Qualitative MRI findings in patients with schizophrenia: a controlled study

A variety of brain structural abnormalities, which can be identified only b y qualitative methods, have been shown to correlate with clinical presentat ion and course of schizophrenia. In the present study, MRI scans of 122 pat ients with DSM-IV schizophrenia and 81 non-psychiatric controls were evalua ted. Among males, the frequency of CNS developmental abnormalities (CDAs) w as higher in patients than in controls. Lateral ventricular enlargement (LV E) was more frequent in patients than in controls; when subjects were group ed in three age classes, LVE was more frequent in patients than in controls in the youngest and the oldest age group. Patients with LVE or third VE we re older than those without these abnormalities. Schizophrenic patients wit h LVE or cortical atrophy (CA) had a longer duration of illness than those without these abnormalities. Both patients with LVE and those with third VE had a poorer outcome than those without these abnormalities. CDA findings add to the evidence of a higher frequency of neurodevelopmental abnormaliti es in male schizophrenic patients. Results concerning LVE suggest that both developmental and degenerative processes underlie this abnormality. The as sociation of LVE and third VE with a poor outcome indicates that qualitativ e MRI evaluation might be of clinical relevance. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.