Related Experiment Videos
Computed tomographic findings in schizophrenia: relation with symptom dimensions and sex differences
A K Malla1, J Takhar, R M Norman
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London. mpainter@lhsc.on.ca
Objective:
Loss of grey matter, a consistent finding in schizophrenia, is likely to be influenced by symptom heterogeneity and sex. This study was conducted to determine the extent and region of brain atrophy in schizophrenia and its relation to symptom syndromes and to patient sex.
Design:
Prospective study of consecutive patients.
Setting:
Psychiatric department of a general teaching hospital.
Patients:
Sixty-one consecutive patients (37 men and 24 women) admitted to hospital for acute exacerbation of schizophrenia, as diagnosed according to the DSM third edition, revised.
Interventions:
Computed tomographic examination of the head.
Outcome Measures:
Diffuse atrophy and atrophy in the frontal and temporal regions and the sylvian fissure were rated using the CT Rating Scale for Schizophrenia. Ratings were contrasted between male and female subjects; relations between atrophy ratings and 3 symptom dimensions of schizophrenia were examined for male and female subjects separately.
Results:
Widening of the sylvian fissure was positively related to psychomotor poverty (r = 0.32, p < 0.01). There was a significantly stronger relation between diffuse atrophy and reality distortion in female than in male subjects. There was no sex difference in the atrophy rating in all regions of the brain, and this lack of sex difference was not related to age of onset, length of illness or age at the time of the CT scan.
Conclusion:
The morphological changes in the brain on CT are no greater in men than in women with schizophrenia. Different mechanisms may be involved in producing reality distortion symptoms in men and women.