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Cerebral cortical thickness and a history of obstetric complications in schizophrenia

Haukvik, Unn Kristin ; Lawyer, Glenn ; Bjerkan, Petr Szulc ; Hartberg, Cecilie Bhandari ; Jonsson, Erik G. ; McNeil, Thomas LU and Agartz, Ingrid (2009) In Journal of Psychiatric Research 43(16). p.1287-1293
Abstract
Introduction: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have demonstrated that patients with schizophrenia have thinner brain cortices compared with healthy control subjects. Neurodevelopment is vulnerable to obstetric complications (OCs) such as hypoxia and birth trauma, factors that are also related to increased risk of developing schizophrenia. With the hypothesis that OCs might explain the thinner cortices found in schizophrenia, we studied patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls subjects for association between number and severity of OCs and variation in cortical thickness. Methods: MRI scans of 54 adults with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 54 healthy controls were acquired at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm,... (More)
Introduction: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have demonstrated that patients with schizophrenia have thinner brain cortices compared with healthy control subjects. Neurodevelopment is vulnerable to obstetric complications (OCs) such as hypoxia and birth trauma, factors that are also related to increased risk of developing schizophrenia. With the hypothesis that OCs might explain the thinner cortices found in schizophrenia, we studied patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls subjects for association between number and severity of OCs and variation in cortical thickness. Methods: MRI scans of 54 adults with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 54 healthy controls were acquired at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Measures of brain cortical thickness were obtained using automated computer processing (FreeSurfer). OCs were assessed from obstetric records and scored blindly according to the McNeil-Sjostrom scale. At numerous cortical locations, putative effects of OCs on cortical thickness variation were tested for each trimester, for labour, for composite OC scores, severe OC scores, and hypoxia scores among patients and controls separately. Results: Number and severity of OCs varied among both patient and control subjects but were not associated with cortical thickness in either of the groups. Patients demonstrated thinner brain cortices but there were no significant differences in number and severity of OC scores across groups. Conclusion: In the present study, number and severity of obstetric complications were not associated with brain cortical thickness, in patients with schizophrenia or in healthy control subjects. The thinner brain cortices found in patients with schizophrenia were not explained by a history of OCs. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Hypoxia, Neurodevelopment, MRI, Cortical thickness, Schizophrenia, Obstetric complications
in
Journal of Psychiatric Research
volume
43
issue
16
pages
1287 - 1293
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000272860300007
  • scopus:70449520206
  • pmid:19473666
ISSN
1879-1379
DOI
10.1016/j.jpsychires.2009.05.001
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
25a1b27e-c736-4131-8d22-4e90b651e365 (old id 1532268)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:57:23
date last changed
2022-01-26 20:43:55
@article{25a1b27e-c736-4131-8d22-4e90b651e365,
  abstract     = {{Introduction: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have demonstrated that patients with schizophrenia have thinner brain cortices compared with healthy control subjects. Neurodevelopment is vulnerable to obstetric complications (OCs) such as hypoxia and birth trauma, factors that are also related to increased risk of developing schizophrenia. With the hypothesis that OCs might explain the thinner cortices found in schizophrenia, we studied patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls subjects for association between number and severity of OCs and variation in cortical thickness. Methods: MRI scans of 54 adults with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 54 healthy controls were acquired at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Measures of brain cortical thickness were obtained using automated computer processing (FreeSurfer). OCs were assessed from obstetric records and scored blindly according to the McNeil-Sjostrom scale. At numerous cortical locations, putative effects of OCs on cortical thickness variation were tested for each trimester, for labour, for composite OC scores, severe OC scores, and hypoxia scores among patients and controls separately. Results: Number and severity of OCs varied among both patient and control subjects but were not associated with cortical thickness in either of the groups. Patients demonstrated thinner brain cortices but there were no significant differences in number and severity of OC scores across groups. Conclusion: In the present study, number and severity of obstetric complications were not associated with brain cortical thickness, in patients with schizophrenia or in healthy control subjects. The thinner brain cortices found in patients with schizophrenia were not explained by a history of OCs. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Haukvik, Unn Kristin and Lawyer, Glenn and Bjerkan, Petr Szulc and Hartberg, Cecilie Bhandari and Jonsson, Erik G. and McNeil, Thomas and Agartz, Ingrid}},
  issn         = {{1879-1379}},
  keywords     = {{Hypoxia; Neurodevelopment; MRI; Cortical thickness; Schizophrenia; Obstetric complications}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{16}},
  pages        = {{1287--1293}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Psychiatric Research}},
  title        = {{Cerebral cortical thickness and a history of obstetric complications in schizophrenia}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2009.05.001}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jpsychires.2009.05.001}},
  volume       = {{43}},
  year         = {{2009}},
}