• Borah Kim, Jongsoo Oh, Min-Kyoung Kim, Sungjae Lee, Woo Suk Tae, Chan Mo Kim, Tai Kiu Choi, and Sang-Hyuk Lee.
• Department of Psychiatry, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, Republic of Korea.
• J Affect Disord. 2015 Apr 1;175:139-46.

BackgroundPanic disorder (PD) is associated with an increased risk of suicide attempt (SA). However, no study has examined the neural correlates of SA in PD. The goal of this study was to evaluate alterations in white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) in patients with PD with and without a history of SA.MethodsTwelve patients with PD and a history of SA (PD+SA) and 24 patients with PD and no history of SA (PD-SA) underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). All patients completed the Scale for Suicide Ideation (SSI), the Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The groups were matched for age, sex, and BDI and PDSS scores. Voxel-based morphometry and tract-based spatial statistics were used for the imaging analysis.ResultsAlthough no GM or WM volume differences were observed, increased fractional anisotropy (FA) values were found in the WM tracts of the PD+SA group compared with the PD-SA group. The regions with increased FA included the internal capsule, splenium of the corpus callosum, superior and posterior corona radiata, thalamic radiations, sagittal stratum, and superior longitudinal fasciculus. The FA values for the internal capsule and thalamic radiations were significantly correlated with the SSI scores in the PD+SA group.LimitationsThe results should be considered preliminary due to the relatively small sample size.ConclusionsOur data suggest that the aberrant WM integrity of the internal capsule and thalamic radiations may be the significant neural correlate of SA in patients with PD.Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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