XYY CHROMOSOMAL CONSTITUTION IN CRIMINAL PSYCHOPATHS

576 same method as Moorhead et al.21 We studied two series. One consisted of all the female inmates of the seven Swedish and three Danish homes and hospitals for epileptics admitting females, together with the 65 women boarded out in families supervised by these institutions. Together these patients amounted to 705 (418 Swedish, 287 Danish). Most of them had severe epilepsy or were prevented for various reasons from living a normal life in their community. Many were mentally retarded. We also screened all 385 female patients admitted during 1967 to the epileptic outpatient service at the Sahlgrenska Hospital in Gothenburg, the only unit of its kind in this city of about 445,000 inhabitants. Both questionable and unquestionable cases of epilepsy are referred to this clinic for observation and treatment; and probably only a few epileptics over 16 are taken care of by physicians outside this clinic and the other institutions. The clinic also handles mild, benign cases of suspected epilepsy, but generally patients with obscure forms of syncope are referred elsewhere. Only a few of the patients admitted to it are mentally retarded. Thus, with the institution-inmates and outpatient series combined, we took buccal smears from 1090 females. Among these we found no cases of negative sex chromatin. Psychiatric Research Centre, St. Jörgen’s Hospital, HANS OLOF AKESSON University of Gothenburg, STAFFAN OLANDERS. 422 03 Hisings Backa, Sweden.

HISTOCHEMICAL DIAGNOSIS OF BILIARY

analysis using essentially the

XYY CHROMOSOMAL CONSTITUTION IN CRIMINAL PSYCHOPATHS of the 155 patients in a Danish institution for SIR,-42 psychologically abnormal criminals were over 180 cm. tall; we have analysed the chromosomes of 37 of these 42, and 2 were found to have 47 chromosomes and sex chromosomes XYY. This is a prevalence of 5% of the 37 patients and 1-29% of the DISTRIBUTION OF XYY CHROMOSOMAL CONSTITUTION IN PATIENTS OVER 180 cm. TALL, AGE AT FIRST CRIMINAL OFFENCE, AND TYPE OF CRIMINAL OFFENCE

ATRESIA

SIR,-An important problem in neonatal pathology is the differential diagnosis between intrahepatic biliary atresia and neonatal hepatitis. In intrahepatic biliary atresia the basic lesion is the absence or striking diminution of intrahepatic bile

ducts, with either normal lobular structure, or disruption of the and presence of giant cells as in the controversial cases of Smetana and Johnson1 considered by Edith Potter2 as

texture

intrahepatic atresias. In neonatal hepatitis it is often difficult to clearly identify the bileducts, which may be collapsed and empty of bile. It may be hard to establish the diagnosis in

Biopsy specimen from case of intrahepatic biliary atresia stained by leucyl-aminopeptidase technique to show absence of biliary ducts.

Reduced to two-thirds from

x

50.

even in paraffin-embedded tissue it is far from easy. In unfixed sections obtained with the cryostat, the leucylaminopeptidase technique selectively stains all the biliary intrahepatic tree, with a little diffusion into the adjacent parts of the hepatic cells and very slight staining of endothelium, and without background discoloration of other structures. In slides obtained by this method, identification of the portal spaces is simple. In a recent case of intrahepatic biliary atresia, the portal spaces were totally devoid of biliary ducts, as can be appreciated

frozen sections, and

low-power magnification (see accompanying figure). By this technique the diagnosis may be established in 15-20 minutes. The method, using L-leucyl-methoxy-pnaphthyl-amide as substrate,3 is easy to perform, and the stock solution can be kept in the refrigerator for months. I suggest this method for the study of biopsy specimens from cases of neonatal jaundice, and as the method of choice in the routine diagnosis of intrahepatic biliary atresia. even at

N.s. =not

significant.

total 155 patients, or 25-60 times as high as the prevalence in the general population, which is estimated to be in the range of 0-02-0.05%.27 28 Distribution by stature, age at first criminal offence, and type of criminal offence, are shown in the accompanying table. The figures suggest that criminal psychopaths over 184 cm. tall should have their chromosomes analysed because of their substantial risk of having a 47, XYY karyotype; the results of our study show that this risk increases if such patients have committed arson. A

more

detailed report of the present

study will

be

published

elsewhere. The Cytogenetic Laboratory, Aarhus State Hospital, Risskov, and the Institution for Criminal Psychopaths,

Herstedvester,

Denmark.

JOHANNES NIELSEN TAKAYUKI TSUBOI GEORG STÜRUP DAVID ROMANO.

Moorhead, P. S., Nowell, P. C., Mellman, W. J., Battips, D. M., Hungerford, D. A. Expl Cell Res. 1960, 20, 613. 27. Court Brown, W. M. Human Population Cytogenetics. Amsterdam, 1967. 28. Ugeskr. Lœg. 1967, 129, 1324. 26.

Department of Pathology, Children’s Hospital of the Seguridad Social, Barcelona, Spain.

AUGUSTO MORAGAS.

ORAL PENICILLINS IN CHRONIC OSTEOMYELITIS SIR,łIwas pleased to see our work4 referred to by Dr. Bell (Aug. 10, p. 295). However, I feel that we are misquoted, and our work used to support an argument contrary to that put forth in our original paper and further discussed in a more recent papery Dr. Bell refers to our article to back up his thesis that, when the disease is well established, even the more radical procedures involving extensive removal of all scar tissue as well as the infected bone are of limited value. It is our contention that the meticulous removal of all scar Smetana, H. F., Johnson, F. B. Am. J. Dis. Child. 1955, 31, 747. Potter, E. Pathology of the Fetus and Infant, Year Book. Chicago, 1962. Nachlas, M. M., Monis, B., Rosenblatt, D., Seligman, A. M. J. biophys. biochem. Cytol. 1960, 7, 261. 4. Clawson, D. K., Stevenson, J. K. Surgery Gynec. Obstet. 1965, 120, 59. 5. Clawson, D. K., Dunn, A. W. J. Bone Jt Surg. 1967, 49A, 164. 1. 2. 3.