Anatomic abnormalities of hippocampal subfields in never-treated and antipsychotic-treated patients with long-term schizophrenia

Abstract Hippocampal volume deficits have been reported in chronically-treated schizophrenia patients, however, the longer-term effects of antipsychotic medications on hippocampal anatomy are unclear. This case-control study investigated volume differences in hippocampal subfields of never-treated and antipsychotic-treated patients with long-term schizophrenia. High spatial-resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance images were collected from 29 never-treated and 40 antipsychotic-treated patients with long-term schizophrenia matched for illness duration (all ≥ 5 years), and 40 demographically-matched healthy controls. Hippocampal subfield volumes were measured using FreeSurfer v6.0, compared across groups and between hemispheres, and correlated with clinical features. Volume reductions were found in both patient groups compared to healthy controls in 8 of 26 hippocampal subfields (Cohen's d = 0.46 – 1.17, P =