Neurosyphilis : $b Modern systematic diagnosis and treatment presented in one hundred and thirty-seven case historiesSouthard, Elmer Ernest
Science
Neurosyphilis : $b Modern systematic diagnosis and treatment presented in one hundred and thirty-seven case histories
Southard, Elmer Ernest
Neurosyphilis
The brain itself may produce headache through intoxications,
through conditions produced by a variety of diseases; may follow
neuroses. Alcohol may produce headaches in some persons even when
it is taken in very small doses. Certain uremic cases yield
headaches, as do also gouty and chlorotic conditions. According to
Lewandowski, the headaches of arteriosclerotics are due possibly
to vasomotor disturbances in the membranes, or one may think of
nutritive cerebral disorders. A peculiar form of headache is that
of fatigue after mental work, allied to which is the neurasthenic
headache; constitutional headaches have been assumed to occur, to
say nothing of hysterical headaches. There remains also the
important question of migraine, for which a vasomotor explanation
has been proposed.
2. Was Kantor suffering from tuberculosis of the lungs? The
hypothesis of lung syphilis ought certainly to be very seriously
considered. Upon repeated sputum examination, no tubercle bacilli
have yet been found.
3. Is Kantor a case of general paresis? In the absence of mental
symptoms, and in consideration of the mildness of the reactions,
it is certainly not easy to make the diagnosis of general paresis.
However, the diagnosis of tabes dorsalis is not justified either.
Accordingly, we may answer our question: whether the
Argyll-Robertson pupil occurs in other neurosyphilitic diseases,
by pointing out that in the case of Julius Kantor, as in the case
of Henri Lepère (105) and Frederick Stone (106), the
Argyll-Robertson pupil has been found in syphilitic conditions
that are neither typically paretic nor typically tabetic.
=Does the Argyll-Robertson pupil necessarily indicate
neurosyphilis?=
=Case 55.= Daniel Falvey, 44 years of age, was an almshouse transfer to
the Danvers State Hospital in the year 1904, when the principle of state
care was adopted in Massachusetts. As in most of the almshouse transfers
of that day, little could be discovered as to antecedents. He had been a
mill-worker from the time of his immigration in 1890, at 30 years of
age. He had been somewhat alcoholic. There was a shock some 17 months
before his death, which occurred about seven weeks from the date of
transfer.
Not only was he unable to walk unsupported, but when supported there was
a slight dragging of the left leg and the gait was noted to be somewhat
propulsive. The tongue and hands were tremulous, and the left grasp was
somewhat weaker than the right. Both knee-jerks were increased although
neither more than the other. There was no sensory disorder.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account