Computerized tomography findings on schizophrenia and atypical psychosis

The brain CTs of 54 endogenous psychotics (27 males, 27 females) who were less than 40 years of age and were first adimitted in Aichi Medical University from 1982 to 1986, and 20 controls (10 males, 10 females) were examined. Using Mitsuda's classification, we devided all the cases into 29 schizophrenics (18 males, 11 females) and 25 atypical psychotics (9 males, 16 females). In order to investigate the differences of CT findings between the two patient groups, the 3rd ventricle index (the ratio of 3rd ventricle width to the internal diameter of the skull), Evans'ratio, lateral ventricle brain ratio (VBR), Sylvian fissure to brain ratio, 4th ventricle to cerebellum ratio were determined. Schizophrenics had larger 3rd and lateral ventricles as well as Sylvian fissures when compared to controls, but atypical psychotics had not. Moreover, schizophrenics had larger 3rd and lateral ventricle than atypical psychotics. But in widths of Sylvian fissures there was no statistical significant difference between the two groups. Ventricle enlargements of schizophrenics did not correlate with duration of illness as well as age, and were not results of prior psychiatric treatment such as medication and EST. Therefore the following is suggested that, this abnormal CT findings predate the onset of schizophrenic psychoses. In atypical psychotics the changes of Sylvian fissures correlated with duration of illness, but not with age. Such observations may possibly suggest that recurrence of the illness might finally attain irreversible changes even in atypical psychotics. Finally, the heterogeneity of schizophrenia and the independence of atypical psychosis were also discussed. (author) 53 refs