TY  - JOUR
AU  - Walter, Uwe
AU  - Kaulitz, Lara
AU  - Heilmann, Robert
AU  - Školoudík, David
AU  - Höppner-Buchmann, Jacqueline
TI  - Transcranial sonography of the brainstem raphe: A rapid tool to assess the long-term risk of violent suicidal behavior in patients with major depression.
JO  - Journal of affective disorders
VL  - 399
SN  - 0165-0327
CY  - Amsterdam [u.a.]
PB  - Elsevier Science
M1  - DZNE-2026-00130
SP  - 121175
PY  - 2026
AB  - To assess the relationship between ultrasonographic changes in midbrain structures and subsequent violent suicidal behavior.We conducted a retrospective analysis of a previously reported cohort of 46 patients (36 women; age 54.9 ± 11.7 years) with major depression who had been prospectively observed over a ten-year period to assess the risk of developing Parkinson's disease. At study entry, all patients underwent transcranial B-mode sonography to grade the echogenicity of the midbrain raphe and substantia nigra. The outcome measure was the first occurrence of violent suicidal behavior, i.e. a serious suicide attempt or completed suicide.At baseline, four patients were found to have grade 1 raphe echogenicity (invisible), 23 had grade 2 (weakly echogenic), and 19 had normal grade 3 (strongly echogenic). The visually graded echogenicity correlated well with the digitally analyzed echo-intensity (p < 0.001). Three (75
KW  - Humans
KW  - Female
KW  - Male
KW  - Major Depressive Disorder: diagnostic imaging
KW  - Major Depressive Disorder: psychology
KW  - Middle Aged
KW  - Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial
KW  - Suicide, Attempted: psychology
KW  - Suicide, Attempted: statistics & numerical data
KW  - Retrospective Studies
KW  - Raphe Nuclei: diagnostic imaging
KW  - Adult
KW  - Suicide, Completed: psychology
KW  - Suicide, Completed: statistics & numerical data
KW  - Aged
KW  - Substantia Nigra: diagnostic imaging
KW  - Risk Factors
KW  - Violence: psychology
KW  - Parkinson Disease: diagnostic imaging
KW  - Depressive disorder (Other)
KW  - Diagnostic ultrasound (Other)
KW  - Fatal suicide (Other)
KW  - Midbrain raphe (Other)
KW  - Substantia nigra (Other)
KW  - Suicide prevention (Other)
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - pmid:41525941
DO  - DOI:10.1016/j.jad.2026.121175
UR  - https://pub.dzne.de/record/284362
ER  -