A Simplified Approach to Predicting Reintervention in the Arterial Switch Operation

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Post-traumatic stress disorder,suggestibility, and dissociation related to alleged alien abductions

ObjectivesThousands of people throughout the world are convinced that they have been abducted by aliens. We aimed to assess the emotional reaction to such an implausible event and propose some explanations alternative to severe psychopathology.MethodsA total of 19 individuals who reported memories of having been abducted by aliens were compared to a control group of 32 participants. We employed a battery of tests measuring post-traumatic stress disorder, suggestibility, and dissociation within all participants.ResultsThe abductee group showed higher scores in measures of post-traumatic stress disorders and dissociation, but lower in suggestibility. Nevertheless, these differences were statistically significant only in suggestibility.ConclusionsThe emotional reaction to memories of an implausible experience can be similar to an individual's response to a genuinely traumatic event. Dissociation might be involved in the clarification of some cases. Explanations alternative to psychosis for these testimonies are proposed.     

A high-pressure situation

An 8-year-old boy presented with acute visual loss in the right eye and nausea, vomiting, and diplopia. Imaging revealed a right orbital apex mass. Biopsy showed Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), and the patient was diagnosed with isolated orbital LCH causing an orbital apex syndrome. A 12-month cytarabine chemotherapy course was begun, during which the patient developed bilateral optic disc edema. He was diagnosed with cytarabine-induced intracranial hypertension, which was successfully treated with acetazolamide. The cytarabine course was completed with complete resolution of the LCH lesion. The ophthalmologic relevance of this rare disorder is discussed.     

Anaplasma capra in sheep and goats on Corsica Island,France: A European lineage within A. capra clade II?

Anaplasmosis is a tick-transmitted disease due to several species of the genus Anaplasma. In 2019, we demonstrated the presence of Anaplasma capra in two deer species at a zoological park in mainland France. As we suspected its presence in Corsica, we surveyed 11 geographically distant sheep or goat farms. Using molecular tools such as nested PCR targeting 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA), citrate synthase (gltA) and heat-shock protein (groEL) genes, we detected the presence of A. capra on 5/11 farms, in 26/108 blood samples (24%), in sheep as well as in goats. Genotyping and phylogenetic analysis of A. capra revealed that isolates from Corsica island grouped closely with A. capra isolates reported in red deer and swamp deer from a zoological reserve in mainland France, as well as in roe deer from Spain, in a separate and well supported clade within A. capra clade II. This third report of the tick-borne bacterium A. capra in Europe suggests a potentially larger presence of this pathogen on the European continent, on domestic, native as well as wild ruminants, a broad host range already described in Asian countries for this species.