Lateral ventricle enlargement

Many older studies involved computerized axial tomography (CT) scans of psychiatric patients, most but not all of whom were diagnosed schizophrenic. They have found enlarged lateral ventricles and sometimes enlarged sulci, indicating shrinkage or atrophy of the brain. Nearly all these studies involved patients heavily treated with neuroleptics. 

CT and MRI scans have demonstrated enlargement of the lateral ventricles and widened cortical sulci. This finding suggests that either there is brain atrophy or (more likely) that in some types of schizophrenia there has been abnormal brain development (see Weinberger 1996). 

Fig. 1. Method for introducing recombinant retrovirus into the mid-gestation rat embryo. (A) To expose the uterine horns a midline incision is made through the skin and muscle layers of the abdomen of an anesthetized rat. In this figure three uterine swellings of the right uterine horn are diagrammed. In utero the orientation of the embryos is variable. (B) An enlargement of one uterine swelling illustrating the placement of a micropipet in the right lateral ventricle of an embryonic d 16 rat. Shaded area represents the placenta. (Reproduced with permission from Luskin, 1992.)...

Generally, but not invariably, postmortem macroscopic examination of the brain reveals cerebral atrophy with narrowed convolutions, widened sulci, and enlarged lateral and third ventricles. On microscopic examination brain specimens from patients with a clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer s disease are characterized by widely spread cortical senile plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and granulovascular degeneration. 

The PA view CXR outlines the superior vena cava, right atrium on the right and left sides, aortic knob, main pulmonary artery, left atrial appendage (especially if enlarged), and left ventricle. In the lateral view, the CXR visualizes the right ventricle, inferior vena cava, and left ventricle. These structures are visualized as shadows of differing density rather than discrete structures (Fig. 11-2). 

---