Psychiatry Investig.  2019 May;16(5):370-378. 10.30773/pi.2019.02.26.1.

Pilot Study: An Ocular Biomarker for Diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Affiliations
  • 1Office of Research, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
  • 2Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
  • 3Industry Academic Cooperation Foundation, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
  • 4Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. hduk70@gmail.com

Abstract


OBJECTIVE
Biomarkers of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are crucial for early diagnosis and intervention, in which the identification of biomarkers in other areas of the body that represent the immature brain of children with ADHD is necessary. The present study aimed to find biomarkers of ADHD in the retina and assessed the relationship between macular thickness of the retina and cortical thickness of the brain in children with ADHD.
METHODS
Twelve children with ADHD and 13 control children were recruited for the study. To find ocular markers of ADHD, we investigated the correlation between clinical symptoms of ADHD assessed with the Korean ADHD Rating Scale (K-ARS), cortical thickness of the brain, and macular thickness measured with the mean thickness from the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS).
RESULTS
Children with ADHD showed increased macular thicknesses quantified as an ETDRS ring in both eyes, compared to control subjects. Moreover, the right inner ETDRS ring had a positive correlation with K-ARS scores. The ADHD group had an increased ratio of thickness of the right frontal lobe to that of the parietal cortex, compared with the control group. There were positive correlations between the means of the inner ETDRS ring (right) and the left paracentral/right isthmus cingulate thicknesses in the control group. However, there were negative correlations between the means of the inner ETDRS ring (right) and the left frontal pole/right pars triangularis thicknesses in the ADHD group. The results of both groups were at the uncorrected level.
CONCLUSION
The different patterns of macular thickness might represent the immature cortical thickness of the brain in children with ADHD.

Keyword

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Brain; Magnetic resonance imaging; Biomarker; Macular thickness

MeSH Terms

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity*
Biomarkers
Brain
Broca Area
Child
Diabetic Retinopathy
Diagnosis*
Early Diagnosis
Frontal Lobe
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Parietal Lobe
Pilot Projects*
Retina
Biomarkers
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