Fire-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Brain (1)H-MR Spetroscopic Findings

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the MR imaging and (1)H-MR spectroscopic findings of acute fire-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixteen patients (M:F=10:6; mean age, 16 years) with fire-related PTSD underwent MR imaging and (1)H-MR spectroscopy, and for control purposes, the procedures were repeated in eight age-matched normal volunteers. In all patients and controls, the regions of interest where data were acquired at MRS were the basal ganglia (BG), frontal periventricular white matter (FWM), and parietal periventricular white matter (PWM). RESULTS: In all patients with PTSD, MR images appeared normal. In contrast, MRS showed that in the BG, NAA/Cr ratios were significantly lower in patients than in volunteers. This decrease did not, however, show close correlation with the severity of the neuropsychiatric symptoms. In patients, neither NAA/Cr ratios in FWM nor PWM, nor Cho/Cr ratios in all three regions, were significantly different from those in the control group. CONCLUSION: Decreased NAA/Cr ratios in the BG, as seen at (1)H-MRS, might be an early sign of acute fire-related PTSD.