A magnetic resonance imaging study of thalamic area in adolescent patientswith either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder as compared to healthy controls

The purpose of this study was to compare thalamic size in adolescent patien ts with either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and healthy controls. T2-w eighted axial magnetic resonance images were used to manually define the ar ea of the thalamus for 20 schizophrenia patients, 15 bipolar patients and 1 6 normal control subjects, all of whom were adolescents. Two orthogonal pla nned contrasts were tested: Contrast 1, patients with schizophrenia vs. pat ients with bipolar disorder; and Contrast 2, both patient groups taken as a single group compared to controls. Contrast 1 was not statistically signif icant for right or left thalamic area. Contrast 2 was statistically signifi cant and indicated reductions in thalamic area in the patients as compared to controls. The same pattern of results emerged after adjustment for total brain volume. Our results indicate that thalamic abnormalities reported in adult schizophrenic and bipolar patients are also observed in adolescent p atients. Our findings also add to the evidence implicating the thalamus in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. (C) 1999 Elsevie r Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.