Stereological Volumetry of Cerebral Hemispheres and Lateral Ventricles Using MRI in Schizophrenia Subtypes

Background/Objectives: The structural changes of brain (cerebral and lateral ventricles volumes) in schizophrenia are controversial.This ispartlydue to theheterogenicity of the schizophreniasubtypes.Inthisstudywecomparedthechangesinthevolumesofcerebral hemispheresandlateralventriclesin3 subtypesofschizophrenia(paranoid,undifferentiated andresidual)withnormalcontrols. Materials and Methods: 29 schizophrenia patients (21 men, 8 women) of 3 subtypes of paranoid,undifferentiated,and residual (according toDMS-IV criteria)were comparedwith 29 age- and gender-matched normal controls. All cases and controls underwent 3-D brain MRIoffullcoronalseries,1.5mmsliceswithoutinterslicegaps.Thehemispheresandlateral ventricleswereoutlinedand their volumeswere calculatedusingCavalieri’sPrinciple.The resultswerestatisticallyanalyzed. Results:Thebrainwasslightlybutinsignificantlysmallerintheschizophreniapatients.Only the residual subtype showed a significant reduction in cerebral and hemispheric volumes thancontrols(p<0.05).Thevolumesofrightandleftventricle,separatelyandtogetherwere largerthancontrols(p<0.03).Theventricle-to-brainratios(VBRs)weregreaterinthecases (p<0.05). The paranoid subtype patients had larger ventricles and VBRs than controls (p<0.05). The lateral ventricle volumes and VBRs in the undifferentiated subtype were similartothecontrols.Intheresidualsubtypes,theventricularvolumesweresimilartoand theVBRswerelargerthancontrols(p<0.05). Conclusion:Schizophreniaisa heterogeneousdisorderregardingitssymptomsandneuropathological changes.Thepatternsofchangeinthecerebralandventricularvolumesdiffered inthestudied3 subtypes.