Lateral ventricle differences between first-episode schizophrenia and first-episode psychotic bipolar disorder: A population-based morphometric MRI study.
OBJECTIVE
The extent to which psychotic disorders fall into distinct diagnostic categories or can be regarded as lying on a single continuum is controversial. We compared lateral ventricle volumes between a large sample of patients with first-episode schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and a healthy control group from the same neighbourhood.


METHODS
Population-based MRI study with 88 first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients, grouped into those with schizophrenia/schizophreniform disorder (N=62), bipolar disorder (N=26) and 94 controls.


RESULTS
Right and left lateral ventricular and right temporal horn volumes were larger in FEP subjects than controls. Within the FEP sample, post-hoc tests revealed larger left lateral ventricles and larger right and left temporal horns in schizophrenia subjects relative to controls, while there was no difference between patients with bipolar disorder and controls. None of the findings was attributable to effects of antipsychotics.


CONCLUSIONS
This large-sample population-based MRI study showed that neuroanatomical abnormalities in subjects with schizophrenia relative to controls from the same neighbourhood are evident at the first episode of illness, but are not detectable in bipolar disorder patients. These data are consistent with a model of psychosis in which early brain insults of neurodevelopmental origin are more relevant to schizophrenia than to bipolar disorder.
Rosa
Pedro G P
PG
Department & Institute of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Schaufelberger
Maristela S
MS
Uchida
Ricardo R
RR
Duran
Fabio L S
FL
Lappin
Julia M
JM
Menezes
Paulo R
PR
Scazufca
Márcia
M
McGuire
Philip K
PK
Murray
Robin M
RM
Busatto
Geraldo F
GF
D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D020547:Lateral Ventricles / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size / Q000502:physiology; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology; D012008:Recurrence; D012016:Reference Values; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D055815:Young Adult