Visual rating of the medial temporal lobe atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging in elderly patients with type I bipolar disorder

In our sample of elderly individuals, we have evidence that there are differences between type-I bipolar disorder and controls regarding the degree of medial temporal lobe atrophy and that it could be attenuated by lithium exposure. Our results are aligned with the results of a previous study evolving voxel-based morphometry technique within the same sample of patients and thus reinforce the suggestion that lithium may have neuroprotective effects on hippocampal volume and shed some light on the feasibility of the use of semiquantitative visual rating scales on the investigation of structural brain alterations. We intend to expand the evaluation of the sample with the use of other visual scales developed to assess brain atrophy and white matter hyperintensities, which are easy to apply clinically to assess brain atrophy and white matter hyperintensities in MRI images of elderly BD patients and compare them with healthy controls, enabling the mapping of possible affected brain regions.