Brain white matter structure changes on acute phase of the posttraumatic stress disorder patients-a diffusion tensor imaging study / 实用放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To detect the changes of the brain white matter microstructure at the acute stage of posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD)resulting from a single,extreme and long-lasting trauma.Methods DTI scans were performed on 1 7 survivors of coal mine disaster(PTSD group)and 1 7 cases of normal control(control group).The differences of the mean diffusivity(MD)values measured from the whole brain DTI between the two groups were analyzed based on tract based spatial statistics (TBSS).MD data were statistically compared between the two groups based on nonparametric random permutation test(RPT),and the brain areas of significant differences between the two groups were obtained.Results Compared with the control group,MD values were increased in the bilateral rostral corpus callosum body and left precorona radiata,and decreased in the bilateral superior and posterior corona ra-diate,posterior limb of the left internal capsule,left cerebral peduncle and left thalamic.The differences were statistically significant (P <0.01 TFCE-corrected).Conclusion TBSS is a comprehensive and accurate method for evaluate the changes of brain white mat-ter in PTSD cases.TBSS can provide an objective basis of the pathological brain neural structures imaging for early diagnosis and in-tervention of PTSD.