Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-h6jzd Total loading time: 0.001 Render date: 2025-02-17T12:26:05.003Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The ventricular-brain ratio (VBR) in functional psychoses: the relationship of lateral ventricular and total intracranial area

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

I. Harvey ,
M. Williams ,
B. K. Toone ,
S. W. Lewis ,
S. W. Turner  and
P. McGuffin
I. Harvey*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College Hospital, London
M. Williams
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College Hospital, London
B. K. Toone
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College Hospital, London
S. W. Lewis
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College Hospital, London
S. W. Turner
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College Hospital, London
P. McGuffin
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College Hospital, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr I. Harvey, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

CT scans were performed on 72 consecutive patients with a functional psychosis, and compared with 50 community controls. There was a specific difference in lateral ventricular area between these two groups but it accounted for only 11% of the variance in this measure. In contrast, racial and sexual differences in the ventricular-brain ratio (VBR) related to differences in intra-cranial area. It is argued that analysis of variance, using lateral ventricular area and intra-cranial area, is more informative than VBR in examining these structural changes in functional psychoses.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , February 1990 , pp. 55 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andreasen, N., Nasrallah, H. A., Dunn, V., Olson, S. C., Grove, W. M., Ehrhardt, J. C., Coffman, J. C. & Crossett, J. H. (1986). Structural abnormalities in the frontal system in schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry 43, 136–144.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Annett, M. (1970). A classification of hand preference by association analysis. British Journal of Psychology 61, 303–321.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bartfai, A., Levander, S. E., Nyback, H., Berggren, B.-M. & Schalling, D. (1985). Smooth pursuit eye tracking, neuropsychological test performance, and computed tomography in schizophrenia. Psychiatry Research 15, 49–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berman, K. F., Weinberger, D. R., Shelton, R. C. & Zec, R. F. (1987). A relationship between anatomical and physiological brain pathology in schizophrenia: lateral cerebral ventricular size predicts cortical blood flow. American Journal of Psychiatry 144, 1277–1282.Google ScholarPubMed
Bleich, A., Brown, S.-L., Kahn, R. & van Praag, H. M. (1988). The role of serotonin in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin 14, 297–315.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeLisi, L. E., Goldin, L. R., Hamovit, J. R., Maxwell, M. E., Kurtz, D. & Gershon, E. S. (1986). A familial study of the association of increased ventricular size in schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry 43, 148–153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gattaz, W. F., Rost, W., Kohlmeyer, K., Bauer, K., Hubner, C. & Gasser, T. (1988). CT scans and neuroleptic response in schizophrenia – a multidimensional approach. Psychiatry Research 26, 293–303.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goetz, K. L. & van Kammen, D. P. (1986). Computerised axial tomography and subtypes of schizophrenia. Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases 174, 31–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Iacono, W. G., Smith, G. N., Moreau, M., Beiser, M., Fleming, J., Lin, T. & Flak, B. (1988). Ventricular and sulcal size at the onset of psychosis. American Journal of Psychiatry 145, 820–824.Google ScholarPubMed
Jacobson, R. R., Turner, S. W., Baldy, R. E. & Lishman, W. A. (1985). Densitometric analysis of scans: important sources of artefact. Psychological Medicine 15, 879–889.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jernigan, T. L., Zatz, L. M., Moses, J. A. & Berger, P. A. (1982). Computed tomography in schizophrenics and normal volunteers. I. Fluid volume. Archives of General Psychiatry 39, 765–770.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karson, C. N., Coppola, R., Daniel, D. G. & Weinberger, D. R. (1988). Computerised EEG in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin 14, 193–197.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kemali, D., Maj, M., Galderisi, S., Salvati, A., Starace, F., Valente, A. & Pirozzi, R. (1987). Clinical, biological and neuropsychological features associated with lateral ventricular enlargement in DSMIII schizophrenic disorder. Psychiatry Research 21, 137–149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nasrallah, H. A., McCalley-Whitters, M. & Jacoby, C. G. (1982). Cortical atrophy in schizophrenia and mania: a comparative study. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 43, 439–441.Google Scholar
