Relationship of in vivo medial temporal lobe magnetic resonance spectroscopy to documented combat exposure in veterans with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder

Veterans diagnosed with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and comparison subjects underwent single voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) of the medial temporal lobe (MTL). PTSD subjects were divided into combat and non-combat groups based on military records. Combat PTSD subjects did not have lower MTL levels of N-acetylaspartate compared with non-combat PTSD subjects.