Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T02:02:58.171Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cerebral Ventricular Enlargement in Chronic Schizophrenia: Consistencies and Contradictions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

A. Farmer ,
R. Jackson ,
P. McGuffin  and
P. Storey
A. Farmer*
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
R. Jackson
Affiliation:
Graylirigwell Hospital, Chichester
P. McGuffin
Affiliation:
University of Wales, College of Medicine, Cardiff, Institute of Psychiatry, London
P. Storey
Affiliation:
Springfield and St Georges Hospitals, Tooting, London
*
∗Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A study of cerebral ventricular size measured as ventricle to brain ratio (VBR) using computerised tomographic brain scan in chronic schizophrenics provided no support for suggestions that there are significant differences between patients who fall into different clinical subtypes. We found no significant difference in VBR between patients with and without a family history of schizophrenia or between those with or without paranoid symptoms. Applying Crow's classification, contrary to expectations, Type 1 patients had significantly larger ventricles than those with ‘mixed’ symptomatology (both Type 1 and Type 2 features). We also applied a variety of operational criteria which attempt to define schizophrenia as a whole: of these only Schneider's first-rank symptoms (FRS) yielded conclusive results - FRS-positive patients had significantly larger mean VBR than those without such symptoms. Previously, it has been suggested that ventricular enlargement is more closely associated with ‘negative’ than with ‘positive’ symptoms.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 150 , Issue 3 , March 1987 , pp. 324 - 330
Copyright
Copyright © 1987 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1980) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed.) DSM-III. Washington DC: Division of Public Affairs, APA.Google Scholar
Andreasen, N. C, Olsen, S. (1982) Negative v. positive schizophrenia. Definition and validation. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39, 789–794.Google Scholar
Andreasen, N. C., Smith, M. R., Jacoby, C. G., Dennert, J. W., Olsen, S. A. (1982) Ventricular enlargement in schizophrenia: Definition and prevalence. American Journal of Psychiatry, 139, 292–296.Google Scholar
Carpenter, W. T., Strauss, J. S. & Bartoko, J. J. (1973) Flexible system for the diagnosis of schizophrenia: A report from Science, 182, 1275–1278.Google Scholar
Crow, T. J. (1980) Molecular pathology of schizophrenia: more than one disease process. British Medical Journal, 1, 66–68.Google Scholar
Crow, (1985) The two syndrome concept: origins and current status. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 11, 471–486.Google Scholar
Everitt, B. S. (1981) Bimodality and the nature of depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 336–339.Google Scholar
Farmer, A. E., McGuffin, P., Spitznagel, E. L. (1983) Heterogeneity in schizophrenia: a cluster analytic approach. Psychiatry Research, 8, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Farmer, A. E., McGuffin, P., Gottesman, II. (1984) Searching for the split in schizophrenia: a twin study perspective. Psychiatry Research, 13, 109–118.Google Scholar
Feighner, J. P., Robins, E., Guze, S. B., Woodruff, R., Winokur, G., Munoz, R. (1972) Archives of General Psychiatry, 26, 57–63.Google Scholar
Gottesman, II, & Shields, J. (1982) Schizophrenia. The Epigenetic Puzzle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gross, G., Huber, G. & Schutter, R. (1982) Computerised tomography studies on schizophrenic diseases. Archive fur Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten, 231, 519–526.Google Scholar
Jacobi, A. & Winkler, H. (1927) Encephalographischen Studien an chronisch Schizophrenen. Archiv fur Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten, 81, 299–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jellinek, E. H. (1976) Cerebral atrophy and cognitive impairment in chronic schizophrenia. Lancet, 2, 1202–1203.Google Scholar
Johnstone, E. C, Crow, T. J., Frith, C. D., Husband, J., Kreel, L. (1976) Cerebral ventricular size and cognitive impairment in chronic schizophrenia.Google Scholar
Johnstone, E. C, Crow, T. J., Frith, C. D., Stevens, M., Kreel, L., & Husband, J. (1978) The dementia of dementia praecox. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 57, 305–324.Google Scholar
