COMPUTERIZED-TOMOGRAPHY IN NEWLY-DIAGNOSED SCHIZOPHRENIA AND SCHIZOPHRENIFORM DISORDER - A CONTROLLED BLIND-STUDY

Patients with newly diagnosed schizophrenia (n = 27) or schizophrenifo rm disorder (n = 22) and 24 healthy volunteers were investigated by CT scan, the investigators being blind to subject status. The patients h ad never received medication or had been treated only briefly with neu roleptics. The patients had significantly smaller brain volume and bra in length than the controls. The patients had greater sulcal enlargeme nt in the case of both Sylvian and interhemispheric fissures and surfa ce sulci in the frontal and parietal regions. The sulcal enlargement w as more pronounced in male patients and on the left hemisphere. The st udy revealed no enlargement of the lateral ventricles and only a trend towards enlargement of the third ventricle in the patients. The findi ngs were not explained by substance abuse or level of education.