Neurological abnormalities help in diagnosis of idiopathic psychoses

05 июля, 2003
LONDON Bennett Neurological examination abnormalities may help to distinguish between patients with different idiopathic psychoses, say US researchers. HMG - Health Newswire Professional via NewsEdge Corporation : LONDON By Claire Bennett Neurological examination abnormalities may help to distinguish between patients with different idiopathic psychoses, say US researchers.Previous studies had shown that patients with schizophrenia had higher scores on measures of neurological abnormalities compared to normal subjects. However, these results were limited by possible confounding factors, including prior use of neuroleptic medications and the chronic nature of the illness. These confounding factors could have been addressed by studying first-episode, never-treated schizophrenia patients. As a result, Dr Matcheri Keshavan, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and colleagues examined the relationship between neurological examination abnormalities and alteration in brain structure in first-episode schizophrenia patients, those with non-schizophrenic psychoses and healthy comparison subjects. The three groups were compared on motor and cognitive neurological examination abnormalities using subscales of the Neurological Evaluation Scale. Alteration in brain structure was assessed using magnetic resonance imaging in a subset of patients. The researchers found that repetitive motor task performance was impaired in schizophrenia patients and in those with non-schizophrenic psychoses. These tasks do not, however, distinguish between the two patient groups. In contrast, cognitively demanding and perceptual tasks were markedly more impaired in schizophrenic patients than in patients with non-schizophrenic psychoses and healthy controls. Dr Keshavan says, Neurological examination abnormalities may have some measure of diagnostic specificity among the idiopathic psychoses. This observation is of clinical relevance and may help clarify the pathophysiological basis of schizophrenia, as contrasted with other psychoses. The team concludes that the findings provide neurobiological validation of abnormal findings on the neurological examination. And the researchers add that these abnormalities may reflect discrete neuroanatomical alterations in schizophrenia and may have a localising value. Reference: Keshavan et al, American Journal of Psychiatry 2003;160:1298-1304 HMG Worldwide 2003 http://www.health-news.co.uk/ Publication: HMG - Health Newswire Professional Distributed by Financial Times Information Limited <> << Copyright ©2003 Financial Times Limited, All Rights Reserved >>
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