Enlarged hypothalamic volumes in schizophrenia.

Hypothalamic abnormalities in schizophrenia have been associated with endocrine dysfunctions and stress response. The hypothalamus is involved in several pathways found disrupted in schizophrenia (e.g., hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, HPA axis); however the available results on potential structural hypothalamic alterations are still controversial. The aim of the study was to investigate the volumes of the hypothalamus and the mammillary bodies in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Twenty-six patients with schizophrenia and 26 healthy controls underwent a 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. Hypothalamus and mammillary bodies were manually traced by a rater who was blind to subjects' identity. The General Linear Model was used in group comparisons of the volumes of the hypothalamus and the mammillary bodies. The hypothalamus and mammillary body volumes were significantly larger in patients with schizophrenia than controls, with significant enlargement of the left hypothalamus and trends for significantly increased right hypothalamus and right mammillary body. The size of the mammillary bodies was inversely correlated with negative symptoms and directly correlated with anxiety. This study showed abnormally increased sizes of the hypothalamus and the mammillary bodies in schizophrenia. Mammillary bodies volumes were associated to negative symptoms and anxiety. Future longitudinal studies on the volumes of the hypothalamus and the mammillary bodies with respect to the levels of related hormones will clarify their role in modulating HPA axis in schizophrenia.

Microstructural thalamic changes in schizophrenia: a combined anatomic and diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging study.

OBJECTIVE: Several magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and postmortem studies have supported the role of the thalamus in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Interestingly, a recent small diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) study showed abnormal thalamic microstructure in patients with schizophrenia. The objective of our study was to use structural MRI and DWI to explore for the first time both thalamic volumes and integrity in schizophrenia. METHODS: We measured thalamic volumes and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measures bilaterally in 71 patients with schizophrenia, representative of those living in the geographically defined catchment area of South Verona (i.e., 100 000 inhabitants), and 75 individuals without schizophrenia. The presence of the adhesio interthalamica was also detected. RESULTS: We found no significant differences in thalamus size between patients with schizophrenia and participants in the control group, with only a trend for decreased left volumes. No abnormal frequency of the adhesio interthalamica was found. In contrast, significantly increased thalamic ADC values were shown in schizophrenia patients. Age significantly inversely correlated with thalamic volumes in both groups and correlated positively with posterior ADCs in patients with schizophrenia. No significant associations between clinical variables and either volumes or ADC values were reported. CONCLUSION: Widespread altered microstructure integrity and partially preserved thalamus size were found in schizophrenia patients. Therefore, subtle thalamic structural abnormalities are present in schizophrenia, even with maintained volumes. This may result from disruption at the cytoarchitecture level, ultimately supporting corticothalamic misconnection. Future imaging studies should further explore thalamic tissue coherence and its role for cognitive disturbances in patients at high risk for schizophrenia and in first-degree relatives.

Quais são os argumentos a favor da atenção comunitária à saúde mental? / What are the arguments for community based mental health care?

Transtornos mentais são responsáveis por aproximadamente 12-15% da desabilidade mundial total – mais que as doenças cardiovasculares, e duas vezes mais que o câncer. Seu impacto na vida diária é ainda mais amplo, respondendo por mais de 30% de todos os anos vividos com desabilidade. Achados: Não há argumentos convincentes ou dados que apóiem uma abordagem unicamente hospitalar. Também não há evidência científica de que serviços comunitários isoladamente podem prover integralidade na atenção. Ao contrário, a opinião dos profissionais e os resultados dos estudos disponíveis apóiam a atenção equilibrada. A atenção equilibrada é essencialmente comunitária, mas os hospitais têm um importante papel de retaguarda. Isto quer dizer que serviços de saúde mental são oferecidos nos contextos comunitários habituais próximos à população atendida, e internações hospitalares são tão breves quanto possível, disponibilizadas prontamente e empregadas somente quando necessário. É importante coordenar os esforços de uma diversidade de serviços de saúde mental, sejam estes governamentais, não-governamentais ou privados, e garantir que as interfaces entre eles funcionem de modo apropriado. (AU)

The issue: Mental disorders are responsible for about 12 - 15 % of the world’s total disability – more than cardiovascular diseases, and twice as much as cancer. Their impact on daily life is even more extensive, accounting for more than 30% of all years lived with disability. Findings: There are no persuasive arguments or data to support a hospital-only approach. Nor is there any scientific evidence that community services alone can provide satisfactory comprehensive care. Instead, the weight of professional opinion and results from available studies support balanced care. Balanced care is essentially community-based, but hospitals play an important backup role. This means that mental health services are provided in normal community settings close to the population served, and hospital stays are as brief as possible, arranged promptly and employed only when necessary. It is important to coordinate the efforts of various mental health services, whether governmental, nongovernmental or private, and to ensure that the interfaces between them function properly. Cost-effectiveness studies on the institutionalization and of community mental health care teams have demonstrated that quality of care is closely related to expenditure. Community-based mental health services generally cost the same as the hospital-based services they replace. Policy considerations: The priorities and policy goals for a particular country depend largely on the financial resources available. Low-resource countries should focus on establishing and improving mental health services within primary care settings, using specialist services as a backup. (AU)

Quais são os argumentos a favor da atenção comunitária à saúde mental? / What are the arguments for community based mental health care?

