Schizophrenia susceptibility associated with interstitial deletions of chromosome 22q11

The etiology of schizophrenia is thought to be both genetic and experiential. A genetic study of a group of schizophrenic patients shows two interstitial deletions on chromosome 22q11. The size of the deletions is calculated to be between 1.5 to 2 megabases. Another purpose of the study was to see if differences in deletion size were related to the schizophrenic phenotype in patients with velocardiofacial syndrome. Details of study on overlap between schizophrenia and velocardiofacial syndrome and the results are described.