The relationship between chronic PTSD,cortical volumetry and white matter microstructure among Australian combat veterans  

作　　者：Madeline Romaniuk Ying Xia Gina Fisher Kerstin Pannek Jurgen Fripp Justine Evans Stephen Rose 

机构地区：[1]Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation,Greenslopes Private Hospital,Greenslopes 4120,Australia [2]Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences,the University of Queensland,Saint Lucia 4067,Australia [3]The Australian E-Health Research Centre,CSIRO Health and Biosecurity,Herston 4029,Australia

出　　处：《Military Medical Research》2023年第3期313-324,共12页军事医学研究（英文版）

基　　金：RSL Queensland funded this study as part of the PTSD Initiative at the Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation.;The Australian Government Department of Veterans’Affairs provided transport for eligible participants。

摘　　要：Background:Posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD)has been associated with volumetric and white matter microstructural changes among general and veteran populations.However,regions implicated have greatly varied and often conflict between studies,potentially due to confounding comorbidities within samples.This study compared grey matter volume and white matter microstructure among Australian combat veterans with and without a lifetime diagnosis of PTSD,in a homogenous sample assessed for known confounding comorbidities.Methods:Sixty-eight male trauma-exposed veterans(16 PTSD-diagnosed;mean age 69 years)completed a battery of psychometric assessments and underwent magnetic resonance and diffusion tensor imaging.Analyses included tractbased spatial statistics,voxel-wise analyses,diffusion connectome-based group-wise analysis,and volumetric analysis.Results:Significantly smaller grey matter volumes were observed in the left prefrontal cortex(P=0.026),bilateral middle frontal gyrus(P=0.021),and left anterior insula(P=0.048)in the PTSD group compared to controls.Significant negative correlations were found between PTSD symptom severity and fractional anisotropy values in the left corticospinal tract(R^(2)=0.34,P=0.024)and left inferior cerebellar peduncle(R^(2)=0.62,P=0.016).No connectome-based differences in white matter properties were observed.Conclusions:Findings from this study reinforce reports of white matter alterations,as indicated by reduced fractional anisotropy values,in relation to PTSD symptom severity,as well as patterns of reduced volume in the prefrontal cortex.These results contribute to the developing profile of neuroanatomical differences uniquely attributable to veterans who suffer from chronic PTSD.

关 键 词：Posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD) VETERANS Diffusion tensor imaging Magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) Fractional anisotropy 

分 类 号：R82[医药卫生—临床医学]