Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Rasmussen’s encephalitis is an unusual clinical entity characterized by drug-resistant focal epilepsy, neurological deficit and progressive cerebral hemiatrophy. The diagnostic and therapeutic approach is complex, even more so in patients with Rasmussen’s encephalitis of late onset (in adolescence and adulthood) whose clinical picture could be atypical when compared with its occurrence in children. We report a series of three clinical cases of late-onset Rasmussen’s encephalitis confirmed by histopathology and immunohistochemistry evaluations and in which clinical improvement was achieved after surgical interventions. Literature reviews on the clinical evolution and therapeutic alternatives for this type of presentation are included.

The case of an adolescent with nocturnal enuresis since childhood, and anxiety symptoms during adolescence, associated with psychosocial factors and family dynamics, is presented. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he presented intense symptoms of anxiety related to fears of dying and/or experiencing a serious illness, reasoned for which he was taken to the emergency room on several occasions. The patient responded favorably to antidepressant medications, and individual and family psychotherapy approaches. Nocturnal enuresis es an elimination disorder rarely seen in adolescence, and whose diagnosis and treatment are important due to its impact on the patient’s psychosocial functioning and greater probabilities of comorbidity. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescents and its higher risk of presenting anxiety, depression and stress associated with enuresis, are also discussed.

MELAS Syndrome is a mitochondrial disease associated with epileptic seizures. The case of two siblings with genetically confirmed MELAS is presented, with a history of recurrent status epilepticus accompanied by neurological deficits, failure to thrive, hyperlacticaemia, and brain lesions resembling strokes. The neurological presentation with epileptic status is highlighted to be considered in the corresponding differential diagnosis in emergency rooms and pediatric hospitals.

Clinical psychology and psychiatry use different strategies to modify inadequate, maladjusted or psychopathological emotional and behavioral schemas. This study is based on related relevant international scientific literature, an original narrative qualitative research with integrating, aggregational and interpretative components. The physiological response, so linked to genomics, and the experience of thoughts and feelings are fundamental for emotionality. Affective logic and work memory express well that preferences and intentions generally decide and then rationality, explains. Thanks to the role of terminal stria, the subcortical amygdala structure is able to trigger any type of emotional response. In short, truth or certainty in multiple environments will only be an opinion and not something unquestionable. The anatomophysiology, beliefs, culture and personal attitudes are interrelated and influence themselves mutually on a continuous basis.

Rasmussen’s encephalitis is an unusual clinical entity characterized by drug-resistant focal epilepsy, neurological deficit and progressive cerebral hemiatrophy. The diagnostic and therapeutic approach is complex, even more so in patients with Rasmussen’s encephalitis of late onset (in adolescence and adulthood) whose clinical picture could be atypical when compared with its occurrence in children. We report a series of three clinical cases of late-onset Rasmussen’s encephalitis confirmed by histopathology and immunohistochemistry evaluations and in which clinical improvement was achieved after surgical interventions. Literature reviews on the clinical evolution and therapeutic alternatives for this type of presentation are included.

Objective: The operationalization and the role of a participatory model of diagnostic and therapeutic formulations called Foster Groups, implemented in a Community Mental Health Center in Lima, Peru, are analyzed. Material and Methods: The research was based on the participanting observation by experts in community mental health, public health, communication and social sciences, of a total of 24 Foster Group sessions held at the Nancy Reyes Community Mental Health Center in Chorrillos, Lima Peru, during the years 2018-2019. Results: The Foster Groups are structured in sequential phases that follow a logical process of diagnostic formulations and management plans, concurrently performed by professionals from different disciplines for a small group of users, thus allowing both, diagnoses as plans, to be more comprehensive. An environment of trust is generated, allowing people to share experiences of suffering and intimacy at levels that often exceed those expressed in the traditional doctor-patient relationship. Interdisciplinary dialogue is permanent and users alternate roles of analysands and analysers, showing signs of progressive empowerment. Conclusions: Foster Groups operationalize the fundamental principles of Community Mental Health, are a valuable tool for the expansion of the Comprehensive Care Model as the axis of public health policy in Peru, soften the communication barriers of the doctor-patient relationship, and reduce the social distances between participants, enabling better care and therapeutic alliances.

Objectives: To determine the relationship between childhood life events and PTSD in adult population of Metropolitan Lima. Materials and methods: A secondary analysis was carried out of the Epidemiological Study of Mental Health of Metropolitan Lima 2 012, which used the instruments of a short and modified version of the Egna Minen av Bardoms Uppfostran (EMBU), a questionnaire on early adverse events, and the Mini Internacional Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), Spanish version. Results: Those who received a more permissive upbringing being allowed to do activities that their siblings were not, presented a statistically significant relationship with PTSD (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.09-2.65, p = 0.019), the same as those who experienced adverse life events or were the object of or had suffered blackmail, manipulations or humiliations (OR 6.22, 95% CI 4.11-9.42, p<0.001). Conclusions: There is a relationship between permissive parenting style (“They allowed him to do things that his siblings were not allowed to do”), and the experience of childhood adverse events (“While growing up, he was subjected to (or suffered) from frequent blackmail, manipulation or humiliations)” with PTSD, in adults from Metropolitan Lima.

Objective: To describe the impact of psychiatry and mental health journals published in Spanish. Material and Methods: The psychiatry and mental health journals published in Spanish and included in Scielo, Scopus and Google Scholar were identified. The following impact indicators were obtained for each journal: improved CiteScore (Scopus); h5 index and h5 median (Google Scholar); and impact factor based on 3 years and immediacy index (Scielo). Results: The journals with the greatest impact were from Spain (eg, Psicothema and Revista de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental), Colombia (eg, Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología and Revista Colombiana de Psiquiatría), Chile (eg, Terapia Psicológica and Psicoperspectivas), and Mexico (eg, Salud Mental and Revista Mexicana de Psicología). In Peru the most relevant journals were Revista de Psicología and Revista de Neuro-Psiquiatría. Conclusions: Among the international journals of psychiatry and mental health that accept articles in Spanish, the highest impact indicators were found in publications from Spain, with Psicothema outstanding.

In the Inter-American system, we could notice how the lack of access to drinking water affects people and communities, historically discriminated against, including indigenous, native, or tribal communities. Access to drinking water is closely related to respect and guarantee of several human rights such as the right to life, bodily autonomy, and local people’s health. Therefore, this paper reviews if we should consider the legal status of drinking water sources located in lands that traditionally belonged to indigenous communities as individual or community human rights or as assets that can be expropriated, exploited, and commercialized by public institutions or private companies.

This paper aims to establish the correct scope of the right of access to public information through the conceptualisation of its fundamental elements. An important aspect will be to understand the correct application of the principle of maximum disclosure (central axis on which this topic is based) in harmony with the regime of exceptions as defined in the Inter-American Model Law 2.0. Indeed, the right of access to public information is not unlimited. There are circumstances in which restrictions may be placed on it. Since all fundamental rights have the same hierarchy, in the event of a collision between them, the solution is not simply to make some prevail over others, but to resolve it on the basis of the technique of weighting. In this sense, the Model Law 2.0 attempts two things: to give the widest possible scope to the right of access to public information, guaranteeing the adequate provision of information in such a way that it is useful and serves its essential purpose, and to guarantee the effective concordance in the application of the different interests and rights that may be involved in a specific situation.