Am J Psychiatry 1992; 149:1195-1198
Copyright © 1992 by American Psychiatric Association
Sylvian fissure size in schizophrenia measured with the magnetic resonance imaging rating protocol of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease
JM Schwartz, E Aylward, PE Barta, LE Tune and GD Pearlson
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.
OBJECTIVE: Since previous work indicated smaller than normal temporal lobe
structures in schizophrenic patients, the authors tested the hypothesis
that this abnormality might be reflected in abnormally large sylvian
fissures. METHOD: The subjects were 48 schizophrenic patients and 51 normal
comparison subjects matched groupwise with regard to age and sex. CSF
spaces (sylvian fissures, temporal lobe sulci, temporal horns, third
ventricle, lateral ventricles, and superficial cerebral sulci) were
visually assessed with the magnetic resonance imaging rating protocol of
the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD).
RESULTS: The sylvian fissures of the schizophrenic patients were found to
be bilaterally wider than those of the comparison subjects. There were no
other significant differences. CONCLUSIONS: Schizophrenic patients appear
to have larger than normal sylvian fissures, which may reflect smaller
superior temporal gyri.
