title: A magnetic resonance imaging study of adhesio interthalamica in clinical subtypes of schizophrenia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies have suggested subtle anatomical brain differences between patients with schizophrenia and healthy control subjects. However, the results are inconsistent and there is no study investigating the various subtypes of this mental disorder separately.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted to compare the rate of absence of adhesio interthalamica (AI), a midline brain structure, between 3 subtypes of schizophrenia (paranoid, undifferentiated, and residual) and healthy control group, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 29 schizophrenia patients (21 men, 8 women) of three subtypes (paranoid, undifferentiated, and residual) were compared with 29 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. All subjects underwent 3-D brain MRI of full coronal series, 1.5-mm slices without interslice gaps. If the grey matter band connecting the thalami could not be identified on two or more coronal adjacent slices, the AI was considered as absent. The results were statistically analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence rate of AI absence in patients with heterogenous subtypes of schizophrenia was was similar to control group, even when patients and controls of each gender were compared separately (P>0.05). In residual subtype, patients showed a significant priority in AI absence in comparison with the control group (P=0.041), which was not seen in paranoid and undifferentiated subtypes (P>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Residual subtype of schizophrenia is associated with higher rate of AI absence in this study. Subsequent studies are required to determine if the absence of AI is a cause of residual schizophrenia or an effect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical Genetic Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Haghir
authors.forename: Naghmeh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mokhber
authors.forename: Mahmoud-Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Azarpazhooh
authors.forename: Mehri Baghban
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Haghighi
authors.forename: Mahla
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Radmard
keywords: Adhesio interthalamica; magnetic resonance imaging; schizophrenia