Search

Tetany is a state of hyperexcitability of the central and peripheral nervous system due to abnormal concentrations of serum electrolytes. However tetanic individuals without any detectable abnormalities, are also encountered. This last condition has been named "chronic normocalcemic tetany or spasmophilia". The case here reported, allows the authors to review the literature concerning normocalcemic tetany and let them focus on two similar and sometimes overlapping entities, spasmophilia and hyperventilation syndrome, both common causes of recurrent, atypical symptoms and tetany.

The structural anomalies of Y chromosome even if rare, are very interesting for the possibility of mapping male-determining genes. The authors report a case of ring (Y) chromosome to further elucidate the phenotype associated with a deleted Y chromosome and to present informations about the location of genes on the Y chromosome. The literature's cases are also reviewed and compared to Author's.