Regional cerebral blood flow in deficit/nondeficit types of schizophrenia according to SDS criteria.

A relationship between "hypofrontality" and a negative form of schizophrenia is commonly found. The Schedule for the Deficit Syndrome (SDS) provides specific criteria for assessing the presence of negative symptoms, their duration and whether the symptoms are primary or secondary. The purpose of our study was to compare the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) at rest, in 62 deficit and nondeficit schizophrenic patients, according to the SDS criteria (French version). The deficit patients in our population were comparable to those described in the literature (stability of their negative symptoms with time, poor premorbid adjustment, duration of the illness, age at the first episode, etc.). No difference was found in the locoregional perfusion with respect to the DSM-III-R type of schizophrenia, the sex or the type of treatment received. The patients with a deficit form of schizophrenia showed a significant bilateral reduction in single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) perfusion in the right frontodorsolateral cortex (P=.0105) and the left frontodorsolateral cortex (P=.0004) compared with the nondeficit schizophrenic patients. The contribution of SDS seems to be helpful in distinguishing between significant cerebral characteristics in deficit schizophrenics, as defined by Carpenter. These results suggest a decrease in prefrontal perfusion at rest, which corresponds with neuropsychological data.