Hippocampal volume in schizoaffective disorder

Introduction: In studies of the neurobiological basis of psychotic disorders, schizoaffective disorder is sometimes included as part of schizophrenia patient group and sometimes as part of bipolar disorder patient group. Since most studies report hippocampal volume reduction in schizophrenia and not in bipolar disorder when analyzed without the inclusion of schizoaffective disorder patients, the aim of the study was to analyze hippocampal volume in schizoaffective disorder as a separate group. Materials and methods: Hippocampal lobe volumes were estimated using high resolution magnetic resonance imaging in 60 subjects, 15 subjects in each patient and in one healthy subjects' group. Results: Hippocampal volume in both hemispheres is statistically significantly reduced in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder compared to healthy control group. There is no statistically significant difference in hippocampal volume between bipolar disorder and healthy control group. Conclusion: Further studies are needed to compare other frequent neurobiological findings in schizophrenia, schizoaffective and bipolar disorder. Even though these psychotic disorders share many clinical features, their clinical differences may be substantiated by differences in structural neurobiological findings. In further studies these disorders should be analyzed separately. Key words: hippocampal volume, magnetic resonance imaging, shizoaffective disorder