title: A voxel-based morphometric MRI study of stabilized obsessive-compulsive adolescent patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to determine whether treated stabilized adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) present brain structure differences in comparison with healthy control subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-seven adolescents with already-treated OCD and 27 healthy controls matched by age, sex and estimated intellectual level were assessed by means of psychopathological scales and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Axial three-dimensional T1-weighted images were obtained in a 1.5 T scanner and analyzed using optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with controls, stabilized patients with OCD did not present any statistical differences in the whole brain. However, a small volume correction analysis yielded significant results that survived correction for multiple comparisons, showing decreased white matter (WM) volume in a small area of the parietal cortex (t=3.39, p=0.045 FWE (family wise error)-corrected) of OCD patients in comparison with healthy controls. There was no significant correlation between decreased WM volume in the parietal cortex and obsessive-compulsive symptomatology.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There were no global significant differences in either gray matter (GM) or WM. Small differences were found between adolescent patients with stabilized OCD and healthy controls as regards in WM volume in right parietal areas. The parietal lobe may play a role in the pathophysiology of OCD, even in clinically stabilized patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, Institute of Neurosciences, Hospital Clínic Universitari, Barcelona, Spain. llazaro@clinic.ub.es
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lázaro
authors.forename: Josefina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castro-Fornieles
authors.forename: Clàudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cullell
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andrés
authors.forename: Carles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Falcón
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Calvo
authors.forename: Nuria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bargalló
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology*; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000473:pathology*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000473:pathology