Background
The hippocampus (HC) is smaller in patients with recurrent major depressive disorder
(MDD), but few longitudinal studies have examined whether volume is associated with
clinically meaningful outcomes such as response to treatment.
Methods
We compared regional (head and body/tail) HC volumes in 46 patients with MDD, 14 of
whom remitted after 8 weeks of first treatment to HC volumes of 32 patients who were
not in remission after 8 weeks.
Results
Patients who remitted had larger pretreatment hippocampal body/tail volumes bilaterally
compared with those who were not in remission at 8 weeks. This difference was not
apparent in either the right or left hippocampal head.
Conclusions
These findings extend a small number of previous reports, suggesting that regional
brain volumes might be associated with rate and extent of clinical response to antidepressant
medication.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 26, 2008
Accepted:
June 29,
2008
Received in revised form:
June 9,
2008
Received:
April 28,
2008
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
