title: Decreased gray matter volume in the left hippocampus and bilateral calcarine cortex in coal mine flood disaster survivors with recent onset PTSD.
abstract: Although limbic structure changes have been found in chronic and recent onset post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients, there are few studies about brain structure changes in recent onset PTSD patients after a single extreme and prolonged trauma. In the current study, 20 coal mine flood disaster survivors underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and region of interest (ROI) techniques were used to detect the gray matter and white matter volume changes in 10 survivors with recent onset PTSD and 10 survivors without PTSD. The correlation between the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and gray matter density in the ROI was also studied. Compared with survivors without PTSD, survivors with PTSD had significantly decreased gray matter volume and density in left anterior hippocampus, left parahippocampal gyrus, and bilateral calcarine cortex. The CAPS score correlated negatively with the gray matter density in bilateral calcarine cortex and left hippocampus in coal mine disaster survivors. Our study suggests that the gray matter volume and density of limbic structure decreased in recent onset PTSD patients who were exposed to extreme trauma. PTSD symptom severity was associated with gray matter density in calcarine cortex and hippocampus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710032, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Qingrong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Xiaoliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huan
authors.forename: Lihua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Huaihai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Junqing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Lingjiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D003032:Coal Mining; D004190:Disasters; D055868:Floods; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data