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Northampton Veterans Administration Study

Margaret A. Naeser, PhD; Harvey L. Levine, MD; D. Frank Benson, MD; Donald T. Stuss, PhD; William S. Weir, MD

Arch Neurol. 1981;38(1):30-37.

Abstract
• The computerized tomographic (CT) scans of 17 schizophrenic men who had had bilateral prefrontal leukotomy performed 25 years earlier were examined to determine the relationship among leukotomy site, size, hemispheric asymmetries, and recovery. Six cases of good recovery (GR), five of moderate recovery (MR), and six of no recovery (NR) were studied; 16 of 17 patients were right-handed. Results showed that the GR cases had significantly larger lesions in the low orbitofrontal region (especially on the left) than did the other MR and NR cases. Also, five of six of the GR cases had significantly greater lesion size asymmetry in the low orbitofrontal region and overall than did the other MR and NR cases. There was no consistent asymmetry of lesion size (larger right or left) that was associated with recovery. Significant differences were observed in the hemispheric asymmetries of the right-handed schizophrenics vs normal subjects. Only half the cases had the expected increased left occipital width, and half had unexpected equal or increased right occipital widths. All of the GR cases had either an increased left or right occipital width; none had equal widths. Additional observation of longstanding leukotomy sites on CT scans in schizophrenia cases is recommended.

Author Affiliations
From the Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine (Drs Naeser and Benson); Aphasia Research Center (Drs Naeser and Benson) and the Section of Neuroradiology (Dr Levine), Boston Veterans Administration Medical Center; Department of Radiology, Tufts Medical School, Boston (Dr Levine); Departments of Neurology and Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (Dr Stuss); and the Department of Neurology, Northampton (Mass) Veterans Administration Medical Center (Dr Weir).

Footnotes
Accepted for publication April 12, 1980.

Reprint requests to Veterans Administration Medical Center (116-B), 150 S Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02130 (Dr Naeser).

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