Reduced echogenicity of brainstem raphe specific to unipolar depression: A transcranial color-coded real-time sonography study

Echogenicity of the brainstem raphe was assessed in patients with major depression, bipolar affective disorders, and schizophrenia and compared with healthy adults employing transcranial color-coded real-time sonography. Forty probands were enrolled in each group. A highly significant reduction in r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biological psychiatry (1969) 1995-08, Vol.38 (3), p.180-184
Main Authors: Becker, Georg, Becker, Thomas, Struck, Michael, Lindner, Alfred, Burzer, Klaus, Retz, Wolfgang, Bogdahn, Ulrich, Beckmann, Helmut
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological and medical sciences
Bipolar Disorder - diagnostic imaging
Bipolar Disorder - drug therapy
Bipolar Disorder - psychology
Brain Stem - diagnostic imaging
brainstem raphe
Depression
Depressive Disorder - diagnostic imaging
Depressive Disorder - drug therapy
Depressive Disorder - psychology
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Mood disorders
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychotropic Drugs - therapeutic use
Raphe Nuclei - diagnostic imaging
Reference Values
schizophrenia
Schizophrenia - diagnostic imaging
Schizophrenia - drug therapy
Schizophrenic Psychology
Transcranial color-coded real-time sonography (TCCS)
Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial
ultrasound
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Summary:Echogenicity of the brainstem raphe was assessed in patients with major depression, bipolar affective disorders, and schizophrenia and compared with healthy adults employing transcranial color-coded real-time sonography. Forty probands were enrolled in each group. A highly significant reduction in raphe echogenicity was detected only in patients suffering from major depression. Echogenicity of the raphe was independent of age or sex and did not correlate with severity of the depressive syndrome or patient state. These findings are suggestive of structural desintegration of the brainstem raphe in unipolar depression, an anatomical region assumed to be a biological focus in the pathogenesis of depressive syndromes.
ISSN:0006-3223
1873-2402
DOI:10.1016/0006-3223(94)00263-3