Constitutional syphilis : being a practical illustration of the disease in its secondary and tertiary phases / by James George Beaney.

  • Beaney, James George, 1828-1891.
Date:
1872
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Constitutional syphilis : being a practical illustration of the disease in its secondary and tertiary phases / by James George Beaney. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    162/576 (page 142)
    SIGHT RESTORED IN A SYPHILITIC PATIENT. rapidly got worse, and he was fast losing his sight. I at once examined one of the eyes (the right) with the ophthal- moscope, and discovered that the vitreous humour was turbid, and presented the usual white silvery films'floating in its structure. The choroidal pigment was patchy, and could be observed with difficulty, on account of the turbid state of the humours. The retina also could not be accurately explored, for the same reason. The left eye was suffering from iritis, which he stated was recent, and there was very considerable congestion of the sclerotic. He complained of great pain shooting along the axis of the eye to the back of the head, and was seldom able to sleep on account of the pain being more intense in the night than in the day. The history of this person is remarkable, on account of the dis- tance of time between the original chancre and the present phenomena. He stated that he had not had any evidences of impure coitus for twelve years, until about ten years ago, when an eruption appeared on the palms of the hands, and was then in existence in a bad form. I saw that it had all the characteristics of syphilitic psoriasis. Besides this, he was troubled with a bchenous eruption on the thighs. I commenced with an anti-syphilitic course of treatment, and in about a fortnight after the vitreous humour had so far cleared, that I could explore the retina, and found that the optic entrance was much smaller than normal, and the retinal vessels were much engorged and dilated. I took no measures towards improving this state of things beyond the anti-syphilitic course, and had the satisfaction of seeing every symptom pass away, and the sight of the patient completely restored. The local treatment consisted in the application of blisters to the temples, and a solution of atropine dropped into the eyes, in order to keep the pupils well dilated.