1. Early effects of penicillin treatment of dementia paralytica; a clinical and psychologic study
- Author
-
J. Edward Stern and Helen M. Campbell
- Subjects
Pediatrics ,medicine.medical_specialty ,business.industry ,Penicillins ,Late syphilis ,medicine.disease ,Clinical method ,Surgery ,Penicillin ,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) ,Neurosyphilis ,Early dementia ,medicine ,Humans ,Syphilis ,Dementia ,Neurology (clinical) ,Penicillin treatment ,business ,After treatment ,Dementia paralytica ,medicine.drug - Abstract
The introduction of penicillin has caused a renewed interest in the treatment of early 1 and late 2 syphilis. In this paper an account is given of the course of early dementia paralytica in a man aged 31 who at no time was subjected to any other form of therapy. Treatment with penicillin appeared to produce a remission. Psychologic examinations made before and after treatment confirmed the clinical impression of remission and permitted a roughly quantitative estimate of the degree of improvement. Since serologic reversal is often minimal or absent when penicillin alone is used in the treatment of late syphilis, it is suggested that psychologic examinations, repeated at stated intervals, may provide an early indication for repetition of treatment. The clinical methods used in this study were the standard physical, neurologic and serologic tests and examination of the cerebrospinal fluid. The psychologic methods utilized were the Wechsler-Bellevue Adult Scale
- Published
- 2010