Quantification of lateral ventricular subdivisions in schizophrenia by high-resolution three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging.
In vivo brain imaging and postmortem investigations have demonstrated ventricular enlargement in the brains of schizophrenic patients. However, the extent of changes in the volume of discrete ventricle subdivisions has not been clearly established. We conducted high-resolution three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging in 40 schizophrenic patients (20 males and 20 females) and 40 healthy volunteers (20 males and 20 females). The lateral ventricle in each hemisphere was divided into the anterior horn, body, posterior horn and temporal horn. The volumes of the hemispheres, four subdivisions of the lateral ventricles and the third ventricle were measured. Compared to the control subjects, the bilateral hemisphere volumes were significantly lower in the patients than in the control subjects. In the lateral ventricular subdivisions of the male patients, the most substantial volume increase was in the left temporal horn, and volume increases were also observed in the bilateral anterior horns and the right body. The male patients also had a significantly increased volume of the third ventricle. The female patients showed similar patterns with less statistical significance. Thus, the schizophrenia patients showed ventricular enlargement, particularly in the left temporal horn, being more severely affected in the male than in the female.
Yotsutsuji
Takashi
T
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.
Saitoh
Osamu
O
Suzuki
Michio
M
Hagino
Hirofumi
H
Mori
Kouichi
K
Takahashi
Tsutomu
T
Kurokawa
Kenzo
K
Matsui
Mie
M
Seto
Hikaru
H
Kurachi
Masayoshi
M
D000328:Adult; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000473:pathology*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008297:Male; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*