• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.74-83
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• 1997

With increasing tendency of incidence and interest for the late onset schzophrenia, concerns about whether this disorder is etiologically or phenomenogically distinctive entity or not have increased also. To clarify the disease entity of the late onset schzophrenia and the role of structural brain changes in its etiology, authors tried to prove following hypothesis : Are there any evidences of structural brain changes in the lateonset schizophrenia? ; If present, are they not different from those of the early-onset schizophrenia or progressive schizophrenia? ; And are they not different from those of senile dementia? Subjects were 6 patients with the late-onset schizophrenia, 6 patients with the early-onset schizophrenia, 6 patients with progressive schizophrenia, 6 patients with Alzheimer's dementia, and 6 controls. We measured regions of interest of the magnetic resonance images by computer assisted planimetry using the AutoCad and digitizer. Our study results may suggest that the third ventricular enlargement and a reversal of normal difference between left and right temporal lobe and left-right difference in posterior lateral ventricle are common brain pathology for all types of schizophrenia including the late onset schzophrenia. And also suggest that brain structural changes of the late onset schizophrenia are related with neurodevelopmental abnormality rather than degenerative change.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.173-182
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• 2005

This review is a clinical and research update of recent literature related to childhood onset schizophrenia (with an onset of psychosis by age 12). Childhood onset schizophrenia(COS) is a rare disorder, but that may represent a more homogeneous patient population in which to search for risk or etiologic factors of schizophrenia. These overview data show that COS shares the same clinical and neurobiological features as later onset forms of the disorder. Compared with later onset schizophrenia, however, this subgroup of patients appear to have more severe premorbid neurodevelopmental abnormalities, more cytogenic abnormalies, poor outcome, and potentially greater family histories of schizophrenia and associated spectrum disorders. Future studies of this subgroup may provide important clues as to the genetic basis for schizophrenia and how gene products influence certain feature of the disease, such as age of onset and mode of inheritance.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.256-262
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• 2001

Objective：The enlargement of the lateral ventricle is well established finding in adult-onset schizophrenia, but in the patients with early-onset psychotic disorder(EOPD) is still controversal. To identify structural abnormalities of the lateral ventricle in patients with EOPD and difference of the brain developmental course in EOPD group, planimetrical assessment of the lateral ventricle was conducted by means of retrospective quantitative neuroimaging. Methods：The brain MR images of 14 patients with EOPD(mean age $14.0{\pm}2.1$ years) who met the DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and 24 control subjects with simple headache(mean age $10.0{\pm}2.1$ years) were collected. Single best view for the lateral ventricle, one axial slice was selected for analysis. MR images were redigitalized with flatbed scanner and data were analyzed with NIH IMAGE software. Results：In the patients with EOPD, there were significant correlations between aging and lateral ventricular sizes and between aging and ventricular brain ratio(VBR). The statistical significance of normal asymmetry of the lateral ventricle was not observed for the EOPD group. The EOPD group had larger lateral ventricular sizes and VBR than control group, but these results were not statistically significant. Conclusion：These findings suggest that the brain abnormalities in patients with EOPD progress from the earlier course of the disorders and the course of brain development in EOPD group is different from control group.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2007

Objectives : A voxel based investigation of cerebral blood flow was conducted to identify functional differences during resting state between children with early-onset schizophrenia and normal controls. Methods : 19 children and adolescents with early-onset schizophrenia(8 boys and 11 girls, mean age $14.0{\pm}1.7$ years old) and 17 comparison children(13 boys and 4 girls, mean age $11.0{\pm}1.9$ years old) were examined by HMPAO-SPECT. The SPECT images were compared using statistical parametric mapping analyses, controlling for age and sex. Results : Increased cerebral blood flow in left medial and inferior frontal gyrus, right superior and middle frontal gyrus, both inferior temporal gyrus, and right cerebellar tonsil was found in children and adolescents with early-onset schizophrenia compared to control subjects. In addition, decreased cerebral blood flow in right thalamus, left posterior cingulate gyrus, right anterior cingulate gyrus and relatively wide areas from left medical frontal gyrus to superior parietal lobule were found in children and adolescents with early-onset schizophrenia compared to control subjects. Conclusion : The results of the current study provide additional evidences for brain areas involving the onset of schizophrenia in early age.