We got the impression that the amnesia claimed by Washington was more or less subjective and he was found to be well informed. This association of amnesia and impairment of vision naturally suggests syphilis. The patient himself stated that he had had a chancre at the age of 18.
We found the W. R. of the serum to be appropriately positive. The W. R. of the spinal fluid was also positive though weakly so. There was an excess of albumin; globulin appeared in large amount; the gold sol reaction was of the syphilitic type; there were 186 cells in the spinal fluid.
Is this case one of paresis or of some other form of cerebrospinal syphilis? Let us consider the data of the physical examination. On the whole, the patient was well preserved. There was a slight radial arteriosclerosis, but on the whole the cardiovascular system was almost negative. The blood pressure was 100 systolic, 65 diastolic. Neurologically the visual field of the left eye was somewhat limited, and there was a temporal hemianopsia of the right eye. The ophthalmoscopic examination showed a disseminated choroiditis on both sides. The right pupil failed to react to light. The left pupil reacted slowly. Both pupils reacted properly to accommodation.
The knee-jerks could be obtained only on reinforcement, and when obtained, the right was apparently more active than the left. The left Achilles was absent; the right present. There were no other abnormal reflexes.
The motility of the facial muscles was somewhat impaired. Finger-to-finger and finger-to-nose tests were rather poorly done. The muscle sense was good; there was no swaying in Romberg position; and there was no speech defect.
We are unable to decide whether the case is one of the parenchymatous type (paretic) or of the meningovascular type of neurosyphilis. It is certainly rather unusual to find hemianopsia in a paretic.
We have been unable to get definite results from the treatment of this case, since the patient would not return for months after getting an injection or two of salvarsan, on the ground that he was improved enough and did not require further treatment.
1. What conclusion can be drawn from the 186 cells per cmm. in the spinal fluid? Ordinarily this finding would indicate an active process. Some writers have claimed that a cell count running above 100 per cmm. was an indicator of diffuse non-paretic neurosyphilis. It does not appear that this claim has been substantiated. It is remarkable that this case shows an interval of 40 years between infection and the occurrence of definite clinical symptoms. With respect to the cell count, both in untreated and in treated cases, the following conclusions from a recent article (Solomon and Koefod)[[14]] are in point:
1. The number of cells found in the fluid of untreated cases offers no definite information of prognostic value.
2. One is not justified in drawing any conclusions as to whether the case is cerebrospinal syphilis or general paresis, nor the time the process has been active, nor the severity of it, from the cell count.