Psychiatry Research EG

The aim of this work is (1) to find out CT changes in schizophrenia and look for the different factors that may affect such changes e.g. duration of illness, family history, type of symptoms (positive vs.negative ones) and ECT (2) to verify whether CT changes in schizophrenia are associated with some cognitive deficits. The material of this study included sixty schizophrenics and twenty controls. The methods used entitled : (1) Ct study e.g. ventricular dilatation, cortical atrophy, brain tissue density, (2) Organicity testing (Bender Gestalt test). The results revealed the following : 1- Schizophrenics had significant enlargement of the third ventricle (central atrophy) compared to controls. 2- Schizophrenics with longer duration of illness (more than 2 years) showed more significant central atrophy. 3- Factors like family history, type of symptoms and ECT had no significant relation to the presence of central atrophy. 4- Cortical atrophy was not significantly different in patients compared to controls. 5- The density of grey and white matter showed significant decrease in schizophrenics compared to controls. 6- In Bender Gestalt test, two thirds of schizophrenics gave organic scores while one third gave functional scores. Impairment of cognitive function is more likely to occur in patients with central atrophy (enlargement of the third ventricle).