File:A treatise on the nervous diseases of children, for physicians and students (1905) (14782325824).jpg

Identifier: treatiseonner00sach (find matches)
Title: A treatise on the nervous diseases of children, for physicians and students
Year: 1905 (1900s)
Authors: Sachs, Bernard, 1858-1944
Subjects: Nervous system Children
Publisher: New York, W. Wood and company
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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ase optic nerve atrophy was muchmore pronounced than the changes inthe macula lutea. All writers on thesubject have fully appreciated the char-acteristic symptoms of Amaurotic Idiocy,but the importance of the rapidly devel-oping marasmus-has not been sufficientlyinsisted upon by many of them. I holdit to be one of the important symptomsof the condition. Etiology.—The causes underlyingthis disease are still somewhat obscure.Blood relationship between the parentshas been noted in some instances and amarked psycho-neurotic taint in others.In a few instances the mother has sus-tained some injury during pregnancy.The family predisposition is made evi-dent by the fact that twenty-eight caseswhich came under my notice have oc-curred in fifteen families. Carter was thefirst to call attention to the fact that all cases reported have occurred amongHebrews, and up to the present time not a single entirely satisfactory casehas been reported as occurring among other races. It is truly astounding
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Fig. 115a.—Child in Last Stages ofAmaurotic Family Idiocy, showingextreme emaciation and (unusual)contractures. Authors case. AMAUROTIC FAMILY IDIOCY. 465 that this disease should be thus limited, because other diseases to which it ismore or less closely allied have been observed among all races and allnationalities. It is well to state explicitly that this is not a syphilitic disease, and thispoint should be insisted upon, because hereditary optic nerve atrophy occur-ring later in life has been shown to be due frequently to hereditary syphilis,and there are other family affections associated with dementia which are dueto this same cause. Diagnosis.—There can be little difficulty in diagnosticating this form ofdisease if the symptoms as enumerated above are kept in mind. Hereditaryspastic diplegia, which sometimes occurs in families, may give rise to someconfusion, but in this disease the entire absence of visual symptoms, the lackof mental impairment, the marked spasticity of all

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