Am J Psychiatry 1984; 141:1521-1527
Copyright © 1984 by American Psychiatric Association
Brain disease and psychiatric illness: when should a psychiatrist order a CAT scan?
DR Weinberger
Because psychiatric symptoms are frequently the earliest signs of CNS
pathology, the author outlines the structural brain diseases that may
underlie several psychiatric syndromes and describes the computerized axial
tomographic (CAT) scan findings associated with those diseases. On the
basis of an awareness of these conditions and a cost-benefit analysis, the
following indications for CAT scanning of psychiatric patients are
proposed: 1) confusion and/or dementia of unknown cause, 2) first episode
of a psychosis of unknown etiology, 3) movement disorder of unknown
etiology, 4) anorexia nervosa, 5) prolonged catatonia, and 6) first episode
of major affective disorder or personality change after age 50.
