Some problems of Wilson's disease

The Leipzig Center for Wilson's Disease in the GDR is charged with the registration and diagnosis of all homozygous Wilson gene carriers, the clarification of all suspected cases, including the heterozygote test, and the co-ordination of long-term treatment. At present, there are 78 recorded Wilson gene carriers living. On the basis of our own comprehensive observations and investigations over prolonged periods of time, questions concerning pathogenesis, genetics, diagnosis and therapeutic measures, including their side-effects, are dealt with.     

Experimentally induced phonological paraphasias.

A motor aphasic patient had to repeat word lists that contained, among other things, words with the sequences r - r - l and l - l - r. These sequences were often repeated as l - r - l (anticipatory distant assimilation) and r - l - r (same type, but less frequently), respectively. These assimilations violate the cross-over constraint (or relevancy condition or adjacency principle) and thus represent another instance of a flagrant contradiction between pathological and normal (natural) phonological processes.     

Aortic isthmus stenosis from a neurological viewpoint

The etiology, pathogenesis, and clinical treatment of stenoses of the isthmus aortae are outlined. Following this, the particular case of a 41-year-old patient with typical stenosis of the isthmus of the aorta is reported. The course of disease required the need for a surgical operation, which had not initially been taken into consideration, to be reexamined. The patient, after performance on him of vascular restoration, is now on a part-time job. Using age as the sole circumstance indicating the inadvisability of performing a surgical operation in the case of stenosis of the isthmus aortae cannot any longer be considered justifiable.     

Family and food variables that influence life satisfaction of mother-father-adolescent triads in a South American country

This study explored the influence of each family member’s life satisfaction on the other family members’ life satisfaction in mother-father-adolescent triads. We also explored the influence of each family member’s satisfaction with food-related life and family life on their own life satisfaction (LS) as well as on the other family members’ LS in mother-father-adolescent triads. The influence of family eating habits, food-related parenting practices used by each parent and sociodemographic characteristics on each family member’s LS were also explored. A survey was applied to a sample of 300 two-parent families with one child between 10 and 17 years of age in Temuco, Chile. The questionnaire included the Satisfaction with Life Scale, Satisfaction with Food-related Life scale, Satisfaction with Family Life scale, Adapted Healthy Eating Index, Family Food Behavior Survey and Family Eating Habits Questionnaire. Frequency and sources of family meals as well as sociodemographic characteristics were also consulted. Three multivariate ordinal logit models were proposed, with the dependent variable LS in the three subsamples: mothers, fathers and adolescents. The three logit models were significant, but differed in the explanatory variables. Mothers’ LS was influenced by their children’s LS and vice versa. Mothers’ LS was positively influenced by both their own satisfaction with family life and the fathers’ satisfaction with family life and vice versa. Children’s LS was also positively influenced by their own satisfaction with food-related and family life. Both parents’ LS was influenced by eating habits, food-related parenting practices and sociodemographic characteristics, but in different ways. Therefore, different interventions should be implemented to improve each family member’s life satisfaction.

     

The role of the adult attachment interview in parent-infant psychotherapy: A case presentation

This case presentation describes the assessment of an infant at age 3 weeks who had a highly unusual birth experience, and the subsequent 18-month treatment of this infant and his family. The case documents the clinical benefit derived by obtaining an Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) as part of the assessment process. It also discusses the role such a procedure can have in planning and executing parent-infant psychotherapy in complex cases.