Early vascular aging in patients with early onset of psychosis: A high frequency ultrasound investigation on common carotid artery.
Poster A63, Thursday, October 20, 11:30 am - 1:00 pm, Le Baron
Hannes Bohman1, Cecilia Månsson1, Ingrid Agatrz2, Neil Cleland1, Mathias Lundberg1; 1Institute of Karolinska Stockholm, 2Institute of clinical medicin Oslo
Pupose: Investigate signs of aterosclerosis in early onset of psychosis (EOP). EOP are devastating mental disorders with an onset age before 18 years. Several studies have shown the strong relationship between psychotic disorders and later risk of developing cardiovascular disease with high rates of mortality. Still little is known if the blood vessels are affected already in the childhood and adolescence, in patients with psychotic disorders, or if vascular changes develop later after the presence of other risk factors, such as high blood pressure or metabolic syndrome. Materials and methods: With a novel method, high frequency ultrasound investigation (HFU), it is possible to analyze the different layers of the blood vessel and thus detect small differences with high accuracy even early in life. With aging the media layers narrow while the intima layer increases due to inflammatory processes. We investigated the thickness of the media layer and the intima layer of the left common carotid artery with HFU in EOP (n=21) and matched healthy controls (n=28). Results: The results of the investigation show a striking difference in the intima thickness (0.14 vs 0.08, p =<0.001)) but a non-significant difference in media thickness (0.62 vs 0.58, n.s). Conclusions: This finding suggests that the intima is affected already in EOP and that the process of atherosclerosis is initiated. The results may have implications for the understanding the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease and for the development of novel treatment strategies for reducing future risk of cardiovascular disease in EOP.
Topic Area: First Episode Psychosis