HIPPOCAMPAL VOLUME ASYMMETRY AND AGE AT ILLNESS ONSET IN MALES WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

To determine whether there are disturbances of hippocampal volume asym metry in schizophrenic patients, we obtained contiguous, l-mm-thick ma gnetic resonance images in 28 males with chronic schizophrenia and in 28 age-matched healthy males. The schizophrenic patients showed a bila teral reduction in volume of the hippocampal formation (HF; left 7.0%; right 8.7%). This reduction was significantly associated with the sev erity of disorganization syndrome (P < 0.0005). A significant asymmetr y in the HF volume was found in the control subjects (P = 0.006), but not in the patients (P = 0.40). There was a significant positive corre lation between the asymmetry index and the patient's age at the onset of schizophrenia (r = 0.46, P = 0.01). Results indicate that a disturb ance in the normal asymmetry of the HF may be a characteristic in schi zophrenia, particularly in patients with an early onset of the illness .