Ventricular enlargement in schizophrenia spectrum patients with prodromal symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder

We hypothesized that male patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders wh o have prodromal symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have ventr icular enlargement compared with non-psychotic OCD patients, and that the d ifference in the ventricular size would offer a clue to the early detection of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The ventricle-brain ratios (VBRs) in eight male patients with schizophrenia or schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) who had prodromal symptoms of OCD were compared with eight male patie nts with non-psychotic OCD and 14 normal male comparison subjects using thr ee-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The VER of the schizophren ia spectrum group was significantly larger than those of the OCD group or c omparison subjects. Even the minimum VER in the schizophrenia spectrum grou p was larger than the maximum VER in the OCD group. These results may sugge st the usefulness of three-dimensional MRI for early detection of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders who manifest OCD symptoms early in th e course of the illness. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.