Osler and the Churg-Strauss syndrome.
This paper records a patient of Osler's, who showed many features compatible with the Churg-Strauss syndrome of allergic granulomatous angiitis to be described 50 years later.
Churg-Strauss Syndrome↗
Biomedical subjects
J M S Pearce
Publications and source records attributed to J M S Pearce.
Burton's line in lead poisoning.
Lead poisoning in both its acute and chronic forms has been recognised since the second century BCE. Lead colic, anaemia, renal tubulopathies and motor neuropathies are well recognised. This paper sketches the early history and remembers the important contribution of Henry Burton, who described the gums to be bordered by a narrow leaden-blue line, about the one-twentieth part of an inch in width, whilst the substance of the gum apparently retained its ordinary colour and condition. The sign though inconstant, is still a valuable clinical clue.
Gingiva↗
Synaesthesia.
Synaesthesia is the intriguing, involuntary experience of feeling one sensation in response to a different sensory stimulus. Recognised since described in 1890 by John Locke and clarified by Galton in the 1880s, it has been analysed in the last 50 years. Grapheme-colour synaesthesia is the commonest form, but many other sensory linkages are reported. Experiments show that it is a genuine immediate perception, not merely a memory or learned association. Many of the mechanisms posited are based on indirect methods, and we know little of the neurophysiological mechanisms.
Brain↗
Baló's encephalitis periaxialis concentrica.
In 1928, Baló described a law student with an unusual fatal illness marked by aphasia and a right hemiplegia, with later optic neuritis and normal cerebrospinal fluid. At autopsy, he found a disease of the white matter characterised by foci varying in size from a lentil to that of a pigeon's egg and presenting gray softening and, in part, concentricity, where the medullary sheaths were destroyed and the axis cylinders were intact. He was uncertain whether this was a variant of acute multiple sclerosis or of Schilder's disease. The basis of concentric sclerosis is still unclear though current opinion favours a variant of acute multiple sclerosis.
Adult↗
Misoplegia.
Amongst the many fascinating abnormal perceptions of parts of the body which may follow strokes and other cerebral lesions is the rare phenomenon of misoplegia. Afflicted patients show dislike, amounting to hatred of the affected part, often accompanied by verbal or physical abuse. Most often the result of a right hemisphere lesion, its precise mechanisms are not well understood. This is a summary of misoplegia and its alleged physiological mechanisms.
Adaptation, Psychological↗
Louis Pierre Gratiolet (1815-1865): the cerebral lobes and fissures.
Early anatomists referred to parts of the brain as 'posterior' and 'anterior.' But after comparing many primate brains, Gratiolet noticed a pattern of folds or sulci and convolutions marked by fissures of increasing complexity in the more advanced mammalian brains. The primary fissures he could also identify in the smoother ape brains. He was the first to separate four brain lobes (frontal, parietal, temporosphenoidal, occipital) and a fifth central lobe or insula. He demonstrated a sequence of closure of the cranial sutures, and he identified and named the optic radiation. Because he was reluctant to equate brain size with intelligence, Gratiolet was involved in a prolonged polemic with Broca.
Animals↗
Neurological words. Nosology, nosocomial.
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Classification↗
Sir Thomas Lewis MD, FRS. (1881-1945).
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Biomedical Research↗
The craniospinal venous system.
The valveless craniospinal venous system consists of veins and plexuses that communicate freely and whose flow is bidirectional. It comprises (1) the intracranial-cortical veins, dural sinuses, cavernous sinuses and ophthalmic veins, and (2) the vertebral venous plexuses, which freely anastomose with the intracranial venous system. The vertebral venous plexuses anastamose with the sacral, pelvic and prostatic venous plexus. It is clinically important since it provides a route for the spread of tumours, infection or emboli. This route may go unrecognised.
Animals↗
The enigma of chronic fatigue.
Until new, reproducible criteria are established, the ubiquitous 'chronic fatigue state' emerges as a non-specific complaint shared by many different entities. Presently, it is neither a valid nor a verifiable medical diagnosis.
Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic↗
Subarachnoid hemorrhage.
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History, 18th Century↗
Latham and the vasomotor theory of migraine.
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History, 18th Century↗
Nicolas Saucerotte: Acromegaly before Pierre Marie.
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Acromegaly↗
Meralgia paraesthetica (Bernhardt-Roth syndrome).
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Germany↗