Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Email this article to a Colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Articles & Searches Download to citation manager Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Articles by Woodward, S. H. Articles by Arsenault, N. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Citation Articles by Woodward, S. H. Articles by Arsenault, N. J. Other Patient Groups/Issues Alcohol Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Other Neuroanatomy

Hippocampal Volume, PTSD, and Alcoholism in Combat Veterans

Studies imposing rigorous control over lifetime alcohol intake have usually not found smaller hippocampal volumes in persons with posttraumatic stress disorder. Because the majority of negative studies have used adolescent samples, it has been suggested that chronicity is a necessary condition for such findings. To test the hypothesis that a smaller hippocampus in PTSD is unrelated to comorbid alcoholism or to chronicity, this study estimated hippocampal volume in a relatively large group (N=99) of combat veterans in which PTSD, lifetime alcohol abuse/dependence, and Vietnam versus Gulf War service were crossed. In subjects with histories of alcoholism, unadjusted hippocampal volume was 9% smaller in persons with PTSD than in those without PTSD. In nonalcoholic subjects, the PTSD-related difference in hippocampal volume was 3%. The failure to observe a strong association between PTSD and hippocampal volume in nonalcoholic subjects was not ascribable to younger age, reduced PTSD chronicity, or lower PTSD symptom severity. The possibility that smaller hippocampal volume is limited to groups in which PTSD is compounded by comorbid alcoholism is not necessarily incompatible with results suggesting a smaller hippocampus is predispositional to PTSD. Further examination of the role of alcoholism and other comorbid conditions in studies of brain structure and function in PTSD appears warranted.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. J. Anstey, A. F. Jorm, C. Reglade-Meslin, J. Maller, R. Kumar, C. von Sanden, T. D. Windsor, B. Rodgers, W. Wen, and P. Sachdev Weekly alcohol consumption, brain atrophy, and white matter hyperintensities in a community-based sample aged 60 to 64 years. Psychosom Med, September 1, 2006; 68(5): 778 - 785. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Get information about faster international access.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2006 American Psychiatric Association. All rights reserved.

Home | Search | Current Issue | Past Issues | Subscribe | All APPI Journals | Help | Contact Us