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

Madeline Romaniuk; Ying Xia; Gina Fisher; Kerstin Pannek; Jurgen Fripp; Justine Evans; Stephen Rose

doi:10.1186/s40779-022-00413-z

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

RESEARCH | Updated：2023-07-21

- The relationship between chronic PTSD, cortical volumetry and white matter microstructure among Australian combat veterans
- Military Medical Research Vol. 10, Issue 3, Pages: 313-324(2023)
- Affiliations：
  
  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
- Author bio：
  
  * RomaniukM@ramsayhealth.com.au
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1186/s40779-022-00413-z
  CLC：
- Published：2023-06
- Accepted：
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Cite this article as: Romaniuk M, Xia Y, Fisher G, Pannek K, Fripp J, Evans J, et al. The relationship between chronic PTSD, cortical volumetry and white matter microstructure among Australian combat veterans. Mil Med Res. 2022;9(1):50.
DOI：

Cite this article as: Romaniuk M, Xia Y, Fisher G, Pannek K, Fripp J, Evans J, et al. The relationship between chronic PTSD, cortical volumetry and white matter microstructure among Australian combat veterans. Mil Med Res. 2022;9(1):50. DOI： 10.1186/s40779-022-00413-z.

摘要

Abstract

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 tract-based 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 (

=0.026)

bilateral middle frontal gyrus (

=0.021)

and left anterior insula (

=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 (

=0.34

=0.024) and left inferior cerebellar peduncle (

=0.62

=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

Keywords

references

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