Brain changes in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder and associated alcoholism: MRI based study.
BACKGROUND
Studies imposing rigorous control over lifetime alcohol intake usually have not found smaller hippocampal volumes in persons with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Since the majority of negative studies have used adolescent samples, it has been suggested that chronicity is a necessary condition for such findings. We have hypothesized that the volumes of hippocampus, amygdale, prefrontal cortex and the intracranial volume are reduced in the patients with PTSD and excessive alcohol intake.


METHODS
Study has been carried out on 54 therapy naive PTSD suffering subjects and healthy controls, divided in two groups: 29 with PTSD and consequent alcoholism, 25 with PTSD but without problems of excessive alcohol intake, and 25 healthy volunteers. All of the patients underwent same magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol and volumetric evaluation of the region of interest.


RESULTS
Only hippocampal volume appeared to be significantly reduced in patients with PTSD and alcoholism. Other differences in the volumes obtained remained to be insignificant.


CONCLUSIONS
Alcohol intake definitely worsens the deterioration of the hippocampal formation in PTSD suffering patients. Nevertheless, other structures of interest for this study did not manifest any kind of statistical differences in volumetric analysis.
University of Belgrade, School of Medicine, Pasterova 2, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia.
Ana
A
Starčević
Ivan
I
Dimitrijević
Milan
M
Aksić
Lazar
L
Stijak
Vidosava
V
Radonjić
Dubravka
D
Aleksić
Branislav
B
Filipović
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013995:Time