Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T08:57:13.953Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of Substance Abuse on Ventricular and Sulcal Measures Assessed by Computerised Tomography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Nicola G. Cascella ,
Godfrey Pearlson ,
Dean F. Wong ,
Emmanuel Broussolle ,
Craig Nagoshi ,
Richard A. Margolin  and
Edythe D. London
Nicola G. Cascella
Affiliation:
Addiction Research Center, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD, USA
Godfrey Pearlson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD
Dean F. Wong
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD
Emmanuel Broussolle
Affiliation:
Addiction Research Center, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD
Craig Nagoshi
Affiliation:
Addiction Research Center, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD
Richard A. Margolin
Affiliation:
Addiction Research Center, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD
Edythe D. London*
Affiliation:
Addiction Research Center, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD
*
∗NIDA Addiction Research Center, PO Box 5180, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Computerised tomography (CT) was used to assess the possible effects of substance abuse on brain morphology. Polydrug abusers had significantly wider third ventricles than normal controls, with a positive correlation between age and ventricle:brain ratio (VBR). Assuming no effect of age, estimated quantity of substance abuse was not significantly related to ventricular and sulcal measures, except that alcohol consumption correlated positively with VBR and severity of cocaine use correlated negatively with sulcal width. When age of the subjects was partialled out, alcohol use showed a tendency for association with VBR; however, severity of cocaine use did not remain a significant predictor of cortical sulcal width. The findings suggest that chronic use of alcohol, but not necessarily of other commonly abused substances, produces brain atrophy.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 159 , Issue 2 , August 1991 , pp. 217 - 221
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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.)

Footnotes

Presented in part at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Committee on Problems of Drug Dependence, North Falmouth, MA, 28–30 June 1988.

References

American Psychiatric Association (1980) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn) (DSM–III). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Artmann, H., Gall, M. V., Hacker, H., et al (1981) Reversible enlargement of cerebral spinal fluid spaces in chronic alcoholics. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 2, 23–27.Google Scholar
Cala, L. A. & Mastaglia, F. L. (1980) Computerized axial tomography in the detection of brain damage. 1. Alcohol, nutritional deficiency and drugs of addiction. Medical Journal of Australia, 2, 193–198.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carlen, P. L., Penn, R. D., Fornazzari, L., et al (1986) Computerized tomographic scan assessment of alcoholic brain damage and its potential reversibility. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 10, 226–232.Google Scholar
Courville, C. B. (1955) Effects of Alcohol on the Nervous System of Man. Los Angeles: San Lucas Press.Google Scholar
Hill, S. Y. & Mikhael, M. A. (1979) Computerized transaxial tomographic and neuropsychological evaluations in chronic alcoholics and heroin abusers. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 598–602.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Horvath, T. B. (1975) Clinical spectrum and epidemiological features of alcoholic dementia. In Alcohol, Drugs and Brain Damage (ed. Rankin, J. G.). Toronto: Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Research Foundation of Ontario.Google Scholar
Ishii, T. (1983) A comparison of cerebral atrophy in CT scan findings among alcoholic groups. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica (suppl. 309), 1–30.Google Scholar
Kozlowski, L. T., Herling, S., Leigh, G., et al (1984) The Role of Cigarette Smoking and Caffeine Use in Drug and Alcohol Abuse (New Research Abstract). Toronto: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Largen, J. W., Smith, R. C., Calderon, M., et al (1984) Abnormalities of brain structure and density in schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 19, 991–1011.Google ScholarPubMed
Lee, K., Moller, L., Hardt, F., et al (1979) Alcohol induced brain damage and liver damage in young males. Lancet, ii, 759–761.Google Scholar
Leeds, N. E., Malhotra, V. & Zimmerman, R. D. (1983) The radiology of drug addiction affecting the brain. Seminars in Roentgenology, 3, 227–233.Google Scholar
Lishman, W. A., Ron, M. & Acker, W. (1980) Computed tomography of the brain and psychometric assessment of alcoholic patients – a British study. In Pharmacology of Alcohol (ed. Sandler, M.). New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
McLellan, A. T., Luborsky, L., Woody, G. E., et al (1980) An improved diagnostic evaluation instrument for substance abuser patients: The Addiction Severity Index. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 168, 26–33.Google Scholar
Pearlson, G. D., Garbacz, D. J., Moberg, P. J., et al (1985) Symptomatic, familial, perinatal and social correlates of computerized axial tomography (CAT) changes in schizophrenics and bipolars. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 173, 42–50.Google Scholar
Pearlson, G. D., Kim, W. S. & Kudos, K. L. (1989) VBR, CT density and brain area in 50 schizophrenics. Archives of General Psychiatry, 46, 690–697.Google Scholar
Pfefferbaum, A., Zatz, L. M. & Jernigan, T. (1986) Computer-interactive method for quantifying cerebrospinal fluid and tissue in brain CT scans: effects of aging. Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography, 10, 571–578.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfefferbaum, A., Rosenbloom, M., Crusan, K., et al (1988) Brain CT changes in alcoholics; effects of age and alcohol consumption. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 12, 81–87.Google Scholar
Robins, L. N., Helzer, J. E., Croughan, T., et al (1981) NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule: Version III. Washington, DC: Public Health Service.Google Scholar
Roizin, L., Halpern, M., Baden, M. M., et al (1972) Neuropathology of drugs of dependence. In Chemical and Biological Aspects of Drug Dependence (ed. Mule, S. J.). New York: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Ron, M. A. (1983) The alcoholic brain: CT scan and psychological findings. Psychological Medicine (monograph suppl. 3), 1–33.Google Scholar
Ron, M. A., Acker, W. & Lishman, W. A. (1980) Morphological abnormalities in the brains of chronic alcoholics – a clinical, psychological and computerized axial tomographic study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica (suppl.), 41–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rumbaugh, C. L., Fang, H. C. H., Wilson, G. H., et al (1980) Cerebral CT findings in drug abuse: clinical and experimental observations. Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography, 4, 330–334.Google Scholar
Synek, V., Reuben, J. R. & Du Boulay, G. H. (1976) Comparing Evans' index and computerized axial tomography in assessing relationship of ventricular size to brain size. Neurology, 26, 231–233.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, A. D. (1982) Examination of alcoholics by computed tomographic (CT) scans: a critical review. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 6, 31–45.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.