Homogeneous magnetic resonance imaging of brain abnormalities in bipolar spectrum disorders comorbid with Wilson's...

The purpose was to determine if brain damage in Wilson's disease (WD) is different in comorbid bipolar spectrum disorders (BDs), comorbid major depressive disorder (MDD) or without any mood disorders.

An observational study was conducted on consecutive patients from a center for WD care. The study sample was divided by psychiatric assessment into WD without any mood disorders, WD with BDs and WD with MDD negative at Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ).

Thirty-eight WD patients were recruited (53.2% females): 21 without mood disorders (55.2%), 9 with comorbid BDs (26.7%) and 8 with MDD without MDQ+ (21.1%). The BDs showed a higher frequency of brain damage, reaching statistically significant differences in the basal ganglia (P<.001), in the overall brain (P<.003) and at the limit in the white matter (P<.05).

In WD, comorbidity with BDs is associated with earlier evidence of brain damage, especially in the basal ganglia. The results confirm the importance of screening and early diagnosis of BDs in WD. Future follow-up studies on large samples are required to confirm if detection of BDs may be an early marker of brain damage and if a good therapeutic response in BDs may improve the prognosis of WD.