Retrobulbar neuritis and facial palsy occurring in the same patient : with cases / by G. E. de Schweinitz.

  • De Schweinitz, G. E. (George Edmund), 1858-1938.
Date:
[1899]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Retrobulbar neuritis and facial palsy occurring in the same patient : with cases / by G. E. de Schweinitz. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

    4/8 (page 2)
    direct result of an inflammatory pro'cess in the orbit, e.g., cel- lulitis, or in the optical canal, e.g., periostitis, gummatous deposits, etc. The same disease at times appears to be the result of certain toxic agents, such as alcohol or lead, or may be provoked by menstrual disturbances, especially sudden sup- pression of the menses, by ''catching cold, or by overwork and prolonged eye-strain. That a similar ocular disease is at times part of the symptomatology of an insular sclerosis, or of an acute or subacute myelitis, and is then of most serious prognostic import, need not be more than mentioned in this society. Retrobulbar neuritis may be acute, subacute or chronic, and the acute cases are at times exceedingly rapid in onset and development, forming the fulminant class. With the sub- acute and chronic cases the present paper does not deal. The afifection now under consideration, as described in the opening paragraph, may be (i) bilateral from the onset, (2) monolateral, which is perhaps the most frequent manifestation, or (3) bilateral after an interval, that is to say there may be a shorter or longer period of time between the onset of the affec- tion in the first and in the second eye, and it is with this third class of cases that I will deal and call attention, if not to a new group, to an uncommon variety of this group, to wit: one in which the retro-ocular inflammation is preceded by an attack of peripheral facial paralysis, either upon the same or upon the opposite side. In illustration the following cases are reported: Case I.—Miss J. S., aged 30, a seamstress, born in Russia, presented herself for treatment on May 9, 1898, upon the kind recommendation of Dr. Barcus. History.—The patient's early clinical history is unimportant, SO' far as it could be ascertained; of the health of her parents nothing is known; her sister, whom I examined, was sound. Between two and three years before her visit, after exposure to a draft, she developed facial palsy of the right side which lasted between two and three weeks, so I am informed by Dr. Barcus, her attending physician, and disappeared under the in- fluence of bhstering, alteratives and electricity. After her re- covery the patient pursued her ordinarv vocation as seamstress with comfort, her eyes, which were decidedly astigmatic, hav- ing been provided with proper glasses. Four days before she