The clinical aspects of 'juvenile general paralysis' : with an account of a case treated with '606,' and observations on prophylaxis / by J. Johnston Abraham.

  • Abraham, James Johnston, 1876-1963.
Date:
[1911]
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: The clinical aspects of 'juvenile general paralysis' : with an account of a case treated with '606,' and observations on prophylaxis / by J. Johnston Abraham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    there had been 12 deaths in advanced cerebral and spinal disease after its use (35). In cerebral syphilis, however,. Neisser states that paralysis and pains disappear like magic, and advises that it may be tried in early tabes and general paralysis, questioning, however, if it is safe when optic atrophy is present. From experiments on animals it has been found that ‘‘ 606 ” is not injurious to the normal eye, but in the human subject it is stated that transitory blindness may occur. Speithoff and Michaelis had a tabetic who 50 hours after an injection of 0*6 gramme was seized with temporary blindness for several minutes, and another who, eight weeks after an injection of 0*45 gramme, developed sudden ptosis of one lid and blindness lasting ten minutes. Nothing was found ophthal- mologically (36). Gliick treated two cases of paresis and one of optic atrophy without result (37). Fordyce-^ treated nine tabetics with little result, and one case of cerebral syphilis wuth wonderful success. Dr. Ivy Mackenzie reports that of 16 general paralytics four were undoubtedly benefited (38). Michaelis in one of his general paralytics had a remission lasting two months. In 12 paralytics treated by Meyer there was no lasting result. The Wassermaim reaction after treat- ment in these cases of Meyer was very interesting; four gave a negative reaction, four a diminution, and four were unin- fluenced (39). In this connexion it is interesting to note tbe extreme difficulty of influencing the Wassermaim reaction by treatment in congenital syphilis. In the London Lock Hospital for Women and Children we found that even after two years’ in-patient treatment by inunction children still gave an active Wassermann reaction ; and McDonagh states that congenital syphilis, irrespectively of treatment, tends to give a positive Wassermann reaction throughout life (40). This statement, though there are strong reasons for believing that it is in the main correct, is probably not absolutely without exception, as the term “congenital syphilis” is at present loosely used to include cases both of infection before birth, in which the child is born dead, or if alive comes into the w^orld with well-marked signs of syphilis, and cases of infection from the placental Loc. cit., suj ra.