Ventricular Size, Cognitive Function and Depression in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

• Published in: Canadian journal of neurological sciences 1992-08, Vol.19 (3), p.352-356
• Main Authors: Clark, Campbell M., James, Gerald, Li, David, Oger, Joel, Paty, Donald, Klonoff, Harry
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Cerebral Ventricles - pathology; Cognition Disorders - complications; Cognition Disorders - pathology; Cognition Disorders - psychology; Depressive Disorder - complications; Depressive Disorder - psychology; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical sciences; Multiple Sclerosis - complications; Multiple Sclerosis - pathology; Multiple Sclerosis - psychology; Multiple sclerosis and variants. Guillain barré syndrome and other inflammatory polyneuropathies. Leukoencephalitis; Neurology; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychological Tests
• ISSN: 0317-1671; 2057-0155
• DOI: 10.1017/S0317167100041986

The purpose of this study was to explore further the hypothesis that changes in cognitive function may occur in the mild stages of multiple sclerosis (MS) by determining whether ventricular enlargement was related to cognitive function. Ten measures of ventricular size were made in a sample of 123 MS patients with mild disability and 60 well-matched healthy controls. In addition, sixteen tests of cognitive function and the Beck Depression Inventory were administered. For the MS group, there were significant correlations between the ventricular measures and cognitive performance but not for the normal controls. Scores on the Beck Depression Inventory were not correlated with either cognitive performance or ventricular enlargement. These findings suggest that for the MS group cognitive impairment was related to the disease process but not to the level of depression.