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The anthropometric assessment of dysmorphic features in schizophrenia as an index of its developmental origins

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 1997

A. LANE ,
A. KINSELLA ,
P. MURPHY ,
M. BYRNE ,
J. KEENAN ,
K. COLGAN ,
B. CASSIDY ,
N. SHEPPARD ,
R. HORGAN  and
J. L. WADDINGTON
...Show all authors
A. LANE
Affiliation:
From Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, Blackrock, Co. Dublin; Department of Mathematics, Dublin Institute of Technology, and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin; St Loman's Hospital, Mullingar; and St. Otteran's Hospital, Waterford, Ireland
A. KINSELLA
Affiliation:
From Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, Blackrock, Co. Dublin; Department of Mathematics, Dublin Institute of Technology, and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin; St Loman's Hospital, Mullingar; and St. Otteran's Hospital, Waterford, Ireland
P. MURPHY
Affiliation:
From Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, Blackrock, Co. Dublin; Department of Mathematics, Dublin Institute of Technology, and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin; St Loman's Hospital, Mullingar; and St. Otteran's Hospital, Waterford, Ireland
M. BYRNE
Affiliation:
From Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, Blackrock, Co. Dublin; Department of Mathematics, Dublin Institute of Technology, and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin; St Loman's Hospital, Mullingar; and St. Otteran's Hospital, Waterford, Ireland
J. KEENAN
Affiliation:
From Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, Blackrock, Co. Dublin; Department of Mathematics, Dublin Institute of Technology, and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin; St Loman's Hospital, Mullingar; and St. Otteran's Hospital, Waterford, Ireland
K. COLGAN
Affiliation:
From Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, Blackrock, Co. Dublin; Department of Mathematics, Dublin Institute of Technology, and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin; St Loman's Hospital, Mullingar; and St. Otteran's Hospital, Waterford, Ireland
B. CASSIDY
Affiliation:
From Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, Blackrock, Co. Dublin; Department of Mathematics, Dublin Institute of Technology, and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin; St Loman's Hospital, Mullingar; and St. Otteran's Hospital, Waterford, Ireland
N. SHEPPARD
Affiliation:
From Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, Blackrock, Co. Dublin; Department of Mathematics, Dublin Institute of Technology, and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin; St Loman's Hospital, Mullingar; and St. Otteran's Hospital, Waterford, Ireland
R. HORGAN
Affiliation:
From Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, Blackrock, Co. Dublin; Department of Mathematics, Dublin Institute of Technology, and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin; St Loman's Hospital, Mullingar; and St. Otteran's Hospital, Waterford, Ireland
J. L. WADDINGTON
Affiliation:
From Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, Blackrock, Co. Dublin; Department of Mathematics, Dublin Institute of Technology, and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin; St Loman's Hospital, Mullingar; and St. Otteran's Hospital, Waterford, Ireland
C. LARKIN
Affiliation:
From Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, Blackrock, Co. Dublin; Department of Mathematics, Dublin Institute of Technology, and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin; St Loman's Hospital, Mullingar; and St. Otteran's Hospital, Waterford, Ireland
E. O'CALLAGHAN
Affiliation:
From Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, Blackrock, Co. Dublin; Department of Mathematics, Dublin Institute of Technology, and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin; St Loman's Hospital, Mullingar; and St. Otteran's Hospital, Waterford, Ireland
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Abstract

Background. Evidence suggests that schizophrenia may be a disorder with origins in early intrauterine mal-development. We have constructed a comprehensive anthropometric scale for the evaluation of dysmorphic features as an index of the nature and timing of developmental disturbance.

Method. A detailed set of craniofacial and bodily measures was compiled and applied to 174 patients with schizophrenia and 80 matched control subjects.

Results. Patients had significantly higher scores on this scale and displayed multiple anomalies of the craniofacial region with an overall narrowing and elongation of the mid-face and lower face. Twelve craniofacial anomalies independently distinguished patients from controls and these variables correctly classified 95% of patients and 80% of control subjects.

Conclusions. This new scale, while procedurally more exacting than the Waldrop scale, more clearly defines the topography of anomalies previously suspected in individuals with schizophrenia. These findings constitute direct evidence for disturbed craniofacial development in schizophrenia and indicate origins in the foetal period during which the characteristic human facial pattern evolves in close association with brain differentiation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 27 , Issue 5 , September 1997 , pp. 1155 - 1164
Copyright
1997 Cambridge University Press

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