A unique case of iatrogenic hebephiliac behavior emerging late in life in a patient with Gordon Holmes Syndrome
• Iatrogenic hebephiliac behavior can emerge after testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). • A patient diagnosed with Gordon-holmes syndrome manifested hebephilia after TRT. • Due to the iatrogenic origin of hebephiliac behavior, the patient was declared insane. Pedophilic or hebephiliac behavior is defined iatrogenic when emerging for the first time as a side effect of medications. To date, pedophilic or hebephiliac behavior emerging after testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) has never been described. a patient diagnosed with Gordon-Holmes syndrome (GHS), a genetic condition characterized by cerebellar ataxia and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH), at the age of 55 developed hebephiliac attitudes after starting TRT. A multidisciplinary approach integrating psychiatric evaluation, general (IQ) and specific (social cognition) neuropsychological assessment, and structural brain MRI was important to characterize the patient's clinical and functional profile. We discuss how the co-occurrence of HH, requiring hormone replacement therapy, combined with the patient's borderline IQ explains the sexual offenses against pre-adolescents in light of the Insufficient but Non-Redundant Parts of Unnecessary but Sufficient Conditions (INUS) model of causation. In other words, both the administration of TRT and the borderline IQ are configured as INUS causes for understanding the illegal behavior.
Authors
- Riccardo Loconte
- Cristina Scarpazza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4126-426X)
- Pietro Pietrini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6768-5556)
- Gianluca Sesso
Institutions
- IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca (IT)
- University of Padua (IT)
- Fondazione Stella Maris (IT)
- IRCCS San Camillo Hospital (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Psychiatry Research Case Reports
- Published
- 2024-09-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psycr.2024.100237
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Blood disorders and treatments
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.10