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Evaluation of gray matter reduction in patients with typhoon-related posttraumatic stress disorder using causal network analysis of structural MRI

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 September 2020

Hui Juan Chen ,
Rongfeng Qi ,
Jun Ke ,
Jie Qiu ,
Qiang Xu ,
Yuan Zhong ,
Guang Ming Lu  and
Feng Chen
Hui Juan Chen*
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Hainan General Hospital (Hainan Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University), NO. 19, XIUHUA ST, XIUYING DIC, Haikou, 570311, Hainan, P.R. China
Rongfeng Qi
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210002, China
Jun Ke
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210002, China Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province 215006, China
Jie Qiu
Affiliation:
Department of Ultrasound, Hainan General Hospital (Hainan Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University), NO. 19, XIUHUA ST, XIUYING DIC, Haikou, 570311, Hainan, P.R. China
Qiang Xu
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210002, China
Yuan Zhong
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210002, China
Guang Ming Lu
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210002, China
Feng Chen*
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Hainan General Hospital (Hainan Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University), NO. 19, XIUHUA ST, XIUYING DIC, Haikou, 570311, Hainan, P.R. China
*
Author for correspondence: Feng Chen, E-mail: fenger0802@163.com
Author for correspondence: Feng Chen, E-mail: fenger0802@163.com
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Abstract

Background

The structural changes recent-onset posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) subjects were rarely investigated. This study was to compare temporal and causal relationships of structural changes in recent-onset PTSD with trauma-exposed control (TEC) subjects and non-TEC subjects.

Methods

T1-weighted magnetic resonance images of 27 PTSD, 33 TEC and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy control (HC) subjects were studied. The causal network of structural covariance was used to evaluate the causal relationships of structural changes in PTSD patients.

Results

Volumes of bilateral hippocampal and left lingual gyrus were significantly smaller in PTSD patients and TEC subjects than HC subjects. As symptom scores increase, reduction in gray matter volume began in the hippocampus and progressed to the frontal lobe, then to the temporal and occipital cortices (p < 0.05, false discovery rate corrected). The hippocampus might be the primary hub of the directional network and demonstrated positive causal effects on the frontal, temporal and occipital regions (p < 0.05, false discovery rate corrected). The frontal regions, which were identified to be transitional points, projected causal effects to the occipital lobe and temporal regions and received causal effects from the hippocampus (p < 0.05, false discovery rate corrected).

Conclusions

The results offer evidence of localized abnormalities in the bilateral hippocampus and remote abnormalities in multiple temporal and frontal regions in typhoon-exposed PTSD patients.

Keywords

Causal network analysisgray matterhippocampus gyrusposttraumatic stress disorder
Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 52 , Issue 8 , June 2022 , pp. 1481 - 1490
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

*

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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