Cerebral MRI findings in childhood-onset schizophrenia-Comparison of patients with prodromal obsessive-compulsive symptoms and those without

Research Project

Project/Area Number	08671101
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Psychiatric science
Research Institution	Nara Medical University
Principal Investigator	IIDA Junzo Nara Medical University Psychiatry Associated professor, 精神医学教室・医学部, 助教授 (50159555)
Project Period (FY)	1996 – 1997
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 1997)
Budget Amount *help	¥1,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000) Fiscal Year 1997: ¥200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥200,000) Fiscal Year 1996: ¥1,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000)
Keywords	Childhood-onset / Schizophrenia / Cerebral MRI / Obsessive-compulsive symptoms / 頭部MRI所見 / PANSS
Research Abstract	Introduction : We have previously reported that childhood-onset schizophrenics with obsessive-compuisive symptoms constitute a specific clinical feature ; male predominancy, higher occurence perinatal complication, more severe premorbid impairment and more negative symptoms. Because these clinical findings might reflect neurodevelopmental insult, we examined structural brain abnormalities using MRI. Methods : Thirty patients who met the DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia and had onset of schizophrenia by age 17 and 17 age-and sex-matched normal control served as subjects. Schizophrenic subjects were divided into two groups ; 13 patients with obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS (+) group ; the mean age at onset, 15.42 (]SY.+-。[)1.65yr), 17 patients without (OCS(-)group ; 15.60(]SY.+-。[)1.44yr). The areas of hyppocampus, frontal lobe, corpus callosum and putamen were measured by computerized morhometry. Results : There was no significant difference among the three groups in the fructional area of frontal lobe, corpus callosum and putamen. The fructional area of left hyppocampus (the area of hyppocampus/the area of total brain)was 0.850(]SY.+-。[)0.206,1.057(]SY.+-。[)0.165 and 1.057(]SY.+-。[)0.166, in OCS(+)group, OCS(-)group and control group, respectively. Left hyppocampus was significantly smaller in the OCS (+) group compared to other groups. Right hyppocampus was also smaller in the OCS (+) group, but these differences did not reach satistical significance. Conclusion : The present study indicates that childhood-onset schizophrenics with obsessive-compulsive symptoms exhibit a smaller left hyppocampus, which in turn support neurodevelopmental hypotheses.