Hippocampus volume and treatment delays in first-episode schizophrenia

Beng-Choon Ho; Daniel Alicata; Carmencita Mola; Nancy C Andreasen

doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.162.8.1527

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Hippocampus volume and treatment delays in first-episode schizophrenia

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Hippocampus volume and treatment delays in first-episode schizophrenia

Beng-Choon Ho, Daniel Alicata, Carmencita Mola and Nancy C Andreasen

The American journal of psychiatry, Vol.162(8), pp.1527-1529

08/2005

DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.162.8.1527

PMID: 16055776

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Abstract

Many schizophrenia patients remain undiagnosed and untreated for long periods of time. It has been suggested that untreated psychosis may have deleterious neurotoxic effects. However, studies examining the correlates of untreated initial psychosis duration have been mixed. Previous MRI studies have reported no significant correlations between duration of untreated initial psychosis and brain volumes but have not examined specific brain regions that may be most susceptible to neuronal damage. The authors investigated the relationship between duration of untreated initial psychosis and hippocampus morphology in 105 patients with first-episode DSM-IV schizophrenia spectrum disorders. High-resolution MRI-based hippocampal volume measurements were obtained by using a semiautomated artificial neural network method. There were no significant associations between hippocampal volumes and duration of untreated initial psychosis. When the patient group was split around the median duration of untreated initial psychosis (13 weeks), there were again no significant differences in left, right, or total hippocampal volume between groups. These findings do not support the hypothesis that psychosis is neurotoxic or that delaying antipsychotic drug treatment results in reduced hippocampal volumes.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

Drug Administration Schedule

Humans

Male

Antipsychotic Agents - administration & dosage

Psychiatric Status Rating Scales

Schizophrenia - diagnosis

Time Factors

Antipsychotic Agents - therapeutic use

Magnetic Resonance Imaging - statistics & numerical data

Adult

Female

Functional Laterality - physiology

Hippocampus - anatomy & histology

Schizophrenia - drug therapy

Neural Networks (Computer)

Details

Title: Subtitle: Hippocampus volume and treatment delays in first-episode schizophrenia
Creators: Beng-Choon Ho - Center for Bipolar Disorders Research, Department of Psychiatry, 2880 JPP, University of Iowa College of Medicine, 200 Hawkins Dr., Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. beng-ho@uiowa.edu
Daniel Alicata
Carmencita Mola
Nancy C Andreasen
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: The American journal of psychiatry, Vol.162(8), pp.1527-1529
Publisher: United States
DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.162.8.1527
PMID: 16055776
ISSN: 0002-953X
eISSN: 1535-7228
Language: English
Date published: 08/2005
Academic Unit: Psychiatry; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984003408902771

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