Recenzija, Prikaz slučaja

STRUCTURAL NEUROIMAGING IN PATIENTS WITH PANIC DISORDER: FINDINGS AND LIMITATIONS OF RECENT STUDIES

Antonio Del Casale ; NESMOS Department (Neurosciences, Mental Health, and Sensory Organs), Saint Andrea Hospital, School of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Daniele Serata ; NESMOS Department (Neurosciences, Mental Health, and Sensory Organs), Saint Andrea Hospital, School of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Villa Rosa, Suore Ospedaliere of the Sacred Heart of J
Chiara Rapinesi ; NESMOS Department (Neurosciences, Mental Health, and Sensory Organs), Saint Andrea Hospital, School of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Villa Rosa, Suore Ospedaliere of the Sacred Heart of J
Georgios D. Kotzalidis ; NESMOS Department (Neurosciences, Mental Health, and Sensory Organs), Saint Andrea Hospital, School of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Gloria Angeletti ; NESMOS Department (Neurosciences, Mental Health, and Sensory Organs), Saint Andrea Hospital, School of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Roberto Tatarelli ; NESMOS Department (Neurosciences, Mental Health, and Sensory Organs), Saint Andrea Hospital, School of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Stefano Ferracuti ; NESMOS Department (Neurosciences, Mental Health, and Sensory Organs), Saint Andrea Hospital, School of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Paolo Girardi ; NESMOS Department (Neurosciences, Mental Health, and Sensory Organs), Saint Andrea Hospital, School of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Villa Rosa, Suore Ospedaliere of the Sacred Heart of J

Sažetak

Background: Panic disorder, a relatively common anxiety disorder, is often associated to agoraphobia and may be disabling. Its
neurobiological underpinnings are unknown, despite the proliferation of models and hypotheses concerning it; investigating its
correlates could provide the means for better understanding its pathophysiology. Recent structural neuroimaging techniques may
contribute to the identification of possible brain morphological alterations that could be possibly related to the clinical expression of
panic disorder.
Methods: Through careful major database searches, using terms keen to panic, agoraphobia, structural magnetic neuroimaging
and the like, we identified papers published in peer-review journals and reporting data on the brain structure of patients with panic
disorder. Included papers were used comparatively to speculate about the nature of reported brain structural alterations.
Results: Anxiety, which is the core feature of the disorder, correlates with the function of the amygdala, which showed a smaller
volume in patients, as compared to healthy subjects. Data also showed a volumetric decrease of the anterior cingulate along with
increased fractional anisotropy, and increase of some brainstem nuclei, particularly of the rostral pons. Other structures with
reported volumetric correlates of panic disorder are the hippocampus and the parahippocampal cortices, the insula, the putamen,
and the pituitary gland. Volumetric changes in the anterior cingulate, frontal, orbitofrontal, insular, and temporal cortices have also
been described in structural neuroimaging studies. Major methodological limitations are considered in context.
Conclusions: Several data point to the existence of structural neuroanatomical alterations in panic disorder, consisting in
significant volumetric reductions or increases in different brain areas. White matter alterations were shown also in the only diffusion
tensor imaging study performed to date. Available data do not allow us to conclude about the possible progression of these
alterations.

Ključne riječi

panic attack disorder – neuroimaging - magnetic resonance imaging - computed tomography - voxel-based morphometry - diffusion tensor imaging

Hrčak ID:

161163

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/161163

Datum izdavanja:

10.6.2013.

Posjeta: 968 *