Histopathology of a granulomatous lobular panniculitis in acute Q fever: a case report

Q fever is a zoonotic infection caused by Coxiella burnetii. Two forms of the disease have been described: an acute form with pneumonia, hepatitis or a flu‐like syndrome; and a chronic form in which endocarditis is the most frequent clinical expression. We report a 77 year old male with fever and an erythematous nodule on the right leg. Biopsy revealed a granulomatous lobular panniculitis with some granulomas rimmed by an eosinophilic material, giving a “doughnut” or “fibrin‐ring” appearance. Q fever serological studies were positive. Cutaneous signs, among them panniculitis, are probably underestimated during the acute phase of the disease, and recognizing different granulomatous patterns may contribute to the diagnosis. Soulard R. Histopathology of a granulomatous lobular panniculitis in acute Q fever: a case report.     

Évaluation du dispositif d’injonction de soins pour les auteurs de violences sexuelles en Indre-et-Loire (France)

In France, sex offenders can be condemned to a therapeutic injunction, instead of or after an imprisonment period. In order to reinforce the prevention and punishment of sexual offences, the condemnation law (June 17, 1998) obliges a sexual convict to submit to surveillance and assistances measures and, in some cases, to mandatory medical care (a treating physician, psychiatrist or psychologist, and a coordinating physician, the intermediary between medicine and the courts). The aim of this research was to assess the therapeutic injunction functioning (n = 16) and to identify the obstacles in coordinating medical and judicial professionals. Therefore, we conducted a local survey that involved in-person interviews with medical (treating physicians and coordinating physicians) and judicial (sentencing judge) professionals in charge of the 16 sex offenders (non incestuous paedophiles) condemned to a therapeutic injunction. The treating physicians and the coordinating physicians were very different in their settings and in their understanding of the therapeutic injunction procedure. Health and judicial professionals criticized the lack of interactions between professionals, but not the therapeutic injunction itself. This work highlighted the necessity of (1) a better coordination between health and justice professionals, (2) the creation of a treatment and assessment centre for sex offenders.     

Effect of dopamine transporter genotype on caudate volume in childhood ADHD and controls

Polymorphism of the dopamine transporter genotype (DAT1) confers a small but significant susceptibility to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We examined whether the volume of the head of caudate, a striatal structure with high DAT expression that is important for inhibitory function, differs by DAT1 in children diagnosed with the disorder relative to age and IQ matched controls. Volume of the head of caudate was delineated in the right and left hemisphere and compared between 7- and 13-year-old children with and without ADHD (combined type) who were carriers of two (10/10) or one (9/10) copy of the 10-repeat DAT1 allele. Caudate volumes were overall smaller in 10/10 than 9/10 children, particularly in the left than right hemisphere. While DAT1 effects did not vary by ADHD diagnosis, overall caudate volumes were smaller in ADHD relative to control children. Altered caudate development associated with 10-repeat homozygosity of DAT1 may contribute susceptibility to ADHD.