Five cases of cerebral symptoms in early (secondary) syphilis / by F.B. Greenough.

  • Greenough, Francis Boott.
Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Five cases of cerebral symptoms in early (secondary) syphilis / by F.B. Greenough. 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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    I)r. Denslow of giving small And frequent doses of calomel will act even more rapidly tlrnn inunctions, but the patients must be watched very carefully, as the chances of salivation must be taken into consid- eration. It may be asked why, if the treatment by inunction is the most successful one, not always use it? To this I would reply that, in point of fact, most patients do very well under internal treatment. 1 am referring now to the general treatment of syph- ilis. and as long as they do” so it is just as well to reserve our most powerful weapon for any emer- gency that may arise. Moreover, the process of inunction is so dirty and troublesome that few pa- tients, in my experience at least, can be kept on it for any length of time. With regard to the pn>gno»i* of these cases of early cerebral syphilis it is. of course, too soon to draw any deductions from those I have reported. One of them, Case II., seems absolutely well, but it is only two years since bis attack, and, of course, too noon to feel sure as to the future. That cases in which such serious symptoms show themselves so exceptionally early should 1k> warned as to the need of their giving themselves the full benefit of care- ful life and regular habits there can be no doubt. Fortunate as we are in the possession of methods of treatment, which in many cases will overcome the threatening symptoms, we must feel that there is always a possibility of permanent injury having been done to one of the most important of the vital organs.