Asymmetry of rCBF in schizophrenia: relationship to AP-gradient and duration of illness.

This article examines patients with schizophrenia and controls to determine whether asymmetry and anteroposterior (AP) gradient of cerebral blood flow (CBF) are related to duration of illness, and whether they are themselves correlated. CBF was measured with the 133xenon inhalation technique in 108 patients and 108 age-matched and gender-matched controls while the subjects were at rest. Two sets of analyses were performed. The first analyses indicated AP-gradient to be reduced in patients, and hemispheric asymmetry scores to be different from controls only in the temporal area. The second set of analyses were based on two groups of 27 patients, selected to represent extremes on duration of illness (less than 5 and greater than 12 years) and equal numbers of age-matched and gender-matched controls. These analyses revealed patients of both short and long duration of illness to have significantly greater temporal asymmetry, whereas only long-duration patients had significant AP-gradient relative to both controls and short-duration patients. Regression analyses from each data set found AP-gradient to be related to duration of illness, whereas temporal asymmetry was not, temporal asymmetry and AP-gradient were not correlated. These results suggest AP-gradient and temporal asymmetry may reflect independent processes.

Duke Scholars

Author William Herman Wilson Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Behavioral Medicine & Neur ...