BACKGROUND: Imaging studies have frequently reported volume loss of limbic structures in schizophrenia, yet there appears to be no quantitative data on entorhinal cortex volumes in patients with neuroleptic naive first-episode schizophrenia. METHODS: The volume of the entorhinal cortices of 22 control subjects and 18 patients with neuroleptic-naïve first-episode schizophrenia were measured from magnetic resonance images (MRI) scans using recently designed anatomic criteria for MRI anatomy of the entorhinal cortex. RESULTS: Smaller entorhinal volumes were found bilaterally in the schizophrenic patients. This volume loss did not correlate with items on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest early involvement of the entorhinal cortex in schizophrenia.
BACKGROUND: Imaging studies have frequently reported volume loss of limbic structures in schizophrenia, yet there appears to be no quantitative data on entorhinal cortex volumes in patients with neuroleptic naive first-episode schizophrenia. METHODS: The volume of the entorhinal cortices of 22 control subjects and 18 patients with neuroleptic-naïve first-episode schizophrenia were measured from magnetic resonance images (MRI) scans using recently designed anatomic criteria for MRI anatomy of the entorhinal cortex. RESULTS: Smaller entorhinal volumes were found bilaterally in the schizophrenicpatients. This volume loss did not correlate with items on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest early involvement of the entorhinal cortex in schizophrenia.
Authors: C Christoph Schultz; Kathrin Koch; Gerd Wagner; Martin Roebel; Claudia Schachtzabel; Igor Nenadic; Carsten Albrecht; Jürgen R Reichenbach; Heinrich Sauer; Ralf G M Schlösser Journal: Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci Date: 2009-11-07 Impact factor: 5.270