Les Contes du Monte-Cristo. Alexandre Dumas and His "Tales for Old and Young Children"

Between 1857 and 1859 Alexandre Dumas published eleven tales from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen's collections in his magazine Le Monte-Cristo. The texts have a particular status, between translation and rewriting. Dumas includes them in a causerie (chat) with the readers of his magazine, and they are framed in a story where an adult tells tales to children. This results in several modifications of the originals-such as the addition of explicative comments-which I study through a comparison of "Petit-Jean et Gros-Jean" and Andersen's "Little Claus and Big Claus." Underrated and forgotten, Dumas's tales are nonetheless representative of his particular style and bear witness to his storytelling skills. They also show similarities between Dumas and Andersen, who actually became acquainted in Paris in 1843.

Determinants of antithrombotic choice for patent foramen ovale in cryptogenic stroke.

OBJECTIVE: We examined the influence of clinical, radiologic, and echocardiographic characteristics on antithrombotic choice in patients with cryptogenic stroke (CS) and patent foramen ovale (PFO), hypothesizing that features suggestive of paradoxical embolism might lead to greater use of anticoagulation. METHODS: The Risk of Paradoxical Embolism Study combined 12 databases to create the largest dataset of patients with CS and known PFO status. We used generalized linear mixed models with a random effect of component study to explore whether anticoagulation was preferentially selected based on the following: (1) younger age and absence of vascular risk factors, (2) "high-risk" echocardiographic features, and (3) neuroradiologic findings. RESULTS: A total of 1,132 patients with CS and PFO treated with anticoagulation or antiplatelets were included. Overall, 438 participants (39%) were treated with anticoagulation with a range (by database) of 22% to 54%. Treatment choice was not influenced by age or vascular risk factors. However, neuroradiologic findings (superficial or multiple infarcts) and high-risk echocardiographic features (large shunts, shunt at rest, and septal hypermobility) were predictors of anticoagulation use. CONCLUSION: Both antithrombotic regimens are widely used for secondary stroke prevention in patients with CS and PFO. Radiologic and echocardiographic features were strongly associated with treatment choice, whereas conventional vascular risk factors were not. Prior observational studies are likely to be biased by confounding by indication.