Correlation analysis between mood disorders and imaging biomarkers in patients with arteriosclerotic cerebral small vessel disease

Abstract

Objective To investigate the correlation between mood disorders and imaging markers in patients with arteriosclerotic cerebral small vessel disease （aCSVD）, aiming to provide evidence for clinical diagnosis, treatment and mechanism. Methods Eighty-one aCSVD patients were included in this study. According to the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale （SAS） and Self-Rating Depression Scale （SDS） scores, all patients were divided into the non-anxiety （n = 58）, anxiety （n = 23）, non-depression （n = 50） and depression groups （n = 31）. The correlation between CSVD imaging markers and anxiety and depression was analyzed. Results The average age of patients was （67.03±9.28） years. The CSVD imaging burden score was 1.5 （2）. Among imaging markers, the number of basal ganglia enlarged perivascular space （BG-EPVS） was independently associated with anxiety （P = 0.004） and depression （P = 0.011）. Symptomatic analysis showed that the number of BG-EPVS was correlated with the anxiety symptoms, such as frequent urination （P = 0.026）, facial flushing and perspiration （P = 0.007）, sleep disturbance （P = 0.002）, and negative ideational content of depression （P < 0.001）. Conclusions Among different CSVD imaging markers, BG-EPVS is independently associated with anxiety and depression in aCSVD patients. For anxiety, BG-EPVS is correlated with anxiety-related somatical symptoms and sleep disorders. For depression, BG-EPVS mainly affects the psychological state of aCSVD patients. aCSVD patients with a significantly increasing number of BG-EPVS are more likely to develop mood disorders, and early interventions may bring benefits to aCSVD patients.

Keywords

• |arteriosclerotic cerebral small vessel disease|enlarged perivascular space|mood disorder|anxiety|depression|sleep