Cardiovascular Reactivity in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Patients Undergoing Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

No studies have yet examined blood pressure (BP) reactivity to the MRI environment in Posttraumatic stress disordered (PTSD) patients. In this study, PTSD patients were hypothesized to show signs of impaired extinction to the MRI environment compared to non-PTSD controls. BP was measured in 23 patients and 17 controls during the same day at 10:00 am, 12:30 pm, and 2:00 pm. The MRI exams were performed at 1:00 pm. “Reactivity” was defined as the measurements after the MRI minus measurements before the MRI. There were differences between the PTSD and Control groups with respect to: Changes in Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP; PTSD: M = 5.73, Controls: M = 0.30, F = 13.18, p = 0.001) as well as Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP; PTSD: M = 7.05, Controls: M = 1.35, F = 7.05, p = 0.01), “changes in self-reported fear” (PTSD: M = − 0.05, Controls: M = 0.30, F = 4.82, p = 0.03). The lack of autonomic recovery to the MRI exposure seen among these patients may be a sign of impaired extinction.