Kemali, D., Mai, S., Galderisi, S., Ariano, M. G., Cesarelli, M., Milici, N., Salvati, A., Valente, A. & Valpe, M. (1985) Clinical and neuropsychological correlates of cerebral ventricular. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 19(4), 587–596.Google Scholar
Kendall, R. E. (1975) The role of diagnosis in psychiatry. Oxford: Blackwcll Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Kendall, R. E. (1982) The choice of diagnostic criteria for biological research. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39, 1334–1335.Google Scholar
Kendall, R. E., Brockington, I. F., Leff, J. P. (1979) Prognostic implications of six alternative definitions of schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 36, 25–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kling, A. S., Kurtz, N. Tachini, K. & Orzeck, A. (1983) Ct scans in sub-groups of chronic schizophrenics. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 17(4), 375–384.Google Scholar
Kolakowska, T., Williams, A. W., Jambor, K. & Ardern, M. (1985) Schizophrenia with good and poor outcome. III Neurological ‘soft’ signs, cognitive impairment and their clinical significances. British Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 348–357.Google Scholar
Lancet (1982) Editorial: The CT scan in schizophrenia. Lancet ii, 968.Google Scholar
Marsden, C. D. (1976) Cerebral atrophy and cognitive impairment in chronic schizophrenia. Lancet, U, 1079.Google Scholar
McGuffin, P., Farmer, A. E., Gottesman, I.I., Murray, R. M., Reveley, A. M. (1984) Twin concordance for operationally defined schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 41, 541–545.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murphy, E. A. (1974) One cause? Many causes? The argument from the bimodal distribution. Journal of Chronic Diseases, 17, 301–324.Google Scholar
Murray, R. M., Lewis, S. W., Reveley, A. M. (1985) Towards an aetiological classification of schizophrenia. Lancet, ii, 1023–1026.Google Scholar
Nasrallah, H. A., Charles, G. J., McCalley-Whitters, M. & Kuperman, S. (1982) Cerebral ventricular enlargement in subtypes of chronic schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39, 774–777.Google Scholar
Owens, D. G. C, Johnstone, E. C, Crow, T. J., Frith, C. D., Jagoe, J. R. & Kreel, L. (1985) Lateral ventricular size in schizophrenia: relationship to the disease process and its clinical manifestations. Psychological Medicine, 15, 27–41.Google Scholar
Reveley, M. A. (1985) Ventricular enlargement in schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 367–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reveley, M. A., Chitkara, B. (1985) Letter to Editor. Lancet, June 29, 1503.Google Scholar
Reveley, A. M., Reveley, M. A., Murray, R. M. (1984) Cerebral ventricular enlargement in “non-genetic” schizophrenia: a controlled twin study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 89–93.Google Scholar
Schneider, K. (1959) Clinicalpsychopathology. Translated by Hamilton, M., New York: Grune & Stratton.Google Scholar
Spitzer, R. L., Endicott, J., Robins, E. (1978) Research Diagnostic Criteria. Instrument No 58. New York: New York Psychiatric Institute.Google Scholar
Storey, P. B. (1966) Lumbar air encephalography in chronic schizophrenia: a controlled experiment. British Journal of Psychiatry, 112, 135–144.Google Scholar
Tanaka, T., Hazama, H., Kawahara, R. & Kobayashi, K. (1981) Computerised tomography of the brain in schizophrenic patients. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 63, 191–197.Google Scholar
Tsuang, M. T., Winokur, G. (1974) Criteria for subtyping schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 31, 43–47.Google Scholar
Turner, S., Toone, B., Brett-Jones, A. (1986) Computerised tomography scan changes in early schizophrenia-preliminary findings. Psychological Medicine. (In press).Google Scholar
Weinberger, D. R., Torrey, F. E., Neophytides, A. N., & Wyatt, R. J. (1979) Lateral cerebral ventricular enlargement in schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 36, 735–739.Google Scholar
Williams, A. O., Reveley, M. A., Kolakowska, T., Ardern, M. & Mandelbrote, B. M. (1985) Schizophrenia with good and poor outcome: II. Cerebral ventricular size and its clinical significance. British Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 239–246.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.