Clinical significance of large cerebral ventricles in manic males

Consecutively admitted manic males (n = 24) who consented to participate in a computed tomographic (CT) study of the brain were studied. Those with a ventricle-to-brain ratio (VBR) 2 standard deviations above the mean VBR of a matched control group comprised the large VBR group; the remainder comprised the small VBR group. A controlled comparison of a series of clinical variables was conducted between the larger and smaller VBR groups. There were no differences in age of onset, duration of illness, substance abuse, electroconvulsive therapy, abnormal electroencephalogram, delusions, hallucinations, suicidal attempts, irritable or grandiose affect, family history, cognitive test scores, or response to drug treatment. However, manic males with larger VBRs were found to have a significantly lower frequency of hospitalization than those in the smaller VBR group.