MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING IN SCHIZOPHRENIA - RELATIONSHIP WITH CLINICAL MEASURES

Relationships were examined between clinical features of schizophrenia and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume in brain obtained by magnetic re sonance imaging (MRI) in a sample of 59 patients. The volumes of the c erebral hemispheres and CSF were measured with a computer program desi gned to separate reliably neural tissue from CSF. The CSF to cranial v olume ratios were related to history, symptom profile and outcome func tioning. Earlier age of onset was associated with higher sulcal CSF ra tio, r = -0.40. The anatomic measures were unrelated to symptom severi ty. However, patient subtypes differed in the laterality of measures. Higher left hemispheric ratios were seen in patients with severe negat ive symptoms, and left predominance of ventricular relative to sulcal ratios was associated with the presence of hallucinations and delusion s. The results suggest that while higher CSF is related to earlier age of onset, the clinical symptoms are more related to its lateralizatio n. This is consistent with the hypothesis that schizophrenia is a late ralized brain disease.