Author(s)

Ezzat Abdel Azeem A. Awad^1*, Heba Mahmoud Fakher Hendawy², Ahmed Kamil Alawady³

¹Salamat Polyclinic, Hail, Saudi Arabia.
²Faculty of Medicine, Psychiatry Department, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
³Psychiatry Department, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.

Introduction: Different studies reported the strong relationship between cerebrovascular changes (CVC) and depression. Moreover, many researchers tried to correlate between the pathogenesis and location of the CVC and severity of depression. Methods: In this study we looked for the possibility of presence of CVC in patients with an age ranging from 60 - 75 years, presented to psychiatric clinics and hospitals in Hail, Saudi Arabia and diagnosed for the first time with depression. All patients have been diagnosed neither with cerebral attacks (CA) nor with depression. A cross sectional study was done on 149 patients. Hamilton rating scale (HRS) for depression was used to evaluate the severity of depression before staring any treatment. National institutes of health stroke scale (NIHSS) was applied for all the patients to exclude any possibility of CA. Brain CT was done to all patients to detect an evidence of CVC. Results: According to the CT findings, the patients were divided into four groups: Group 1 with normal CT findings; Group 2 with ischemic changes; Group 3 with single lacunar infraction; and Group 4 with multiple lacunar infarctions. After analyzing the results and correlating the severity of depression and CT findings in the four different groups we found significance in the correlation between severity of depression and the presence of minor strokes. Conclusions: A first episode of depression in older adult patients may indicate the presence of minor or silent stroke or CA.

CVC, CA, HRS, NIHSS

Awad, E. , Hendawy, H. and Alawady, A. (2015) Brain CT Findings in First Episode Depression in Older Adults. Open Journal of Psychiatry, 5, 39-42. doi: 10.4236/ojpsych.2015.51006.