4. What is the classical differential diagnosis between paretic neurosyphilis and neurasthenia? The testing of the blood by the W. R. is unconditionally necessary. If the W. R. is negative, the diagnosis of paretic neurosyphilis is extremely improbable. (It must be borne in mind that a number of cases of paretic neurosyphilis have been shown to have a negative W. R. in the serum, and receive a proper diagnosis only after spinal fluid examination.) Next to the serum W. R. stand the pupillary and aphasic symptoms. In the presence of Argyll-Robertson pupil or even a slight speech defect, the diagnosis of neurasthenia must certainly be made with caution if at all. Kraepelin remarks: The sudden occurrence of neurasthenic disorders in a male of middle age without any evident cause therefor is always suspicious. Yet it must be emphasized that a complaint of occasional dizziness, slight speech defect, tremor of tongue, and a moderate increase of tendon reflexes do not possess any marked diagnostic significance. Clear insight and understanding of the nature of the disease phenomena, a persistent search for recovery, reasonableness in conversation, progressive improvement under appropriate treatment, speak for neurasthenia.
Joffroy and Mignot differentiate what they call preparetic neurasthenia from other neurasthenic states, not only on the basis of its etiology but on the basis of its symptoms. They also call attention to the fact that neurasthenia, being a pure neurosis, develops either on a manifestly hereditary basis or upon some physical injury, weakening disease, or moral shock. The pure neurotic suffers a great deal more than the patient who is destined to become a victim of paresis. The character change in neurasthenia does not amount to that entire transformation of personality (even to the performance of criminal acts) that we find in paretic neurosyphilis; at the most, the neurasthenic shows minor emotional disturbances and a certain pathological egoism. The psychotherapeutic test also rather readily dissipates many of the neurotic, hypochondriacal fears and feelings. Although both pure neurasthenia and the paretic pseudoneurasthenia are characterized by sexual weakness, the sexual anæsthesia of the preparetic is practically always preceded by a stage of sexual over-excitement. These finer clinical indications, however, fade into insignificance beside the data that can and should be obtained from laboratory tests.
5. How exceptional is such a case as that of Harrison? We have in our experience seen many patients with a similar course and configuration of symptoms, although the majority of these cases in a community advanced enough to provide easy access to a Wassermann laboratory are now diagnosticated far earlier than was the case of Harrison.
6. What attitude shall we take toward so-called syphilophobia? It seems to us that resort to a serum W. R. is indicated, both from the standpoint of the community and still more importantly from the standpoint of the patient. We are even inclined to suggest for a case of persistent syphilophobia, when the serum W. R. has proved negative, a lumbar puncture. Syphilophobia must be considered, not as a syphilitic psychosis, but as a phobia to be classified among the psychoneuroses. It becomes a difficult question to decide at times whether a patient who has had syphilis, has had a considerable course of treatment and shows the symptoms of a syphilophobiac should be further treated for syphilis or merely for his phobia. We have seen recently such a patient who gave a certain history of syphilis and who was greatly disturbed lest he should be developing paresis. This fear bothered him greatly. Examination showed irregular pupils, but no other signs of syphilis. The W. R. in blood and spinal fluid was negative as were the other spinal fluid tests. It was considered wise to treat him only for his phobia and under this treatment he was given some relief.
PARETIC NEUROSYPHILIS (“general paresis”) may look precisely like MANIC-DEPRESSIVE PSYCHOSIS.
Case 10. The mental picture in Lyman Agnew, an architect, 58 years of age, was wholly characteristic of manic-depressive psychosis. In the first place, there had been (at 55) a previous attack of depression, lasting a few months, from which Agnew had completely recovered. He had remained entirely well up to four months before consultation. (Manic-depressive psychosis is, at least in a majority of cases, hereditary. There had been mental disorder in one maternal cousin, and mental impairment in the patient’s mother some time before her death from cerebral hemorrhage. There was no other report of mental disease in the family.)
It appears that in the interval between attacks, Agnew had been working very hard and had been fairly successful in paying off a mortgage on his house. A marked elation, somewhat natural, followed this success and continued to an abnormal degree. Agnew labored under considerable excitement, was over-fussy, and at times showed a flight of ideas. His mania or hypomania gradually diminished and depression set in, in which depression he arrived for consultation. He had marked ideas of self-accusation, was emotionally unstable, wept much, and showed a characteristic retardation of activities and unrest.
Physically, there was no neurological disorder. The patient appeared rather under-nourished. The heart borders lay 2 cm. to the right and at 11½ cm. to the left of the mid-sternal line. The aortic second sound was very loud. There was a moderate radial arteriosclerosis. Systolic blood pressure was 210, diastolic 155.
The high blood pressure suggested nephritis, possibly of arteriosclerotic origin, but urine examination and blood-nitrogen tests yielded no evidence of kidney disease. Moreover, it is our experience that a manic-depressive psychosis in persons past middle life is not infrequently complicated by high blood pressure. In point of fact, some authors insist upon a relation between manic-depressive psychosis and the arteriosclerosis which rather frequently sets in in this disease.
Routine examination of the blood serum, however, yielded a positive W. R. Following the approved rule of making an examination of the spinal fluid in all mental cases having a positive serum W. R., we proceeded to lumbar puncture. The fluid was clear and contained 35 cells per cmm., the albumin was in excess, and there was a positive globulin reaction. The gold sol reaction was of the “paretic” type; the W. R. was strongly positive.