Citation

Martindale SL, Rostami R, Shura RD, Taber KH, Rowland JA. J. Head Trauma Rehabil. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MA-MIRECC), Research & Academic Affairs Service Line (Drs Martindale, Taber, and Rowland), and Mental Health & Behavioral Sciences Service Line (Drs Rostami and Shura), Salisbury VA Medical Center, Salisbury, North Carolina; Departments of Physiology & Pharmacology (Dr Martindale), Neurology (Dr Shura), and Neurobiology & Anatomy (Dr Rowland), Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Division of Biomedical Sciences, Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Blacksburg, Virginia (Dr Taber); and Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas (Dr Taber). Dr Rostami is now with the Edith Nourse Rogers Bedford VA Medical Center, Bedford, Massachusetts.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/HTR.0000000000000559

PMID

32108709

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Clarify associations between diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and deployment traumatic brain injury (TBI) on salient regional brain volumes in returning combat veterans. PARTICIPANTS: Iraq and Afghanistan era combat veterans, N = 163, 86.5% male. MAIN MEASURES: Clinician-administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-5), Mid-Atlantic MIRECC Assessment of TBI (MMA-TBI), magnetic resonance imaging.

METHODS: Hierarchical regression analyses evaluated associations and interactions between current and lifetime PTSD diagnosis, deployment TBI, and bilateral volume of hippocampus, anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, precuneus, and insula.

RESULTS: Deployment TBI was associated with lower bilateral hippocampal volume (P =.007-.032) and right medial orbitofrontal cortex volume (P =.006). Neither current nor lifetime PTSD diagnosis was associated with volumetric outcomes beyond covariates and deployment TBI.

CONCLUSION: History of deployment TBI is independently associated with lower volumes in hippocampus and medial orbitofrontal cortex. These results support TBI as a potential contributing factor to consider in reduced cortical volume in PTSD.

Language: en