title: MRI-defined vascular depression: a review of the construct.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review the construct of MRI-defined vascular depression and to examine the substantive and methodological issues that bear on its validity as a distinct subtype of depression in late life.
  
  
  METHODS
  Literature review.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified three areas that are critical to establishing the validity of MRI-defined vascular depression: (1) understanding and delineating the relationship between MRI hyperintensities, executive dysfunction, and antidepressant treatment outcome; (2) understanding the relationship between, and establishing the validity of, qualitative and quantitative approaches to the measurement of MRI hyperintensities (the primary feature of the proposed subtype); (3) establishing the clinical presentation and course of the subtype in the context of other late-life disorders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite considerable data supporting the validity of MRI-defined vascular depression, there are a number of critical issues that remain, including establishing a causal relationship between cerebrovascular disease and late-life depression, establishing consistent diagnostic criteria, determining the importance of lesion type and location, and understanding the course of the disorder.
authors.affiliation: The Graduate Center, City University of New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Michelle E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Culang-Reinlieb
authors.forename: Lauren C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Johnert
authors.forename: Adam M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Brickman
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Steffens
authors.forename: Ernst
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Garcon
authors.forename: Joel R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Sneed
mesh_terms: D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D015203:Reproducibility of Results