Increased number of subcortical hyperintensities on MRI in children and adolescents with Tourette's syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether cerebral hyperintensities on T2-weighted magnetic resonance images (MRI) are associated with childhood neuropsychiatric disorders.


METHODS
The authors compared the frequency of cortical and subcortical cerebral hyperintensities in 100 children and adolescents with Tourette's syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 32 healthy comparison subjects.


RESULTS
The frequency of cerebral hyperintensities was significantly higher in subjects with Tourette's syndrome, OCD, or ADHD than in healthy comparison subjects; each diagnostic group seemed to contribute to this effect. Among the patient groups, the likelihood of detecting cerebral hyperintensities in the subcortex (primarily the basal ganglia and thalamus) was significantly greater than in the cortex.


CONCLUSIONS
A childhood diagnosis of Tourette's syndrome, OCD, or ADHD significantly increased the likelihood of detecting cerebral hyperintensities, particularly in the subcortex, supporting the notion that subcortical injury may play a role in the pathophysiology of these conditions.
Amat
Jose A
JA
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Dr., Unit 74, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Bronen
Richard A
RA
Saluja
Sanjay
S
Sato
Noriko
N
Zhu
Hongtu
H
Gorman
Daniel A
DA
Royal
Jason
J
Peterson
Bradley S
BS
D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005917:Globus Pallidus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D013788:Thalamus / Q000473:pathology; D005879:Tourette Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology