Friedreich's paralysis / by T. Duncan Greenlees and G. Carrington Purvis.

  • Greenlees, T. Duncan.
Date:
1901
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Friedreich's paralysis / by T. Duncan Greenlees and G. Carrington Purvis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    who died at the Chronic Sick Hospital on May 10, 1900, after a residence of four years, and in whom the disease had existed for nine years. Autopsy (twelve hours after death).—Body of a Euro¬ pean girl, much emaciated and muscles wasted. Bigor mortis present. Double talipes equino-varus marked. Small bedsore over sacrum. There was some wasting of the cere¬ bral convolutions, with an excess of fluid in the cranial cavity. The veins of the pia were congested. The heart and lungs were healthy except for some con¬ gestion of the lower lobe of the right lung, and the bronchial tubes contained frothy material. With the exception of a small cyst in the centre of the left kidney, the abdominal organs presented nothing calling for special note. A piece of the left frontal convolution, the crus cerebri, medulla oblongata, a portion of the great sciatic nerve, and portions of the cervical, dorsal, and lumbar regions of the spinal cord were placed in Muller’s fluid, and forwarded to the Bacteriological Institute, Grahamstown. These were hardened and stained according to Weigert’s method, and microscopic sections made. 'Examination of the Spinal Cord. An examination of sections from different portions of the spinal cord revealed the fact, which was even quite apparent to a naked-eye inspection, that the cord was much'smaller than it should be. It was quite infantile in size, and it looked even smaller than a healthy cat’s cord, with which it was compared. Microscopical Examination. Sections from various levels in the cervical, dorsal, and lumbar regions were examined microscopically, and revealed the following pathological changes :— Cervical region at the level of the sixth cervical vertebra:— (1) Sclerosis of the middle portion of the posterior internal tract (Goll’s tract).