Changes in cortical volume with olanzapine in chronic schizophrenia

Introduction: Atypical antipsychotics can affect cortical volume differently from traditional drugs. The study of the outcome of grey matter deficits in schizophrenia with olanzapine may be of particular interest in this context. Methods: In this study, we evaluated the changes in the volume of gray matter in the cortex of 11 schizophrenic patients treated with olanzapine and in 11 healthy controls after three years of follow-up. After MR imaging, acquisition data were processed with a volumetric quantification method based on the Talairach atlas. The longitudinal change of volumetric data was corrected for differences in overall brain size. Results: Patients showed greater reduction than controls in cortical volume in the frontal and parietal regions during follow-up. No relationship was observed between clinical and volumetric changes. Conclusion: Our data suggest that the profile of action of olanzapine on the cortical volume of chronically ill patients may be similar to that of typical antipsychotics. Other explanations, however, cannot be completely discarded for that outcome with our data.