TEMPORAL HORN ENLARGEMENT IS PRESENT IN SCHIZOPHRENIA AND BIPOLAR DISORDER

Background: Ventricular enlargement and temporal lobe volume deficits have been demonstrated in patients with affective disorder as well as those with schizophrenia. This study compares quantitative measures of temporal lobe, hemispheric, and ventricular volumes in a group of pat ients with chronic schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and seeks to det ermine if the groups can be differentiated on the basis of measured br ain abnormalities. Methods: A series of coronal magnetic resonance ima ging sections were acquired and analyzed for each of 22 patients with chronic schizophrenia, 14 patients with bipolar disorder, and 15 commu nity volunteers. Eleven regions of interest for each brain were define d, which included temporal lobe, superior temporal gyrus, hemisphere, lateral ventricle, third ventricle, and temporal horn measures. Tissue measures were obtained by tracing, and cerebrospinal fluid measures w ere obtained by fluid-tissue thresholding using specialized computer s oftware. Results: Both patient groups had significantly larger tempora l horn volumes in comparison with the control group both before and af ter correction for intracranial volume. The two patient groups did not differ from each other or controls on any other tissue of fluid measu re. Conclusions: This study confirms the finding of increased temporal horn volume in patients with schizophrenia and suggests that this str uctural abnormality does not differentiate the structural neuropatholo gy of schizophrenia from that of bipolar disorder. (C) 1998 Society of Biological Psychiatry.