Hippocampal volume predicts antidepressant efficacy in depressed patients without incomplete hippocampal inversion

Incomplete hippocampal inversion (IHI), also called malrotation, is a frequent atypical anatomical pattern of the hippocampus. Because of the crucial implication of the hippocampus in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and the neurodevelopmental hypothesis of MDD, we aimed to assess the prevalence of IHI in patients with MDD, the link of IHI with hippocampal volume (HV) and the impact of IHI on the predictive value of HV for response and remission after antidepressant treatment.

IHI (right and left, partial and total and IHI scores) and HV were assessed in 60 patients with a current Major Depressive Episode (MDE) in a context of MDD and 60 matched controls. Patients were prospectively assessed at baseline and after one, three and six months of antidepressant treatment for response and remission.

The prevalence of IHI did not significantly differ between MDD patients (right = 23.3%; left = 38.3%) and controls (right = 16.7%; left = 33.3%). IHI was not significantly associated with MDD clinical characteristics. IHI alone did not predict response and remission after antidepressant treatment. However, an interaction between left HV and left IHI predicted six-month response (p = 0.04), HDRS score decrease (p = 0.02) and both three-month (p = 0.04) and six-month (p = 0.03) remission. A case-control design in 30 matched patients with or without left IHI confirmed that interaction. In patients without left IHI, left HV at baseline were smaller in six-month non-remitters as compared to remitters (2.2(± 0.43) cm³ vs 2.97(± 0.5) cm³ p = 0.02), and in six-month non-responders as compared to responders (2.18(± 0.42) cm³ vs 2.86(± 0.54) cm³, p = 0.03). In patients with left IHI, no association was found between left HV at baseline and antidepressant response and remission.

IHI is not more frequent in MDD patients than in controls, is not associated with HV, but is a confounder that decreases the predictive value of hippocampal volume to predict response or remission after antidepressant treatment. IHI should be systematically assessed in future research studies assessing hippocampal volume in MDD.