The Italian Version of the Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index IV:Psychometric Properties, Clinical Usefulness, and Possible Diagnostic Implications

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has a core embodied in affective and behavioral dysregulations, impulsivity, and relational disturbance. Clinical presentation might be heterogeneous due to a combination of different symptoms listed in the DSM-5. Clinical diagnosis and assessment of the severity of manifestations might be improved through the administration of structured interviews such as the Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index, 4th edition (BPDSI-IV). The psychometric properties of the Italian version of the BPDSI-IV were examined for the first time in 248 patients affected by BPD and 113 patients affected by bipolar disorder, proving to be a valid and accurate instrument with good internal consistency and high accuracy. The Italian version also demonstrates significant validity in the discrimination between these clinical groups (p < .001)

Homicide et schizophrénie : à propos de 14 cas de schizophrénie issus d’une série de 210 dossiers d’expertises psychiatriques pénales pour homicide

International audienceLa publicité de quelques crimes commis par des schizophrènes tend à stigmatiser et à généraliser dans l'opinion publique la peur liée à la pathologie schizophrénique. Or, 95 % des meurtriers ne présentent pas les critères diagnostiques de schizophrénie

Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified

Donation of the body and its parts in the construction of parenthood

The developments of science and technology make possible today unprecedented exchanges of body parts by multiplying the figures and links that intervene in the process of building parenthood and generating significant ethical and judicial controversies. Body donation in the procreative field constitutes an anthropo-logical and social phenomenon of increasing attention, which contributes to one of the most intimate and pro-found aspirations of the human being and which requires a careful evaluation of the various interests involved and a thorough reflection on the statute and characteristics of the parental bond. The interest of the child, the dignity of women and the quality of human relations are the parameters of this analysis and, at the same time, the perimeter of the judgment. However, the approach to these issues is complicated not only by the extreme heterogeneity of legislation but also by suspicions and prejudices that hinder reflection appropriate to the com-plexity of the issues involved. Investigate the reasons for the choice of donation, the criticalities, and possible drifts, without closing in their subjective value horizon, is an unavoidable prerequisite for a comparison with the new social realities of the family that respects the fundamental rights of the person. (www.actabiomedica.it)

Parenting, between radicalism and ideology

As has been the case for several years in many countries, in Italy, new forms of family composition, as well as increasingly complex forms of parenting, are sharply taking root. These innovations are often accompanied by criticisms and (pre)conceptions that (in)form our traditional and consolidated way of thinking about the family. Issues related to the right of the child to pursue his or her best interests and the possible functioning of the family constellations with non-genetic links are feeding important ethical questions. The careful analysis of scientific literature suggests freeing oneself from ideological approaches to base assessments and choices on the data available within psychological studies on the phenomenon. The commitment of professionals working with children is to welcome the complexity of today’s families without stigmatizing, pathologizing, or ideologizin

Aldo franchini and giacomo canepa: Two precursors of modern clinical criminology

The aim of this paper is to analyze the methodological approach of two great masters, Aldo Franchini and Giacomo Canepa, who are considered among the most eminent scholars of legal medicine and criminology in the second half of the 1900s. From the examination of important clinical investigations carried out on offenders, it emerges that it is essential always to evaluate the criminal event within the specific context and path of life-unique and personal-of the offender. In this research and reconstruction, the legal expert has to connect the different pieces that, although sometimes in an apparently disordered and confused manner, compose the path of life of the criminal, avoiding schematic rigidity and banalizations. The proposed methodology constitutes a precious heredity and the teaching of these masters is more relevant than ever for all the scholars who approach the study of man and his behavior