Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurement of hippocampal volume in posttraumatic stress disorder: A meta-analysis

Kitayama, Noriyuki; Vaccarino, Viola; Kutner, Michael; Weiss, Paul; Bremner, J. Douglas

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2005.05.014

« Previous Next »Journal of Affective Disorders
Volume 88, Issue 1 , Pages 79-86, September 2005

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurement of hippocampal volume in posttraumatic stress disorder: A meta-analysis

Noriyuki Kitayama
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Department of Radiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Emory Center for Positron Emission Tomography, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Atlanta VAMC, Decatur, GA, United States
- Corresponding author. Emory University, 1256 Briarcliff Rd. NE #305-W, Atlanta, GA 30306, United States. Tel.: +1 404 712 8545; fax: +1 404 712 8442.
Viola Vaccarino
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Rollins School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Atlanta, GA, United States
Michael Kutner
- Department of Biostatistics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
Paul Weiss
- Department of Biostatistics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
J. Douglas Bremner
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Department of Radiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Emory Center for Positron Emission Tomography, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Atlanta VAMC, Decatur, GA, United States

Received 11 February 2005; accepted 11 May 2005.

Abstract

Background

Studies in animals showed that the hippocampus, a brain area involved in learning and memory, is sensitive to stress. Although several MRI studies showed smaller hippocampal volume in adults with chronic PTSD, others did not show significant differences from controls. These studies are typified by small sample sizes which may limit the ability to show significant differences. We therefore performed a meta-analytic study of all of these studies to clarify the role of hippocampal structural changes in subjects with PTSD.

Methods

Nine studies with a total of 133 adult subjects with chronic PTSD, 148 healthy controls, and 53 traumatized controls were included in the meta-analysis.

Results

There was significantly smaller volume in both right and left hippocampi in adult subjects with chronic PTSD in comparison with both healthy controls and traumatized controls.