Miller David S, Kumar Anand, Yousem David M, Gottlieb Gary L
From the Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA.
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 1994;2(4):332-337. doi: 10.1097/00019442-199402040-00008. Epub 2013 Jan 28.
The authors examined periventricular white matter, deep white matter, and subcortical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) high-intensity signals in subjects with late-life depression, probable Alzheimer's disease (DAT), and healthy, age-matched controls. All subjects were healthy and free of major vascular risk factors, including hypertension. MRIs were performed using a 1.5-tesla GE Signa scanner. T and proton-density-weighted images were analyzed by a neuroradiologist blind to the clinical status of all subjects. There were no statistically significant differences on any of the MRI indices between the groups studied. These data demonstrate that late-life depression, like DAT, in the absence of major vascular risk factors, is not associated with a significant increase in MRI high-intensity signals when compared to healthy, control subjects.
