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Twin Studies and Genetic Models of Schizophrenia-Reply

Twin Studies and Genetic Models of Schizophrenia-Reply Abstract —We are grateful for the opportunity to reply to Dr Levinson's comments on our article, and we welcome his interest. However, we disagree with his comment that there is a "reasonable possibility of a misdiagnosed affective psychosis in the schizophrenic twin." The Maudsley twin subjects used in our study are quite elderly and are therefore certainly not "young patients with psychotic affective disorder" who might be assigned a misdiagnosis of schizophrenia. Although the original diagnosis was made before the advent of operational definitions, a panel of six diagnosticians from different theoretical orientations made the consensus diagnosis of schizophrenia.1 More recently,2 we have applied operational definitions to the same series, and, if there was doubt about the schizophrenia diagnosis, these patients were excluded (for instance, the MZ probands numbered 10A and 12A). Thus, all the remaining probands fulfilled at least one set of modern operational criteria for schizophrenia References 1. Gottesman II, Shields J: Schizophrenia and Genetics: A Twin Study Vantage Point . Orlando, Fla, Academic Press Inc, 1972. 2. McGuffin P, Farmer AE, Gottesman II, Murray RM, Reveley AM: Twin concordance for operationally defined schizophrenia confirmation of familiality and heritability . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1984;41:541-545.Crossref 3. American Psychiatric Association, Committee on Nomenclature and Statistics: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , ed 3. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 1980. 4. O'Rourke DH, Gottesman II, Suarez BK, Rice J, Reich T: Refutation of the general single locus model for the aetiology of schizophrenia . Am J Hum Genet 1982;34:630-649. 5. McGue M, Gottesman II, Rao DC: The analysis of schizophrenic family data . Behav Genet 1986;16:75-87.Crossref 6. Vogel F, Motulsky AG: Human Genetics: Problems and Approaches , ed 2. New York, Springer-Verlag NY Inc, 1986, appendix 4. 7. Penrose LS: The genetical background of common diseases . Acta Genet 1953;4:257-265. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archives of General Psychiatry American Medical Association

Twin Studies and Genetic Models of Schizophrenia-Reply

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References (8)

Publisher
American Medical Association
Copyright
Copyright © 1988 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN
0003-990X
eISSN
1598-3636
DOI
10.1001/archpsyc.1988.01800330111017
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Abstract —We are grateful for the opportunity to reply to Dr Levinson's comments on our article, and we welcome his interest. However, we disagree with his comment that there is a "reasonable possibility of a misdiagnosed affective psychosis in the schizophrenic twin." The Maudsley twin subjects used in our study are quite elderly and are therefore certainly not "young patients with psychotic affective disorder" who might be assigned a misdiagnosis of schizophrenia. Although the original diagnosis was made before the advent of operational definitions, a panel of six diagnosticians from different theoretical orientations made the consensus diagnosis of schizophrenia.1 More recently,2 we have applied operational definitions to the same series, and, if there was doubt about the schizophrenia diagnosis, these patients were excluded (for instance, the MZ probands numbered 10A and 12A). Thus, all the remaining probands fulfilled at least one set of modern operational criteria for schizophrenia References 1. Gottesman II, Shields J: Schizophrenia and Genetics: A Twin Study Vantage Point . Orlando, Fla, Academic Press Inc, 1972. 2. McGuffin P, Farmer AE, Gottesman II, Murray RM, Reveley AM: Twin concordance for operationally defined schizophrenia confirmation of familiality and heritability . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1984;41:541-545.Crossref 3. American Psychiatric Association, Committee on Nomenclature and Statistics: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , ed 3. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 1980. 4. O'Rourke DH, Gottesman II, Suarez BK, Rice J, Reich T: Refutation of the general single locus model for the aetiology of schizophrenia . Am J Hum Genet 1982;34:630-649. 5. McGue M, Gottesman II, Rao DC: The analysis of schizophrenic family data . Behav Genet 1986;16:75-87.Crossref 6. Vogel F, Motulsky AG: Human Genetics: Problems and Approaches , ed 2. New York, Springer-Verlag NY Inc, 1986, appendix 4. 7. Penrose LS: The genetical background of common diseases . Acta Genet 1953;4:257-265.

Journal

Archives of General PsychiatryAmerican Medical Association

Published: Sep 1, 1988

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