Poor premorbid adjustment and CT scan abnormalities in chronic schizophrenia

The authors evaluated the premorbid adjustment of 51 chronic schizophrenic patients by retrospective chart analysis using a novel scale. Those patients with CT evidence suggestive of brain atrophy had significantly worse premorbid scores, particularly during childhood, than did the patients with normal scans. This finding provides further support for the clinical relevance of CT findings in chronic schizophrenic patients and implicates a neuropathological process that occurs early in development.