Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T05:20:49.373Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Disordered Water Homeostasis in Schizophrenia and Cerebral Ventricular Size

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Robin Emsley*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg, South Africa
Mimi Roberts
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg, South Africa
Roger Smith
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg, South Africa
Judora Spangenberg
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg, South Africa
Derek Chalton
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council Institute for Biostatistics, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa
*
Professor R. A. Emsley, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Stellenbosch, PO Box 19063, 7505 Tygerberg, South Africa

Abstract

Background

A possible association between disordered water homeostasis and cerebral ventricular size in patients with schizophrenia was investigated.

Method

In a cross-sectional study of hospitalised patients, cerebral ventricular size was measured in 16 schizophrenic patients with disordered water homeostasis and 16 matched schizophrenic controls by magnetic resonance imaging.

Results

Ventricle to brain ratio, third ventricular index, bicaudate index and bifrontal index tended to be greater in those with schizophrenia with disordered water homeostasis, although differences were significant only for the bifrontal index (P<0.05). Strong negative correlations were found between ventricular size and performance on neuropsychological testing in the disordered water homeostasis group.

Conclusion

These results provide evidence for an association between structural brain abnormality and disordered water homeostasis in a subset of schizophrenic patients.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1995 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Arieff, A. I., Llach, F. & Massry, S. G. (1976) Neurological manifestations and morbidity of hyponatraemia: Correlation with brain water and electrolytes. Medicine, 55, 121129.Google Scholar
Berginer, V. M., Osimani, A., Berginer, J. & Barmeir, E. (1985) CT brain scan in acute water intoxication. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 48, 841842.Google Scholar
Blum, A. & Friedland, G. W. (1983) Urinary tract abnormalities due to chronic psychogenic polydipsia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 915916.Google ScholarPubMed
Emsley, R. A., Spangenberg, J. J., Roberts, M. C., et al (1993) Disordered water homeostasis and cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 34, 630633.Google Scholar
Ferrier, I. N. (1985) Water intoxication in patients with psychiatric illness. British Medical Journal, 291, 15941596.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Geremia, G. K. & Huckman, M. S. (1992) Degenerative diseases of the cerebral hemispheres, brainstem and cerebellum. In Radiology: Diagnosis – Imaging – Intervention (vol. 3) (eds J. M. Taveras & J. T. Ferrucci). Philadelphia: Lippincott.Google Scholar
Haug, J. O. (1962) Pneumoencephalographic studies in mental disease. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 38 (suppl. 165), 1114.Google ScholarPubMed
Illowsky, B. P. & Kirch, D. G. (1988) Polydipsia and hyponatraemia in psychiatric patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 675683.Google Scholar
Jose, C. J. & Perez-Cruet, J. (1979) Incidence and morbidity of self-induced water intoxication in State mental hospital patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 221222.Google Scholar
Kay, S. R., Fiszbein, A. & Opler, L. A. (1987) The positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) for schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 13, 261276.Google Scholar
Kirch, D. G., Bigelow, L. B., Weinberger, D. R., et al (1985) Polydipsia and chronic hyponatraemia in schizophrenic inpatients. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 46, 179181.Google Scholar
Lawson, W. B., Karson, C. N. & Bigelow, L. B. (1985) Increased urine volume in chronic schizophrenic patients. Psychiatry Research, 14, 323331.Google Scholar
Lezak, M. D. (1983) Neuropsychological Assessment (2nd edn). New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 9394, 444.Google Scholar
Millson, R. C., Smith, A. P., Koczapski, A. B., et al (1993) Self-induced water intoxication treated with group psychotherapy. American Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 825826.Google Scholar
Nasrallah, H. A., Olson, S. C., McCalley-Whitters, M., et al (1986) Cerebral ventricular enlargement in schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 43, 157159.Google Scholar
Raskind, M. A., Orenstein, H. & Christopher, T. G. (1975) Acute psychosis, increased water ingestion and inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion. American Journal of Psychiatry, 132, 907910.Google Scholar
Robertson, G. L. (1987) Diseases of the posterior pituitary. In Endocrinology and Metabolism (eds P. Felig, J. D. Baxter, A. E. Broadus & L. A. Frohman), pp. 338385. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Riggs, A. T., Dysken, M. W., Won Kim, S. & Opsahl, J. A. (1991) A review of disorders of water homeostasis in psychiatric patients. Psychosomatics, 32, 133148.Google Scholar
Schnur, D. B., Wirkowski, E., Reddy, R., et al (1993) Cognitive impairments in schizophrenic patients with hyponatremia. Biological Psychiatry, 33, 836838.Google Scholar
Weinberger, D. R., Delisi, L. E., Perman, S., et al (1982) Computed tomography in schizophreniform disorder and other acute psychiatric disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39, 778783.Google Scholar
Weinberger, D. R., Wagner, R. L. & Wyatt, R. J. (1983) Neuropathological studies of schizophrenia: A selective review. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 9, 193212.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.