The potential role of high or low birthweight as risk factor for adult schizophrenia.

Obstetric complications may be an important factor in the development of schizophrenia. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of these complications in the development of schizophrenia in adult life, with particular attention to the potential role of birth weight. We carried out a case-control study, comprising schizophrenics and patients with diseases of the schizophrenia spectrum as cases, and their healthy male brothers as controls. Obstetric complications were assessed using the "Midwife Protocol" of Parnas et al. The main result was that birth weight may be a risk factor for schizophrenia, as indicated by odds ratio analysis. The confidence intervals are very wide and, without compromising the clinical significance of the results, they give a limited indication of the real entity of the risk. The results contribute to understanding of the role played by a single complications.

Bersani G ，Manuali G ，Ramieri L ，Taddei I ，Bersani I ，Conforti F ，Cattaruzza MS ，Osborn J ，Pancheri P ... -  《JOURNAL OF PERINATAL MEDICINE》

Severity of obstetric complications and risk of adult schizophrenia in male patients: a case-control study.

Bersani G ，Taddei I ，Manuali G ，Ramieri L ，Venturi P ，Osborn J ，Pancheri P ... -  《-》

[Familial occurrence and obstetric complications in siblings discordant for schizophrenia].

Obstetric complications seem to play a relevant role in the development of schizophrenia. This study aimed to assess whether not only frequency but also severity of obstetric complications was different in schizophrenic patients when compared with their healthy siblings. Furthermore, we examined whether a family history positive for schizophrenia was related to an increased frequency or severity of obstetric complications in healthy siblings. Frequency and severity of obstetric complications were evaluated in 76 subjects (30 schizophrenics and 46 siblings). The diagnosis of schizophrenia were made according to DSM III-R. Mothers were interviewed to gather data about obstetric complications and the "midwife protocol" by Parnas et al. (1982) was used to quantify presence and entity of obstetric complications. Information regarding family history were collected from mothers. We used the method of segregation analysis to test the mode of inheritance. Complicated births were more frequently found in schizophrenics independently from a family history positive for schizophrenia or schizophrenia related personality disorders and obstetric complications were more severe in schizophrenics with respect to siblings. Obstetric complications occurred more frequently among schizophrenics without genetic risk; the same result was not found in healthy sibs. Our findings show that obstetric complications would play a major role in patients especially if they show a negative family history for schizophrenia. Moreover, a family history positive for schizophrenia or schizophrenia related personality disorder seems not to augment the frequency or severity of obstetric complications in healthy sibs.

Bersani G ，Taddei I ，Venturi P ，Pancheri P ... -  《-》

Obstetric complications in siblings of Japanese schizophrenics: data from the Maternal and Child Health Handbook.

Although the precise etiology of schizophrenia remains unknown, the development of schizophrenia has been associated with a history of obstetric complication (OC). Furthermore, some studies show structural and functional brain abnormalities in the unaffected siblings of schizophrenics. In this study the perinatal histories of 18 unaffected siblings of schizophrenics and 15 unrelated healthy controls, as detailed in their mothers' Maternal and Child Health Handbook records, were retrospectively analyzed. Records were scored for obstetric complication by the method developed by [Parnas, J., Schulsinger, F., Teasdale, T.W., Shulsinger, H., Feldman, P.M., Mednick, S.A., 1982. Perinatal complications and clinical outcome within the schizophrenia spectrum. Br. J. Psychiatry 140, 416-420]. The authors found the sibling group had greater pregnancy and birth complication (PBC) frequency, severity and total scores than the control population.

Ohara K ，Tanabu S ，Yoshida K ，Sato Y ，Shibuya H ... -  《PROGRESS IN NEURO-PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY》

[Do obstetric complications increase the risk of schizophrenia?].

Haukvik UK ，Agartz I 《-》