Transtornos mentais são responsáveis por aproximadamente 12-15% da desabilidade mundial total – mais que as doenças cardiovasculares, e duas vezes mais que o câncer. Seu impacto na vida diária é ainda mais amplo, respondendo por mais de 30% de todos os anos vividos com desabilidade. Achados: Não há argumentos convincentes ou dados que apóiem uma abordagem unicamente hospitalar. Também não há evidência científica de que serviços comunitários isoladamente podem prover integralidade na atenção. Ao contrário, a opinião dos profissionais e os resultados dos estudos disponíveis apóiam a atenção equilibrada. A atenção equilibrada é essencialmente comunitária, mas os hospitais têm um importante papel de retaguarda. Isto quer dizer que serviços de saúde mental são oferecidos nos contextos comunitários habituais próximos à população atendida, e internações hospitalares são tão breves quanto possível, disponibilizadas prontamente e empregadas somente quando necessário. É importante coordenar os esforços de uma diversidade de serviços de saúde mental, sejam estes governamentais, não-governamentais ou privados, e garantir que as interfaces entre eles funcionem de modo apropriado.

The issue: Mental disorders are responsible for about 12 - 15 % of the world’s total disability – more than cardiovascular diseases, and twice as much as cancer. Their impact on daily life is even more extensive, accounting for more than 30% of all years lived with disability. Findings: There are no persuasive arguments or data to support a hospital-only approach. Nor is there any scientific evidence that community services alone can provide satisfactory comprehensive care. Instead, the weight of professional opinion and results from available studies support balanced care. Balanced care is essentially community-based, but hospitals play an important backup role. This means that mental health services are provided in normal community settings close to the population served, and hospital stays are as brief as possible, arranged promptly and employed only when necessary. It is important to coordinate the efforts of various mental health services, whether governmental, nongovernmental or private, and to ensure that the interfaces between them function properly. Cost-effectiveness studies on the institutionalization and of community mental health care teams have demonstrated that quality of care is closely related to expenditure. Community-based mental health services generally cost the same as the hospital-based services they replace. Policy considerations: The priorities and policy goals for a particular country depend largely on the financial resources available. Low-resource countries should focus on establishing and improving mental health services within primary care settings, using specialist services as a backup.

The role of white matter for the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.

Inter- and intra-hemispheric connectivity disturbances have been suggested to play a major role in schizophrenia. To this extent, diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) is a relatively new technique examining subtle white matter microstructure organization. DWI studies in schizophrenia strongly suggest that white matter communication is disrupted. This supports the hypothesis that there is a cortico-cortical and transcallosal altered connectivity in schizophrenia, which may be relevant for the pathophysiology and the cognitive disturbances of the disorder. Future longitudinal diffusion and functional imaging studies targeting brain communication together with genetic investigations should further characterize white matter pathology in schizophrenia and its relevance for the development of the illness.

[Heterogeneity of the Departments of Mental Health in the Veneto Region ten years after the National Plan 1994-96 for Mental Health. Which implication for clinical practice? Findings from the PICOS Project]. / Eterogeneità dei DSM veneti a dieci anni dal Progetto Obiettivo "Tutela Salute Mentale 1994-96". Quali implicazioni per la pratica clinica? Indagine sui servizi partecipanti al Progetto PICOS-Veneto.

AIMS: This study aims to present data on structural and human resources of public mental health services located in the Veneto Region, Italy, and to discuss them in the light of implementation of the first National Target Plan for Mental Health ("Progetto Obiettivo 1994-1996") ten years after its launch. METHODS: The study was conducted in the context of the PICOS (Psychosis Incident Cohort Outcome Study) Project, a large first-presentation multisite study on patients with psychotic disorders attending community mental heath services in the Veneto Region. Human and structural resources were surveyed in 26 study sites using a structured interview administered by the PICOS local referents. RESULTS: CMHCs and Day Centres were homogeneously distributed across the Region and their overall rates per resident population met the national standards; a wide variability in the distribution of Day Hospitals was found, with the overall rate per resident population very far from meeting the national standard; the overall rate for Residential Facilities beds was higher than the recommended national standard, showing however an high variability across sites. The overall rate of mental health professionals per resident population was only slightly below the national standard: this was mainly achieved thanks to non-profit organizations which supplement the public system with unspecialised professionals; however, a wide variability in the local rates per resident population was found, with the 50% of the sites showing rates far lower the national standard. Specific lack of trained professionals involved in the provision of psychosocial interventions was found in most sites. CONCLUSIONS: A marked variability in human and structural resources across community mental health services in the Veneto Region was found. Possible reasons for this heterogeneity were analysed and implications for mental health care provision were further discussed.