title: Abnormalities of white matter integrity in the corpus callosum of adolescents with PTSD after childhood sexual abuse: a DTI study.
abstract: This study seeks to determine whether white matter integrity in the brain differs between adolescents with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and matched healthy adolescents and whether there is a relationship between white matter integrity and symptom severity in the patient group. Using 3T diffusion tensor imaging, we examined fractional anisotropy (FA) in a group of adolescents with CSA-related PTSD (n = 20) and matched healthy controls (n = 20), in a region of interest consisting of the bilateral uncinate fasciculus (UF), the genu, splenium and body of the corpus callosum (CC), and the bilateral cingulum. In addition, we performed an exploratory whole brain analysis. Trauma symptomatology was measured with the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) to enable correlational analyses between FA differences and trauma symptomatology. The PTSD group had significantly lower FA values in the genu, midbody and splenium of the CC in comparison with controls (p < 0.05, tfce corrected). Post hoc analyses of the eigenvalues of the DTI scan showed increased radial and mean diffusivity in the patient group. In addition, we found a significant negative correlation between scores on the anger subscale of the TSCC and FA values in the left body of the CC in patients (p < 0.05). Adolescents with CSA-related PTSD show decreased FA in the CC, with abnormalities in the integrity of the left body of the CC being related to anger symptoms. These findings suggest that early trauma exposure affects the development of the CC, which may play a role in the pathophysiology of PTSD in adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Curium-LUMC, Academic Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Oegstgeest, The Netherlands. m.a.w.rinne@curium.nl.
authors.forename: Mirjam A W
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rinne-Albers
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, The Netherlands.|Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Steven J A
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: van der Werff
authors.affiliation: Curium-LUMC, Academic Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Oegstgeest, The Netherlands.|Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands.|Psychotraumacenter and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, GGZ Rivierduinen, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marie-José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: van Hoof
authors.affiliation: Curium-LUMC, Academic Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Oegstgeest, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Natasja D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: van Lang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology and Education, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Francien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lamers-Winkelman
authors.affiliation: Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands.|Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, The Netherlands.|Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Serge A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Rombouts
authors.affiliation: Curium-LUMC, Academic Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Oegstgeest, The Netherlands.|Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands.|Institute of Psychology and Education, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Robert R J M
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Vermeiren
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, The Netherlands.|Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Nic J A
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: van der Wee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
keywords: Adolescents; Diffusion tensor imaging; Neuroimaging; PTSD; Sexual abuse