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Physical Anomalies and Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

To the Editor: Jason Schiffman, M.A., et al. (1) concluded that "minor physical anomalies may provide important clues to understanding schizophrenia spectrum disorders from a neurodevelopmental perspective" (p. 238). Minor physical anomalies certainly help clarify neurodevelopmental influences in the etiology of schizophrenia, but they may well raise more questions than they answer about the schizophrenia spectrum.

It is known that the prevalence of minor physical anomalies is higher than average in schizophrenia itself (2), and Dr. Schiffman et al. have now demonstrated higher scores for minor physical anomalies in subjects with paranoid and schizotypal personality disorders (1). There is also evidence that minor physical anomalies are greater in people without frank psychotic illness but who experience quasi-psychotic phenomena, such as quasi-delusional beliefs and psychosis proneness (3). Of interest, however, psychosis proneness is associated with smaller skull bases and longer, lower facial heights—features opposite those found in schizophrenia (3).

Furthermore, while high-risk genetic inheritance may (4) or may not (5) correlate with higher levels of minor physical anomalies in high-risk persons who develop schizophrenia, there is no correlation between high-risk genetic inheritance and minor physical anomalies in high-risk persons overall (6, 7). Even when unaffected siblings of persons with schizophrenia are found to have significant minor physical anomalies, these anomalies are quite different from those found in subjects with schizophrenia (8).

Combining these findings, we can conclude that minor physical anomalies in people with schizophrenia 1) are more numerous than those of comparison subjects, 2) are more numerous than, and are different from, those in unaffected people with high-risk genetic inheritance (e.g., offspring, siblings), and 3) are different from those in people with certain quasi-psychotic phenomena.

Thus, while a variety of psychotic and quasi-psychotic conditions may indeed belong on a clinical schizophrenia spectrum, they may well have arrived there by significantly different routes.

References

1. Schiffman J, Ekstrom M, LaBrie J, Schulsinger F, Sorensen H, Mednick S: Minor physical anomalies and schizophrenia spectrum disorders: a prospective investigation. Am J Psychiatry 2002; 159:238-243[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. Lane A, Kinsella A, Murphy P, Byrne M, Keenan J, Colgan K, Cassidy B, Sheppard N, Horgan R, Waddington JL, Larkin C, O’Callaghan E: The anthropometric assessment of dysmorphic features in schizophrenia as an index of its developmental origins. Psychol Med 1997; 27:1155-1164[CrossRef][Medline]
3. Saha S, Chapple B, Cardy S, Chant D, Mowry B, McGrath J: The presence of quasi-psychotic phenomena is associated with minor physical anomalies and craniofacial measures in well controls. Schizophr Res 2002; 53(suppl):S232-S233
4. O’Callaghan E, Larkin C, Kinsella A, Waddington JL: Familial, obstetric, and other clinical correlates of minor physical anomalies in schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry 1991; 148:479-483[Abstract/Free Full Text]
5. Alexander RC, Mukherjee S, Richter J, Kaufmann CA: Minor physical anomalies in schizophrenia. J Nerv Ment Dis 1994; 182:639-644[Medline]
6. Green MF, Satz P, Christenson C: Minor physical anomalies in schizophrenia patients, bipolar patients, and their siblings. Schizophr Bull 1994; 20:433-440
7. McNeil TF, Blennow G, Lundberg L: Congenital malformations and structural developmental anomalies in groups at high risk for psychosis. Am J Psychiatry 1992; 149:57-61[Abstract/Free Full Text]
8. Ismail B, Cantor-Graae E, McNeil TF: Minor physical anomalies in schizophrenic patients and their siblings. Am J Psychiatry 1998; 155:1695-1702[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Email this article to a Colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Articles & Searches Download to citation manager Citing Articles via Google Scholar Articles by KELLY, B. D. Search for Related Content PubMed Citation Articles by KELLY, B. D. Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders Genetics Neurodevelopment

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