Study on brain structural magnetic resonance imaging characteristics and correlation with emotion and cognition in patients with coronary heart disease and depression

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• Clinical Article •

LIU Lei ZHAO Tianzuo XU Dan YUAN Jie WANG Xu WANG Yanan LIU Bei ZHONG Liqun LI Xiaozhen SHE Wenlong CHEN Zhengguang

Cite this article as: LIU L, ZHAO T Z, XU D, et al. Study on brain structural magnetic resonance imaging characteristics and correlation with emotion and cognition in patients with coronary heart disease and depression[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2024, 15(6): 59-66. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2024.06.009.

Abstract

[Abstract] Objective To explore the MRI characteristics of brain structure in patients with coronary heart disease and depression (CHDD) and analyze their correlation with emotion and cognitive ability.Materials and Methods A case-control design was adopted, including 22 CHDD patients, 44 coronary heart disease without depression (CHD-nD) patients, and 30 healthy controls (HC). T1-weighted images of all subjects were processed using a MR brain structure segmentation auxiliary analysis system, and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0 software. Firstly, all data were tested for normality. For data conforming to a normal distribution, one-way ANOVA was used to compare the three groups, followed by post-hoc comparisons using the least significant difference (LSD) test. For non-normally distributed data, the Kruskal Wallis H nonparametric test was applied, with post-hoc comparisons performed using the Mann-Whitney U test and Bonferroni correction to control for errors in multiple comparisons. Additionally, correlation analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between brain structural changes and emotional and cognitive scores.Results (1) Compared to the HC group, the CHDD group showed significantly reduced cortical curvature in the right anterior middle frontal gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, and lateral occipital cortex (P<0.05), and a significant increase in cortical surface area in the left superior temporal gyrus (P<0.05). (2) Compared to the HC group, CHD-nD patients exhibited a significant increase in the volume of the posterior corpus callosum and significant decreases in the proportion of whole brain volume in the left posterior cingulate gyrus, left operculum, right paracentral lobule, left hippocampal subiculum, left hippocampal fissure, and cortical curvature of the left entorhinal cortex (all P<0.05). (3) Compared to the HC group, the CHDD and CHD-nD groups showed significantly reduced proportions of whole brain volume in the bilateral medial orbitofrontal cortex. They left cuneus and reduced cortical curvature in the right precentral gyrus. Additionally, volume significantly increased in the right hippocampal fissure (all P<0.05). (4) Correlation analysis revealed that the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) score was negatively correlated with the proportion of whole brain volume in the left medial orbitofrontal cortex (r=-0.228, P=0.025), right precentral gyrus (r=-0.239, P=0.019), and cortical curvature of the right lateral occipital cortex (r=-0.256, P=0.012), and positively correlated with the cortical surface area of the left superior temporal gyrus (r=0.254, P=0.013). The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score was positively correlated with the proportion of whole brain volume in the left medial orbitofrontal cortex (r=0.342, P=0.007).Conclusions Structural abnormalities in the frontal lobe (precentral gyrus anterior and precentral gyrus), temporal lobe (inferior temporal gyrus and superior temporal gyrus slope), occipital lobe (lateral occipital gyrus and cuneus), and hippocampal fissure of CHDD patients may be the neuroanatomical basis of CHDD. These brain regions are related to patients' emotional, and cognitive impairments.

[Keywords] coronary heart disease with depression；magnetic resonance imaging；MR segmentation system；emotion；cognition

Contributor Information

LIU Lei¹ ZHAO Tianzuo¹ XU Dan¹ YUAN Jie² WANG Xu² WANG Yanan³ LIU Bei¹ ZHONG Liqun⁴ LI Xiaozhen¹ SHE Wenlong¹ CHEN Zhengguang^1*

¹ Department of Radiology, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100700, China

² Cardiovascular District Three, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 101100, China

³ Emergency Department, District Two, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 101100, China

⁴ Department of Encephalopathy, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100700, China

Corresponding author: CHEN Z G, E-mail: guangchen999@sina.com

Conflicts of interest None.

Publication Information

Received 2024-03-08

Accepted 2024-06-03

DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2024.06.009

Text

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