A family study of two subgroups of schizoaffective patients.

A family study was carried out in two groups of patients fulfilling RDC for schizoaffective disorder: in one, a full affective and a full schizophrenic syndrome were simultaneously present; in the other, affective and schizophrenic features appeared within a polymorphic and rapidly changing clinical picture, with depersonalization/derealization and/or confusion. In the first-degree relatives of patients of the former group, the risk of major psychiatric disorders was not significantly different from that of relatives of schizophrenics, whereas in the first-degree relatives of patients of the latter group a low risk for both schizophrenia and major affective disorders, and a relatively high risk for schizoaffective disorders, were observed.