Enlarged cerebrospinal fluid spaces in opiate-dependent male patients: a stereological CT study

• Published in: Neuropsychobiology Vol. 38; no. 2; p. 80
• Main Authors: Danos, P, Van Roos, D, Kasper, S, Brömel, T, Broich, K, Krappel, C, Solymosi, L, Möller, H J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland S. Karger AG 01.01.1998
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Atrophy; Case-Control Studies; Cerebral Cortex - pathology; Cerebral Ventriculography - methods; Depression - diagnostic imaging; Humans; Male; Models, Neurological; Opioid-Related Disorders - diagnostic imaging; Subarachnoid Space - diagnostic imaging; Time Factors; Tomography, X-Ray Computed - methods
• ISSN: 0302-282X; 1423-0224
• DOI: 10.1159/000026521

Computed tomography was performed in 9 male patients with a diagnosis of opiate dependence and in 9 age-matched psychiatric controls (neurotic depression). Patients with a history or diagnosis of another substance dependence (alcohol, cocaine, cannabis) were excluded from the study. The volumes of internal and external components of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were measured with a point-counting stereological method. Analysis of variance with age as a covariate revealed a significant enlargement of external and external CSF spaces in male patients with opiate dependence. There was no significant correlation between the length of opiate dependence and the volumes of internal and external CSF spaces. The present results suggest that opiate dependence is associated with structural brain alterations. However, the relationship between opiate dependence and structural brain changes is complex and still not well understood.