Mental diseases: a public health problemMay, James Vance
Science
Mental diseases: a public health problem
May, James Vance
Mental health services; Psychology, Pathological
The meningeal form is the one most often encountered. This may appear
on the convexity or on the base of the brain and is spoken of as
being either localized or diffuse in character. It may or may not be
associated with gummatous formations or cortical vascular involvement.
The essential process is a leptomeningitis. The pia is thickened,
opaque and adherent to the cortex. The microscope shows the presence
of inflammatory elements consisting largely of lymphocytes and plasma
cells which may be confined entirely to the meninges or may extend
downward to the superficial cortical layers directly or by extension
along the adventitial sheaths of the vessels. An examination of the
cortex, however, shows a limitation of this invasion to the immediate
neighborhood of the meninges. The cortical involvement, in other words,
is entirely secondary and is not the important part of the pathological
picture that it always is in general paresis. The meningeal condition
is practically the same in the two diseases but more likely to be
localized in syphilitic processes. Dunlap[184] calls attention to
the important fact that in a group of cases occurring many years
after infection he found involvements of the deeper cortical layers
strongly suggesting general paresis pathologically and impossible of
differentiation clinically. In these cases, even in the deep cortical
vessel walls, occasional lymphoid and plasma cells were found, as
well as typical syphilitic endarteritis in some instances. There is
frequently, in addition to the simple meningeal involvement at the
base, a widespread gummatous infiltration of the pia-arachnoid or in
some instances numerous miliary granulomas. This is especially common
in the region of the chiasm and may involve the origin of various
cranial nerves, obviously in such cases determining the symptomatology
to be expected. The optic and oculomotor nerves particularly are
affected. The large vessels at the base are often involved either by
syphilitic inflammatory processes or by direct invasion of their walls
by gummas. An extensive specific meningo-encephalitis may lead either
to foci or extensive areas of actual softening.
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