Hans Olof Åkesson

Serum thyrotropin and hypothyroidism during lithium therapy

Abstract High values for serum thyrotropin concentration were found in 12 cases of hypothyroidism during treatment of mano-depressive illness with lithium salts. A number of patients (334 patients) were then analyzed for serum thyrotropin and thyroxine in a pilot screening program for hypothyroidism during lithium therapy. High values for thyrotropin and low for thyroxine were found in two patients. Another six patients had clear, but less pronounced elevation of their serum thyrotropin concentrations; five of them had normal thyroxine concentrations. It is concluded that thyrotropin analysis may be useful to establish a diagnosis of so-called Li+-induced hypothyroidism. Screening of all lithium-treated patients for hypothyroidism by thyrotropin analysis, on the other hand, would hardly be rewarding.

The length of the Y-chromosomes in men examined by forensic psychiatrists

SummaryThe relative length of the Y-chromosome was investigated by a method of photometric scanning in 106 consecutive cases of men referred for forensic psychiatric examination and in 49 healthy controls. comparison of both the mean value and the variance of the relative length of the Y-chromosome produced negative evidence for any association between the size of the Y-chromosome and mental disorder associated with criminality.

A man with presumptive Y/Y translocation, observed in a forensic psychiatric department

A man charged with a sexual offence was found to have a complex karyotype anomaly, including a Y‐chromosome of aberrant structure. Other features were: very small stature, skeletal deformities and obscure neurological defects. There were no gross psychiatric symptoms, nor was there mental retardation.