Evidence for non-progressive changes in adolescent-onset schizophrenia: follow-up magnetic resonance imaging study.

Abstract

It is not clear how far brain abnormalities in early-onset schizophrenia result from progressive neurodevelopmental or neurodegenerative processes. Aims To investigate the hypothesis that structural brain abnormalities in adolescent-onset schizophrenia are progressive in the early phase of the illness. A magnetic resonance imaging case-control study of 16 adolescents with schizophrenia (mean age 16.6 years, s.d.=1.9 years) with a mean time of 2.7 years (s.d.=1.7 years) between measurements and 16 matched controls (average age 16.0 years, s.d.=2.0 years) with a mean time of 1.7 years (s.d.=0.5 years) between measurements. There was no evidence of progressive structural brain changes during late adolescence. Significant ventricular enlargement (greater in males) and left-sided temporal lobe changes were evident from the outset of the illness. Neurodevelopmental brain abnormalities are non-progressive during late adolescence.