys with TS, aged 7-14 years, and 16 healthy comparison subjects. The anatomical boundaries were then manually parcellated to measure the thalamic volume.


RESULTS
Tourette's syndrome subjects had a significantly larger left thalamus in comparison with those of healthy subjects. On the contrary, no group difference was observed from the right thalamic volume. TS subjects also showed a significant reduction in rightward asymmetry in thalamic volume compared with the healthy subjects.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings provide new evidence of abnormal thalamic volume in pediatric TS.
Lee
J-S
JS
Department of Psychiatry, Inha University Hospital and College of Medicine, Incheon, South Korea. soulfree@inha.ac.kr
Yoo
S-S
SS
Cho
S-Y
SY
Ock
S-M
SM
Lim
M-K
MK
Panych
L P
LP
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D013788:Thalamus / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005879:Tourette Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*