The next day he spoke perfectly but could hear nothing. There was no further progress for three weeks, though he occasionally caught sounds. He now became bright and pleasant and had lost all irritability and sulkiness. Galvanic and faradic current had no effect on the ears.
November 27, after elaborate preparation to heighten the suggestive effect, the patient was kept in bed and given gas and ether up to the abolition of the corneal reflex. As he was coming round, the doctor shouted that he could now hear well. He was overcome with joy and had hysterical convulsions. He could hear, but with the right ear only. In point of fact, the left ear on examination showed signs of labyrinthine deafness. He was placed on home service.
Re etherization for functional deafness and mutism, Ninian Bruce maintains that ether is more satisfactory than chloroform. The loss of consciousness in cases of deafness and mutism ought to be a relatively slight one, and the patient should be suddenly roused to the realization that he is speaking. Recovery from chloroform anesthesia is, according to Ninian Bruce, too slow to allow the patient to catch the point that he is now speaking and hearing when he was formerly dumb or deaf. A failure with the method is a bad thing for the patient, as he loses confidence in the method, whereupon some other method must be resorted to.
Re etherization for deafmutism, see technic of Ninian Bruce under [Case 553]. Penhallow has a case in which during primary etherization the patient reviewed in a loud voice the whole story of his speech loss. He was found to have recovered speech and hearing after coming out of ether.
Re anesthesia by gas, Abrahams has used nitrous oxide for cure of hysterical paraplegia. Proctor also reports the use of light ether anesthesia for bringing out the voice of functional mutes.
Shell-shock functional deafness (five months). Yes-No test. Cure by suggestion on emerging from ether anesthesia.
Case 553. (Bruce, May, 1916.)
A soldier was admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Edinburgh, completely deaf in the left ear. He had been under shell fire a number of times in France and was eventually thrown down and made unconscious by a shell explosion on his left. He did not remember the noise of the explosion or anything until he found himself in hospital. After the explosion he had begun to stutter, and the stuttering had grown worse. Examination of the ear indicated that the deafness was functional. He was given ether and when just under was asked if he could hear anything spoken in his right ear. He said, “Yes.” With the right ear closed he was asked if he could hear when his left ear was spoken into. He said, “No.” This test was repeated several times. After covering his right ear, he gave his name, regiment, etc., in reply to questions whispered into his left (previously deaf) ear. The incongruity was pointed out. He was now suddenly wakened. He laughed hysterically with joy over his recovery.
But the next morning he was again stone deaf in the left ear. Blistering and electricity failed to produce benefit. He was, however, puzzled about himself.