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Hippocampal volume in patients with alcohol dependence
Agartz I, Momenan R, Rawlings RR, Kerich MJ, Hommer DW.. Archives of general psychiatry, 1999-04-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Background Smaller hippocampal volumes have been reported in the brains of alcoholic patients than in those of healthy subjects, although it is unclear if the hippocampus is disproportionally smaller than the brain as a whole. There is evidence that alcoholic women are more susceptible than alcoholic men to liver and cardiac damage from alcohol. It is not known whether the hippocampi of the female brain are more vulnerable to alcohol. Methods We compared the hippocampal volumes in 52 hospitalized alcoholic men and women with those of 36 healthy nonalcoholic men and women. All subjects were between 27 and 53 years of age. The hippocampal volumes were measured from sagittal T-weighted high-resolution magnetic resonance images. Results The alcoholic women had less lifetime drinking and a later age at onset of heavy drinking than alcoholic men. Both alcoholic men and women had significantly smaller right hippocampi and larger cerebrospinal fluid volumes than healthy subjects of the same sex. Only among women were the left hippocampus and the nonhippocampal brain volume also significantly smaller. The proportion of hippocampal volume relative to the rest of the brain volume was the same in alcoholic patients and healthy subjects, in both men and women. The right hippocampus was larger than the left among all subjects. Women demonstrated larger hippocampal volumes relative to total brain volume than men. Psychiatric comorbidity, including posttraumatic stress disorder, did not affect hippocampal volume. Conclusions In chronic alcoholism, the reduction of hippocampal volume is proportional to the reduction of the brain volume. Alcohol consumption should be accounted for in studies of hippocampal damage.
Key findings
- Results The alcoholic women had less lifetime drinking and a later age at onset of heavy drinking than alcoholic men.
- Both alcoholic men and women had significantly smaller right hippocampi and larger cerebrospinal fluid volumes than healthy subjects of the same sex.
- Only among women were the left hippocampus and the nonhippocampal brain volume also significantly smaller.
- Women demonstrated larger hippocampal volumes relative to total brain volume than men.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 36/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 36 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Archives of general psychiatry) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 1999 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 10197833) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 21 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 36 out of 100. |
| Total | 36 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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APA 7th
Agartz, I., Momenan, R., Rawlings, R. R., Kerich, M. J., & Hommer, D. W. (1999). Hippocampal volume in patients with alcohol dependence. Archives of general psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.56.4.356
Vancouver
Agartz I, Momenan R, Rawlings RR, Kerich MJ, Hommer DW. Hippocampal volume in patients with alcohol dependence. Archives of general psychiatry. 1999. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.56.4.356. PMID: 10197833.
BibTeX
@article{agartz1999-10197833,
author = {Agartz, I. and Momenan, R. and Rawlings, R. R. and Kerich, M. J. and Hommer, D. W.},
title = {{Hippocampal volume in patients with alcohol dependence}},
journal = {Archives of general psychiatry},
year = {1999},
doi = {10.1001/archpsyc.56.4.356},
pmid = {10197833},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.56.4.356}
}
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