Regional cerebral blood flow in schizophrenia using stable xenon-enhanced computed tomography

To investigate the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and the factors affecting the rCBF in schizophrenia, we measured the rCBF using stable xenon-enhanced computed tomography in 118 schizophrenic patients and 21 healthy subjects. A multiple regression analysis was applied to assess the potential affecting factors, i.e. age, gender, duration of illness, dose of antipsychotics and usage of antiparkinsonism and antianxiety drugs. The rCBF of the schizophrenic patients was significantly lower than that of the healthy subjects in all regions except for the occipital region. The rCBF was decreased with increasing age in both groups to the same extent. The dosage of antipsychotic drugs taken had a significant regression relationship with the rCBF in the bilateral thalamus.