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Effects of Substance Abuse on Ventricular and Sulcal Measures Assessed by Computerised Tomography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Nicola G. Cascella ,
Godfrey Pearlson ,
Dean F. Wong ,
Emmanuel Broussolle ,
Craig Nagoshi ,
Richard A. Margolin  and
Edythe D. London
Nicola G. Cascella
Affiliation:
Addiction Research Center, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD, USA
Godfrey Pearlson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD
Dean F. Wong
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD
Emmanuel Broussolle
Affiliation:
Addiction Research Center, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD
Craig Nagoshi
Affiliation:
Addiction Research Center, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD
Richard A. Margolin
Affiliation:
Addiction Research Center, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD
Edythe D. London*
Affiliation:
Addiction Research Center, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD
*
∗NIDA Addiction Research Center, PO Box 5180, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
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Abstract

Computerised tomography (CT) was used to assess the possible effects of substance abuse on brain morphology. Polydrug abusers had significantly wider third ventricles than normal controls, with a positive correlation between age and ventricle:brain ratio (VBR). Assuming no effect of age, estimated quantity of substance abuse was not significantly related to ventricular and sulcal measures, except that alcohol consumption correlated positively with VBR and severity of cocaine use correlated negatively with sulcal width. When age of the subjects was partialled out, alcohol use showed a tendency for association with VBR; however, severity of cocaine use did not remain a significant predictor of cortical sulcal width. The findings suggest that chronic use of alcohol, but not necessarily of other commonly abused substances, produces brain atrophy.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 159 , Issue 2 , August 1991 , pp. 217 - 221
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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Footnotes

Presented in part at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Committee on Problems of Drug Dependence, North Falmouth, MA, 28–30 June 1988.

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