White Matter Microstructure Abnormalities in Chinese Patients with First-Episode Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging Brain Images

Objective: This paper attempts to explore abnormalities of white matter microstructure in Chinese Han firstepisode obsessive-compulsive disorder and its correlation with clinical variables. Methods: Thirty-two Chinese Han patients with first-episode obsessive-compulsive disorder and age-sex-matched healthy controls were recruited, and underwent DTI on a 3.0T GE scanner. DSM-IV diagnoses were established with standardized interviews, and OCD symptom severity was evaluated using the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. Automated Anatomical Labeling (AAL) atlas based parcellations of the human brain was used. Subsequently, mean FA values were computed within each parcellation for every subject. Results: Compared with healthy controls, FA values of patients in left hippocampus, bilateral parahippocampal gyrus and left fusiform gyrus significantly decreased. FA values of the left hippocampus was positively correlated with the age of onset, but was negatively correlated with the course of disease. Conclusion: The pathogenesis of OCD is highly correlated with the abnormal microstructure of white matter in the brain, particularly in left hippocampus, bilateral parahippocampal gyrus, and left fusiform gyrus. The younger of the onset age and the longer duration of disease, the abnormalities microstructure of white matter in the left hippocampal will be more obviously observed.