title: Structural brain alterations in bipolar disorder II: a combined voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Brain structural changes have been described in bipolar disorder (BP), but usually studies focused on both I and II subtypes indiscriminately and investigated changes in either brain volume or white matter (WM) integrity. We used combined voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) analysis to track changes in the grey matter (GM) and WM in the brains of patients affected by BPII, as compared to healthy controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using VBM and DTI, we scanned 20 DSM-IV-TR BPII patients in their euthymic phase and 21 healthy, age- and gender-matched volunteers with no psychiatric history.
  
  
  RESULTS
  VBM showed decreases in GM of BPII patients, compared to controls, which were diffuse in nature and most prominent in the right middle frontal gyrus and in the right superior temporal gurus. DTI showed significant and widespread FA reduction in BPII patients in all major WM tracts, including cortico-cortical association tracts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The small sample size limits the generalisability of our findings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Reduced GM volumes and WM integrity changes in BPII patients are not prominent like those previously reported in bipolar disorder type-I and involve cortical structures and their related association tracts.
authors.affiliation: Neurosciences, Mental Health, and Sensory Organs (NESMOS) Department, Sapienza University, School of Medicine and Psychology, Unit of Psychiatry, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Via di Grottarossa 1035-1039, Rome 00189, Italy. ambrosi.e@libero.it
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ambrosi
authors.forename: Maria Camilla
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Rossi-Espagnet
authors.forename: Georgios D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Kotzalidis
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Comparelli
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Del Casale
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carducci
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Manfredi
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tatarelli
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bozzao
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Girardi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000473:pathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated; D009929:Organ Size
keywords: Bipolar disorder; Diffusion tensor imaging; Type II; Voxel-based morphometry