[Pediatric orbital Rosai-Dorfman disease: An unusual case]. / Maladie de Rosai-Dorfman à localisation orbito-palpébrale de l'enfant : à propos d'une observation exceptionnelle.

INTRODUCTION: Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is a sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy. This rare condition is a benign disease of unknown etiology. Bilateral orbital localization of RDD is rare. OBSERVATION: The authors report the case of a 6-year-old child who presented with bilateral orbital-palpebral masses associated with chronic cervical lymphadenopathy. There were no laboratory signs of inflammation. Serological and tuberculosis screening tests were negative. Histopathological examination of a lymph node biopsy established a diagnosis of Rosai-Dorfman disease. The patient underwent surgical excision of the orbital lesions followed by long-term corticosteroid therapy. A favorable course was observed, with no sign of recurrence after one year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Rosai-Dorfman disease is very rare in its bilateral orbital presentation. Histopathological diagnosis remains challenging. In Africa, the presence of chronic oculo-palpebral tumor associated with or without cervical lymphadenopathy must raise the suspicion of Rosai-Dorfman disease after ruling out tuberculosis and lymphoma.

Stressful life events, hopelessness, and suicidal intent in patients admitted with attempted suicide in a tertiary care general hospital.

BACKGROUND: Suicide is a psychiatric emergency. Stressors in life and social variables (like marital status, family, and social support) are among the determinants of suicide. Hopelessness and suicidal intent are among the psychological variables that have shown promise in the prediction of suicide. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To assess stressful life events, hopelessness, suicidal intent, and sociodemographic variables in patients of attempted suicide. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty consecutive patients admitted with attempted suicide were interviewed. Presumptive Stressful Life Event Scale, Beck Hopelessness Scale, and Beck Suicidal Intent Scale were used along with a semistructured pro forma for interview. Data were analyzed with statistical tests. RESULTS: Sixty-six percent of the participants were females, 72% were less than 30 years of age. Sixty-six percent of the patients had stressful life event score between 101 and 200 with the mean score of 127. The stressful life event score in those who considered they are in need of psychiatric help was significantly high. Most of the patients had mild (34%) and moderate (40%) degrees of hopelessness, and the mean score was 9.64. The mean suicidal intent in the participants was 25.14, when correlated with hopelessness score significant positive correlation was found. CONCLUSION: Lethality of the attempt increases with the increase in hopelessness.

Do Panic Symptoms Affect the Quality of Life and Add to the Disability in Patients with Bronchial Asthma?

Background. Anxiety and panic are known to be associated with bronchial asthma with variety of impact on clinical presentation, treatment outcome, comorbidities, quality of life, and functional disability in patients with asthma. This study aims to explore the pattern of panic symptoms, prevalence and severity of panic disorder (PD), quality of life, and disability in them. Methods. Sixty consecutive patients of bronchial asthma were interviewed using semistructured proforma, Panic and Agoraphobia scale, WHO Quality of life (QOL) BREF scale, and WHO disability schedule II (WHODAS II). Results. Though 60% of the participants had panic symptoms, only 46.7% had diagnosable panic attacks according to DSM IV TR diagnostic criteria and 33.3% had PD. Most common symptoms were "sensations of shortness of breath or smothering," "feeling of choking," and "fear of dying" found in 83.3% of the participants. 73.3% of the participants had poor quality of life which was most impaired in physical and environmental domains. 55% of the participants had disability score more than a mean (18.1). Conclusion. One-third of the participants had panic disorder with significant effect on physical and environmental domains of quality of life. Patients with more severe PD and bronchial asthma had more disability.

Shared or induced obsessive compulsive disorder: Is it a reality?

BACKGROUND: Shared or induced obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is not yet a distinct diagnosis in classification of psychiatric disorders. In fact, though recognized as a diagnostic category, shared or induced psychotic disorders are rare and most of the literature is based on the case reports. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We are reporting three case studies manifested with shared or induced OCD (cases with obsessive symptoms that were shared from the primary case in their family). RESULTS: All the cases were treated considering shared or induced OCD as psychopathology. Response to treatment modalities in first and second case and poor response to treatment in third case is suggestive of shared or induced OCD as a distinct entity. It is different from shared psychosis in many ways. CONCLUSION: Shared or induced OCD is a distinct diagnosis. Greater awareness about this entity among mental health professionals is needed.