Sulcal prominence in young chronic schizophrenic patients: CT scan findings associated with impairment on neuropsychological tests.

ABSTRACT

Four of 17 chronic schizophrenic (or chronic schizoaffective) patients between the ages of 20 and 35, in partial remission, and living in the community were found to have mildly or moderately prominent sulci, as disclosed by computerized tomography (CT scan). These four patients were matched for sex and age with four chronic schizophrenic (or schizoaffective) patients without sulcal prominence. The Halstead-Reitan battery (HRB) of neuropsychological tests, including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), was administered to these eight patients with the examiner blind to results of the CT scan. Each of the four patients with sulcal prominence considerably exceeded an established cutoff score for brain impairment on the HRB, whereas only one of the control schizophrenics performed in the impaired range, and that just beyond the cutoff. The WAIS Verbal IQ, mneasured concurrently, was in the normal range for all subjects and similar for the two groups. These findings suggest that mild or moderate sulcal prominence on CT scans among young chronic schizophrenics is associated with impaired neuropsychological functioning.