Shape deformity of the corpus striatum in obsessive–compulsive disorder

Choi, Jung-Seok; Kim, Sun Hyung; Yoo, So Young; Kang, Do-Hyung; Kim, Chi-Won; Lee, Jong-Min; Kim, In Young; Kim, Sun I.; Kim, Young Youn; Kwon, Jun Soo

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2007.02.004

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 155, Issue 3 , Pages 257-264, 15 August 2007

Shape deformity of the corpus striatum in obsessive–compulsive disorder

Jung-Seok Choi
- Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Sun Hyung Kim
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
So Young Yoo
- Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Do-Hyung Kang
- Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Chi-Won Kim
- Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Jong-Min Lee
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
In Young Kim
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Sun I. Kim
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Young Youn Kim
- Neuroscience Institute, SNU-MRC, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Jun Soo Kwon
- Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Neuroscience Institute, SNU-MRC, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Corresponding author. Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 28 Yongon-dong, Chongno-gu, Seoul, 110-744, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 2 2072 2972; fax: +82 2 747 9063.

Received 21 October 2006; received in revised form 21 January 2007; accepted 15 February 2007.

Abstract

Volumetric changes of striatal structures based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been inconsistent in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) due to methodological limitations. The purpose of this study was to investigate shape deformities of the corpus striatum in patients with OCD. We performed 3-D shape deformation analysis of the caudate nucleus, the putamen, and the globus pallidus in 36 patients with OCD and 36 healthy normal subjects. Shape analysis showed deformity of the striatal structures, especially the caudate nucleus. Outward deformities in the superior, anterior portion of the bilateral caudate were observed in patients with OCD. In addition, an outward deformity in the inferior, lateral portion of the left putamen was also detected. These results suggest that patients with OCD have shape deformities of the corpus striatum, especially the caudate nucleus, compared with healthy normal subjects, and that shape analysis may provide an important complement to volumetric MRI studies in investigating the pathophysiology of OCD.

Keywords: Obsessive–compulsive disorder, Corpus striatum, Shape analysis