Summaries of Must-Read Clinical Literature, Guidelines, and FDA Actions
Septo-Fornical Changes May Play Role in Anxiety in MS
Mult Scler; ePub 2017 May 26; Palotai, Mike, et al
Anxiety in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients may have a neuropathological substrate in the septo-fornical area, according to a recent study. With the aim of investigating the association of total and tract-specific white matter lesion load (WMLL) with fatigue and anxiety, researchers assessed total and regional T2 WMLL for 19 tracts in 48 MS patients (30 females). ICBM-DTI-81 Atlas-based parcellation was combined with WMLL segmentation of T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Fatigue, anxiety, and depression were assessed using Fatigue Impact Scale, State Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Beck Depression Inventory, respectively. They found:
- Fatigue, anxiety, and depression showed significant inter-correlation.
- There was no association between fatigue and total or regional WMLLs, whereas anxiety was associated with total and regional WMLLs in 9 tracts.
- After adjusting for total WMLL, age, and depression, only the column and body of the fornix (CBF) remained significantly associated with anxiety.
Palotai M, Mike A, Cavallari, et al. Changes to the septo-fornical area might play a role in the pathogenesis of anxiety in multiple sclerosis. [Published online ahead of print May 26, 2017]. Mult Scler. doi:10.1177/1352458517711273.