The British Journal of Psychiatry 172: 184-185 (1998)
© 1998 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Polydactyly and psychosis. Five cases of co-occurrence
AG Cardno, KC Murphy, LA Jones, AM Cobb, J Gray, P McGuffin and MJ Owen
University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff.
BACKGROUND: Abnormalities presumed to occur during foetal life have been
associated with schizophrenia. Polydactyly is a developmental abnormality
but no previous association has been reported between polydactyly and
functional psychotic illness. METHOD: Individuals with both polydactyly and
a functional psychosis were ascertained during a study of familial
schizophrenia. RESULTS: Five such individuals were ascertained in the
course of assessing 234 individuals with familial psychosis, giving a rate
of polydactyly in the sample of around 10 times the general population
rate. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides preliminary evidence that
polydactyly is over-represented in individuals with familial schizophrenia
and related psychotic illnesses.