BASAL GANGLIA VOLUMES AND WHITE-MATTER HYPERINTENSITIES IN PATIENTS WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER

Objective: Accumulating evidence suggests art association between abno rmalities of the basal ganglia and affective disorders. The authors hy pothesized that patients with bipolar disorder would demonstrate small er basal ganglia volumes and a greater number of hyperintensities on m agnetic resonance imaging than comparison subjects who were matched on age, race, sex, and education. Method: Volumes of the caudate, putame n, and globus pallidus were measured in 30 patients with bipolar disor der and 30 matched normal comparison subjects. The presence, number, a nd location of hyperintensities were also assessed. Results: Male pati ents with bipolar disorder demonstrated larger caudate volumes than ma le comparison subjects. Older, but not younger, patients with bipolar disorder demonstrated more hyperintensities than comparison subjects, primarily in frontal lobe white matter. Conclusions: These results are not consistent with those of previous studies showing reduced basal g anglia volume in subjects with affective disorders, but they are consi stent with previous findings of increased white matter hyperintensitie s, especially in older patients with bipolar disorder. Considered toge ther with results from other studies, the findings suggest that the na ture of basal ganglia/subcortical white matter involvement may differ according to the type of depression (unipolar versus bipolar) and the age and sex of the patient.