Loading…

Progression of cerebroventricular enlargement and the subtyping of schizophrenia

Several anatomic abnormalities in the brains of schizophrenics have frequently been reported. However, it remains unresolved whether such neuropathology is fully expressed and static at the onset of psychosis or whether further deterioration evolves during the course of illness. To address this impo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychiatry research 1997-07, Vol.74 (3), p.141-150
Main Authors: Nair, Thamilarasi R., Christensen, James D., Kingsbury, Steven J., Kumar, Narinder G., Terry, Ward M., Garver, David L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Several anatomic abnormalities in the brains of schizophrenics have frequently been reported. However, it remains unresolved whether such neuropathology is fully expressed and static at the onset of psychosis or whether further deterioration evolves during the course of illness. To address this important question, we obtained serial volumetric magnetic resonance images (MRI) of the cerebral ventricles of 18 patients with schizophrenic symptoms. Repeated blind measurements of total ventricular volume (TVV) revealed < 2% error of the segmentation method. Over a 2–3 year period, the rate of ventricular expansion (RVE) was 2.2 ± 1.6 cm 3/year in the patients and 0.7 ± 0.6 cm 3/year in controls. The RVE in the patients was not normally distributed, but clustered into two groups: a group similar to controls ( n = 10; RVE, 0.9 ± 0.5 cm 3/year) and a group with a significantly greater rate of expansion ( n = 8; RVE, 3.9 ± 0.7 cm 3/year) ( P < 0.001). These results suggest that there are at least two subpopulations within the schizophrenias: one with relatively static ventricles and another with progressively enlarging ventricles. At least two distinct etiologic processes may thus underlie the clinical presentation of schizophrenic symptoms. Factors which might influence ventricular expansion (neuroleptic compliance, alcohol and recreational drug abuse, and some clinical correlates) could not account for differences between groups.
ISSN:0925-4927
0165-1781
1872-7506
1872-7123
DOI:10.1016/S0925-4927(97)00013-9