Data from: Cerebral white matter lesions and affective episodes correlate in male individuals with bipolar disorder

Background: Cerebral white matter lesions (WML) have been found in normal
aging, vascular disease and several neuropsychiatric conditions.
Correlations of WML with clinical parameters in BD have been described,
but not with the number of affective episodes, illness duration, age of
onset and Body Mass Index in a well characterized group of euthymic
bipolar adults. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the associations between
bipolar course of illness parameters and WML measured with volumetric
analysis. Methods: In a cross-sectional study 100 euthymic individuals
with BD as well as 54 healthy controls (HC) were enrolled to undergo brain
magnetic resonance imaging using 3T including a FLAIR sequence for
volumetric assessment of WML-load using FSL-software. Additionally,
clinical characteristics and psychometric measures including Structured
Clinical Interview according to DSM-IV, Hamilton-Depression, Young Mania
Rating Scale and Beck’s Depression Inventory were evaluated. Results:
Individuals with BD had significantly more (F = 3.968, p < .05) WML
(Mdn = 3710mm3; IQR = 2961mm3) than HC (Mdn = 2185mm3; IQR = 1665mm3). BD
men (Mdn = 4095mm3; IQR = 3295mm3) and BD women (Mdn = 3032mm3; IQR =
2816mm3) did not significantly differ as to the WML-load or the number and
type of risk factors for WML. However, in men only, the number of
manic/hypomanic episodes (r = 0.72; p < .001) as well as depressive
episodes (r = 0.51; p < .001) correlated positively with WML-load.
Conclusions: WML-load strongly correlated with the number of manic
episodes in male BD patients, suggesting that men might be more vulnerable
to mania in the context of cerebral white matter changes.