Spasmophilia: A clinical neurophysiopathological and biochemical study

Spasmophilia is a problem much debated as regards its nosographic location. Its paroxysmal onset in a 'neurotic' patient has confined spasmophilia within a psychiatric syndromic complex for many years., In the present study, strict clinical criteria used in selecting a population of spasmophilic patients included clinical, neurophysiological, biohumoral and psychological evaluations, providing further information about the real organic features of this syndrome. Moreover, on the basis of an organic pathogenetic hypothesis, all patients were administered medical therapy which resulted in clinical amelioration in a significant number of cases

Memories of Margot

This editorial is dedicated to Professor Margaret ‘Margot’ Brazier who died on 4 March 2025. Margot was an incredibly important figure in the life of members of the current Editorial team, and in the lives of many of those previously involved with the journal. To make the space to reflect on how Margot has shaped our lives and experiences, this will not be a traditional editorial. We have not introduced and discussed the papers included within this edition as we usually would, yet we are, as always, very grateful to the authors for their wonderful contributions. Margot was a former Editor-in-Chief of Medical Law Review, and so we have joined the editors of that journal to collectively pay our respects to Margot and reflect upon and recognise her extraordinary role in the field as a whole, as well as to us personally. The same editorial tributes will be published in both journals, as a small way to recognise one of the central tenets of Margot’s professional philosophy – collaboration. We hope that our tributes highlight the esteem within which Margot was held, how much she means to us, and the enormous loss we all feel. Our thoughts are with Rodney, her husband, and Vicky, her daughter

Artificial Wombs and the Ectogenesis Conversation: A Misplaced Focus? Technology, Abortion, and Reproductive Freedom

Since the 1920s there has been much speculation about the possibility of gestating an embryo from conception to full term in an artificial womb (full ectogenesis). In this paper, we argue that bioethics scholarship on this subject often both overstates the capacities of current technologies and underestimates the barriers to the development of full ectogenesis. Moreover, the current ectogenesis debate potentially causes harm by (1) neglecting some of the more immediate problems in the development of artificial wombs, (2) treating abortion as a ‘problem to be technologically solved’ bolstering anti-abortion rhetoric, and (3) presuming the stability of all women’s reproductive rights. We argue that the ectogenesis conversation should be re-grounded in the immediate anticipated uses of the technology (neonatal intensive care) and in the realities of the immediate healthcare context (acknowledging abortion as essential healthcare and recognizing the problem of reproductive inequities)