Journal of affective disorders
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Because brain morphological abnormalities in major depressive disorder (MDD) may be modulated by medication and episodes, previous meta-analyses of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies therefore have been biased for including medicated patients or medication-free patients who had ever received drugs, as well as patients with different episodes. We sought to identify the essential morphological features without the interference of medication and episodes in MDD. ⋯ The present meta-analysis revealed that structural abnormalities in the fronto-limbic networks are the essential characteristics in MDD and could contribute to the high risk of suicide in patients.