Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:1327-1332
Copyright © 1990 by American Psychiatric Association
The role of gender in studies of ventricle enlargement in schizophrenia: a predominantly male effect
M Flaum, S Arndt and NC Andreasen
Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa College of Medicine 52242.
Two previously reported neuroimaging studies from the authors' laboratory
demonstrated larger lateral ventricles in schizophrenic patients than in
normal control subjects. This diagnostic effect was accounted for almost
entirely by the male subjects. In this report the role of gender is further
explored through reexamining these data sets and those of two earlier
studies. Although Gender by Diagnosis effects were not demonstrated, in
three of the four studies male schizophrenic subjects had significantly
larger ventricles than their control counterparts; there were no
differences among the female subjects. One study suggested the opposite
effect, but this may be attributable to a non-representative control group.
