A giant exoplanet orbiting a very-low-mass star challenges planet formation models

Surveys have shown that super-Earth and Neptune-mass exoplanets are more frequent than gas giants around low-mass stars, as predicted by the core accretion theory of planet formation. We report the discovery of a giant planet around the very-low-mass star GJ 3512, as determined by optical and near-infrared radial-velocity observations. The planet has a minimum mass of 0.46 Jupiter masses, very high for such a small host star, and an eccentric 204-day orbit. Dynamical models show that the high eccentricity is most likely due to planet-planet interactions. We use simulations to demonstrate that the GJ 3512 planetary system challenges generally accepted formation theories, and that it puts constraints on the planet accretion and migration rates. Disk instabilities may be more efficient in forming planets than previously thought.

Madelung's disease: comorbidities, fatty mass distribution, and response to treatment of 22 patients

BACKGROUND

Madelung's disease (MD) is an uncommon pathology characterized by the presence of multiple masses of unencapsulated adipose tissue that is symmetrically distributed. The aim of this study was to investigate clinical and epidemiological features of patients diagnosed with MD in our department. Associated diseases and evolution after treatment were also investigated.

METHODS

We reviewed the clinical histories of 22 patients diagnosed with MD from 1990 to 2010 and obtained their epidemiological and clinical characteristics.

RESULTS

We found 21 patients with MD type 1 and one patient with MD type 2 according to Enzi's classification. All patients were male, 95.5% with high alcohol intake, and 59.1% with some hepatic disease. No family antecedents were significant; 40.9% had dyslipidemia, 22.7% arterial hypertension, 22.7% chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 13.6% hyperuricemia, 9.1% hypothyroidism, 4.5% diabetes mellitus type 2, and 4.5% carbohydrate intolerance; 40.9% had a body mass index>30, and 27.3% presented gynecomastia/lipomastia. The region most frequently affected by fatty deposits was the neck.

CONCLUSIONS

Madelung's disease affects mainly alcoholic males in their fourth decade of life. Hepatic diseases appear in most patients. Also associated with MD are high lipid blood levels, arterial hypertension, COPD, hyperuricemia, and obesity. MD type 1 is the most frequent phenotype and the neck the most common location for fatty masses. Recurrence after surgery, in the same location or different locations, is a frequent event, even in patients who later abstain from alcohol intake.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV

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Aggressive Dupuytren's diathesis in a young woman

Dupuytren's disease is a palmar fascia pathology characterised by flexion contracture of the involved fingers in late stages. It has been described a higher prevalence in northern populations, especially in men in the fifth or sixth decade of life.1 Alcohol consumption, liver disease, diabetes mellitus, epilepsy and some of its treatments, tobacco smokers or hand workers are only a example of the different aetiologies proposed. There are a group of patients presenting with more aggressive clinical manifestation named Dupuytren's diathesis. This subtype could frequently present a positive family history, ectopic fibromatosis and bilateral hand affectation. The authors present a 24-year-old woman referred to the Plastic Surgery Department because severe fingers contracture with an associated aggressive plantar fibromatosis. She referred familial history in her first degree relatives (mother and three of seven brothers and sisters). The first clinical manifestations in her hand began when she was 7 years old.