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Cerebral Ventricular Enlargement in Subtypes of Chronic Schizophrenia
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Cerebral Ventricular Enlargement in Subtypes of Chronic Schizophrenia

Henry A Nasrallah, Charles G Jacoby, Mona McCalley-Whitters and Sam Kuperman
Archives of general psychiatry, Vol.39(7), pp.774-777
07/01/1982
DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.1982.04290070010003
PMID: 6984642

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Abstract

• A computed tomographic study of the brain in 55 young men with chronic schizophrenia and 27 age- and sex-matched control subjects showed a significantly higher ventricle-brain ratio (VBR) in the patients with chronic schizophrenia. Using the Tsuang-Winokur criteria, the sample was classified into paranoid and nonparanoid-hebephrenic subtypes. Nonparanoid patients who did not fulfill the criteria for hebephrenia were grouped as a nonparanoid-undifferentiated subtype. All three groups of subtypes had a significantly higher mean VBR than control subjects. Among the schizophrenia subtypes, the paranoid and nonparanoid-hebephrenic groups were not different, and both had a significantly larger mean VBR than the nonparanoid-undifferentiated group. The results suggest that although the extent of ventricular enlargement varies among schizophrenia subtypes, they all show a significant enlargement compared with the control group. Also, in contrast with previous reports linking a high VBR with negative symptoms, poor prognosis, and impaired cognition, the data in this study show the largest mean VBR in the paranoid patients who generally have a good premorbid history, positive symptoms, less impaired cognition, and relatively better prognosis.

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