Obstetric complications and cerebral abnormalities in schizophrenia

Obstetric complications and schizophrenia: a computed tomographic study

“…If brain damage associated with OCs is of aetiological importance in schizophrenia, then what is the timing and mechanism of this effect? For complications occurring at, or around, the time of birth, the likely mechanism is brain damage by cerebrovascular events such as intraventricular and periventricular haemorrhage which are secondary in many instances to anoxia (Murray et al 1985;Owen et al 1987), or low birth weight (Lancet, 1984(Lancet, , 1985. Complications of pregnancy might also be important; low birthweight and growth retarda-tion have been noted in some studies of schizophrenia and these presumably reflect intrauterine environmental factors since they do not appear to be manifestations of the schizophrenic genotype (McNeil & Kaij, 1978).…”

Response to drugs in schizophrenia: the influence of family history, obstetric complications and ventricular enlargement

“…However, we were unable to find a significant correlation between response to neuroleptics and ventricular enlargement, nor was a difference in mean VBR between ' responders' and ' non-responders' detected. In addition, a history of obstetric complications, which has been suggested as a possible cause for brain damage and subsequent ventricular enlargement in schizophrenics (Owen et al 1988), did not account for the variation in response. Previous studies showing that reduced response was related to increased VBR (e.g.…”

“…Since the non-familial group is likely to include some individuals with a genetic predisposition, it may be that a full examination of whether cases of schizophrenia with a genetic predisposition differ in drug response from those without a predisposition will have to await the discovery of a genetic marker of that vulnerability. However, such a strategy has yielded differences in clinical profiles (Shur, 1982), prognostic factors (Baron et al 1982), presence of structural brain abnormalities (Reveley et al 1984) and a history of obstetric complications (Owen et al 1988).…”

“…The results presented here were measured by one of the authors (V. N.). Sulcal widening was rated blind by the same observer, using the method described by Owen et al (1988). Further details are available in Nimgaonkar et al (1988).…”

“…Earlier work (McNeil & Kaij, 1978; suggested that a history of obstetric complications is more frequent among schizophrenic patients than among non-psychotic controls. Owen et al (1988) have recently reported that a history of obstetric complications is more likely to be recorded when a family history is absent. Moreover, perinatal trauma is associated with both periventricular haemorrhage in children, and evidence of residual brain damage in the form of ventricular dilatation (Lancet, 1985).…”