January 1, 1984The British Journal of Psychiatry218 citations
View Full PaperCerebral Ventricular Enlargement in Non-Genetic Schizophrenia: a Controlled Twin Study
Key Result
Schizophrenics without a family history of major psychiatric disorder had significantly increased cerebral ventricular size (P<0.01) compared to those with a family history.
Study Design
Type
Observational
Structured PICO
Is cerebral ventricular enlargement associated with non-genetic schizophrenia and birth complications in twins?
P
Population
Schizophrenics of twin birth and normal control twins evaluated for cerebral ventricular size based on family history.
C
Comparator
Normal control twins
O
Outcome
Cerebral ventricular sizesurrogate
Cerebral ventricular enlargement in schizophrenia appears to be associated with non-genetic factors such as birth complications rather than a family history of psychiatric disorders.
Main Result
p-value: p=<0.01
Abstract
In a group of schizophrenics of twin birth, no evidence of ventricular enlargement was found where there was a family history of major psychiatric disorder. Among those schizophrenics without such a family history, cerebral ventricular size was significantly increased (P less than 0.01), and there was also evidence of birth complications. Among normal control twins, those who reported complicated births had significantly larger ventricles.