Pearlson, G. D., Garbacz, D. J., Moberg, P. J., Ahn, H. S. & De Paulo, J. (1985). Symptomatic, familial, perinatal and social correlates of computerised axial tomography changes in schizophrenics and bipolars. Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases 173, 42–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raz, S., Raz, N. & Bigler, E. D. (1988). Ventriculomegaly in schizophrenia: is the choice of controls important? Psychiatry Research 24, 71–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reveley, A. M., Reveley, M. A., Chitkara, B. & Clifford, C. (1984). The genetic basis of cerebral ventricular volume. Psychiatry Research 13, 261–266.Google Scholar
Rieder, R. O., Mann, L. S., Weinberger, D. R., van Kammen, D. P. & Post, R. M. (1983). Computed tomographic scans in patients with schizophrenia, schizo-affective and bipolar affective disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry 40, 735–739.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romani, A., Merello, S., Gozzoli, L., Zerbi, F., Grassi, M. & Cosi, V. (1987). P300 and CT scan in patients with chronic schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry 151, 506–513.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scott, M. L., Golden, C. J., Ruedrich, S. L. & Bishop, R. J. (1983). Ventricular enlargement in major depression. Psychiatry Research 8, 91–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shelton, R. C. & Weinberger, D. R. (1986). X-ray computerised tomographic studies in schizophrenia: a review and synthesis. In Handbook of Schizophrenia, vol. I – The Neurology of Schizophrenia (ed. Nasrallah, H. A. and Weinberger, D. R.), pp. 207–250. Elsevier Science Publishers: Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Smith, G. N., Iacono, W. G., Moreau, M., Tallman, K., Beirer, M. & Flak, B. (1988). Choice of comparison group and computerised tomography findings in schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry 153, 667–674.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spitzer, R. L., Endicott, J. & Robins, E. (1975). Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) for a Selected Group of Functional Psychoses, edn. 3. Biometric Research Division, New York State Psychiatric Institute: New York.Google Scholar
SPSS (1983). SPSS-X User's Guide, 2nd edn.McGraw Hill: New York.Google Scholar
Stafford, J. L., Albert, M. S., Naeser, M. A., Sandor, T. & Garvey, A. J. (1988). Age related differences in computed tomographic scan measurements. Archives of Neurology 45, 409–415.Google Scholar
Targum, S. D., Rosen, L. N., DeLisi, L. E., Weinberger, D. R. & Citrin, C. M. (1983). Cerebral ventricular size in major depressive disorder: association with delusional symptoms. Biological Psychiatry 18, 329–336.Google Scholar
Turner, S. W. & Toone, B. K. (1988). The VBR in schizophrenia research: a methodological problem. Schizophrenia Research 1, 163–164.Google Scholar
Weinberger, D. R., Fuller Torrey, E., Neophytides, A. N. & Wyatt, J. R. (1979). Lateral cerebral ventricular enlargement in chronic schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry 36, 735–739.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weinberger, D. R., DeLisi, L. E., Neophytides, A. N. & Wyatt, R. J. (1981). Familial aspects of CT scan abnormalities in chronic schizophrenic patients. Psychiatry Research 4, 65–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weinberger, D. R., DeLisi, L. E., Perman, G. P., Targum, S. & Wyatt, J. (1982). Computed tomography in schizophreniform disorder and other acute psychiatric disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry 39, 778–783.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zatz, L. M. & Jernigan, T. L. (1983). The ventricle–brain ratio on computed tomography scans: validity and proper use. Psychiatry Research 8, 207–214.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zatz, L. M., Jernigan, T. L. & Ahumada, A. J. (1981). Changes on computed cranial tomography with ageing: intracranial fluid volume. American Journal of Neuroradiology 3, 1–11.Google Scholar