title: White matter fibertracking in first-episode schizophrenia, schizoaffective patients and subjects at ultra-high risk of psychosis.
abstract: There is increasing evidence of white matter pathology in schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to examine whether white matter abnormalities found with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in previous schizophrenia studies are present in the early phase of the illness. DTI was performed at 3 T on 10 male patients with a first (n = 8) or second (n = 2) psychotic episode of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, 10 male patients at ultra-high risk of psychosis with (pre)psychotic symptoms and 10 healthy controls. Fibertracts found to be abnormal in other DTI studies (uncinate and arcuate fasciculus, anterior and dorsal cingulum, subdivisions of the corpus callosum) were calculated and visualized; tract-specific measurements (fractional anisotropy and trace) were performed. No differences were found between the healthy subjects and the 2 patient groups. These preliminary findings suggest that there is no white matter pathology of these association tracts detectable with DTI in the early stages of schizophrenic illness in males. Our findings are in contrast with DTI abnormalities found in some other first-episode studies. This discrepancy in findings may be related to differences in subject characteristics and DTI methodology. Possible effects of age, gender, level of education and illicit substance use on DTI findings in schizophrenia are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. b.d.peters@amc.uva.nl
authors.forename: Bart D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Lieuwe
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de Haan
authors.forename: Nienke
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dekker
authors.forename: Jorik
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blaas
authors.forename: Hiske E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Dingemans
authors.forename: Erik M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Akkerman
authors.forename: Charles B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Majoie
authors.forename: Therèse
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: van Amelsvoort
authors.forename: Gerard J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: den Heeten
authors.forename: Don H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Linszen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000473:pathology*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004522:Educational Status; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008280:Magnetics; D008297:Male; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult