A PROSPECTIVE FOLLOW-UP-STUDY OF BRAIN MORPHOLOGY AND COGNITION IN FIRST-EPISODE SCHIZOPHRENIC-PATIENTS - PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

Brain morphological abnormalities have been reported in several indepe ndent investigations of chronic schizophrenic patients, The present st udy is a prospective 4-year follow-up of first-episode schizophrenic p atients to determine whether some of these abnormalities may be a cons equence of regional brain structural change over time after the onset of a first psychotic episode, Whole hemisphere, temporal lobes, superi or temporal gyrus, hippocampus, caudate, corpus callosum, and lateral ventricles were measured in a series of MRI scans taken over a 4-year period in 20 patients and five controls, Total volume reduction was no ted in both hemispheres to a greater degree in patients than controls, When adjusted for total brain size, left ventricular enlargement occu rred in patients, but not controls, over time. These preliminary data suggest that subtle cortical atrophy may be occurring over time after the onset of illness.