LACK OF CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT GROSS STRUCTURAL ABNORMALITIES IN MRISOF OLDER PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA AND RELATED PSYCHOSES

The authors examined the reports of MRI brain studies of 69 patients w ith DSM-III-R-diagnosed psychotic disorders (30 early-onset and 24 lat e-onset schizophrenia patients and 15 with other psychoses) and 41 nor mal comparison subjects. Participants' ages ranged from 45 to 87 years . A qualitative rating scheme determined type and severity of clinical ly detectable abnormalities, including volume lass, infarcts, lacunae, and white matter hyperintensities. In this clinically well-characteri zed sample, the vast majority of the MRIs were within normal limits. T here were no significant differences between psychosis patients and no rmal comparison subjects or between early-onset and late-onset schizop hrenia patients in frequency, type, or severity of gross structural ab normalities. The results indicate that late-onset schizophrenia and re lated disorders can exist without clinically significant gross structu ral abnormalities in the brain.