title: Adhesio interthalamica alterations in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have reported a variety of brain abnormalities in association with schizophrenia. These include a higher prevalence of an absent adhesio interthalamica (AI; also known massa intermedia), a gray matter junction that is present between the two thalami in approximately 80% of healthy subjects. In this meta-analytic review, we describe and discuss the main AI MRI findings in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) to date. The MEDLINE and ISI Web of Knowledge databases were searched up to December 2010, for studies that used MRI to assess AI in patients with SSD and controls. From fourteen potential reports, eleven were eligible to be part of the current review. These studies included 822 patients with SSD and 718 healthy volunteers. There was a large degree of variability in the MRI methods they employed. Patients with SSD had a higher prevalence of absent AI than healthy volunteers (odds ratio = 1.98; 95% confidence interval 1.33-2.94; p = 0.0008). This association was evident in both male and female SSD subjects, and there was no evidence that the prevalence was related to age or duration of illness. The significance of the absence of an AI for SSD may be clarified by studies in large, longitudinal community-based samples using standardized methods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Behavioral Science, Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. clarissaf@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Clarissa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trzesniak
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kempton
authors.forename: Geraldo F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Busatto
authors.forename: Irismar Reis
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galvão-de Almeida
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kambeitz
authors.forename: Maria Cecília Freitas
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: Alaor Santos
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Filho
authors.forename: Marcos H N
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Chagas
authors.forename: Antonio W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Zuardi
authors.forename: Jaime E C
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Hallak
authors.forename: Phillip K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: McGuire
authors.forename: José Alexandre S
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Crippa
mesh_terms: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017594:Publication Bias; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013788:Thalamus / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents