P-31 MAGNETIC-RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY AND VENTRICULAR ENLARGEMENT IN BIPOLAR DISORDER

Phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy (P-31-MRS) was used to e xamine whether reduced levels of phosphomonoesters (PME) were correlat ed with ventricular enlargement in 40 patients with bipolar disorder a nd 60 age-matched normal control subjects. Ventricular enlargement was assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (H-1-MRI) using the following three methods: Evans ratio (ER), Huckman number (HN), and minimum dist ance of caudate nuclei (MDCN). Although MDCN and ER were significantly larger in the patient group, no significant correlations were found b etween P-31-MRS and H-1-MRI. PME was negatively correlated with age in bipolar disorder. Decreased levels of PME were found only in bipolar I disorder. Intracellular pH was positively correlated with duration o f lithium treatment. These results suggest that the observed PME reduc tion was not related to ventricular enlargement, but the issue should be further studied with volumetric MRI analysis.