Structural changes in the brain in schizophrenia a computed tomographic study

Computed tomography of the brain was performed in thirty schizophrenic patients in the age group of 19-45 years and thirty controls matched for age and sex The size of lateral ventricles, the width of the third ventricle and the sylvian fissure were measured in the CT scans. On group comparison, we found that the size of lateral ventricles expressed as ventricular brain ratio, and the width of the third ventricle and sylvian fissure were significantly greater in the schizophrenic patients (P< 0.001) as compared to the control group. No correlation was observed between the duration of illness and the cerebral findings. There was no significant difference between the group of schizophrenic patients with a history of having been treated with electro-convulsive therapy and the group without such a history.