Fleeting amaurosis in infants presenting symptoms of meningitis / by Sydney Stephenson.

  • Stephenson, Sydney, 1862-1923.
Date:
[1902]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Fleeting amaurosis in infants presenting symptoms of meningitis / by Sydney Stephenson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    which was put down to “teething.” At nine months of age, however, sickness recurred, and was followed by muscular twitching, retraction of the head, and failure of sight. For eleven days her temperature ranged between 97° F. and 101° F., but was above normal nearly the whole time. Before that the temperature had l-eached 103'4° F. on two occasions. There was defective vision, conjugate deviation downwards, and rolling of the head, and it was noted that the dilated pupils reacted feebly to light. The ailment was diagnosed as tuberculous meningitis by the physicians in charge, and it was thought by them that the patient could not possibly get well. But, to everybody’s astonishment, improvement set in and sight returned. There was, it appears, a relapse, and sight again failed, so that the child is said once more to have become per- fectly blind. After the lapse of three or four months the baby was observed to pick bits off her mother’s dress, and soon after that is stated to have seen as well as anybody else. There was no phthisis on either side of the family. The patient was the ninth of ten living and healthy children. On examination, I found there was a paresis of the internal rectus of the left eye, causing an outward squint of 35°—40°. With spectacles the sight of the right eye was normal, and that of the left one-third normal. The pupils were equal and active. The fundi oculorum showed no changes, the optic discs were of good colour, and the retina] vessels normal. Case 4.—Martha F—, 15 months old, was first seen on April the 22nd, 1901. The child was taken ill three weeks previously, when she had a “fit” and was drowsy for a couple of days. She vomited at the time of the “ fit,” but has not done so since. The bowels have been loose and the motions offensive. The paternal grandmother died of phthisis. There are five other children in the family, all healthy. Upon admission, the child was drowsy, with slight retraction of the head. The anterior fontanelle was much bulged; the reflexes exaggerated. There was