Correlation analysis between brain perfusion imaging and symptoms in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Objective To evaluate brain perfusion in patients with OCD and its correlation with the severity of disease,obsession and compulsion scales.Methods Forty unmedicated patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder diagnosed by International Classification of Disease-10(ICD-10),Y-BOCS scores≥16,and 40 normal controls were enrolled in the study.All subjects received cerebral blood perfusion imaging and Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale.Results Compared to the normal controls,patients demonstrated significantly higher RAR in both the right and the left anterior frontal lobe and temporal cortex.Left prefrontal lobe RAR in patients and in normal controls was 94.4±6.4 and 88.1±7.3(t=6.78,P=0.001) respectively;Right prefrontal lobe RAR in patients and in normal controls was 99.8±6.6 and 86.9±8.9 respectively(t=11.93,P0.001).Left anterior temporal RAR in patients and in normal controls was 91.6±6.1 and 84.0±7.2(t=7.15,P=0.002) respectively;Right anterior temporal cortex RAR in patients and in normal controls was 92.6±6.6 and 83.4±7.2(t=9.40,P0.001) respectively.The mean scores of Y-BOCS,obsessive scales and compulsive scales were 29.32±8.75,21.28±4.90 and 8.03±5.34.The RAR in bilateral anterior frontal lobes and temporal cortex was positively correlated with the obsessions subscales(r=0.617,0.309,0.358,all P0.05).Conclusion Patients with OCD showed higher cerebral blood perfusion,mainly in prefrontal lobe and temporal cortex,which may play important roles in the occurrence of OCD.The dysfunction of prefrontal lobe and right temporal cortex may be the cause of obsessions.