Acute poliomyelitis / by George Draper.

  • George Draper
Date:
1917
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Acute poliomyelitis / by George Draper. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    156/172 page 140
    On Sept. 27, 10 c.c. of serum were given intraspinally and 30 c.c. sub- cutaneously. Sept. 28. After 24 hours the temperature was 100°F.; no extension of muscular weakness. Sept. 29. Temperature normal. Muscular impairment gone. No abnormality on discharge. The serum was administered to this child within 12 hours of the first appearance of the symptoms, and although a degree of weakness of certain muscles was already present, it quickly disappeared. Case 12.—Male. Age 314% years. September ro, 1910... Headache and fever: Sept. 13-- Temperature 103.8°F. Stiffness of neck and back; weakness of muscles of right ankle; toe-drop. Cerebrospinal fluid, 250 cells per c.mm.; globulin increased. On Sept. 13, 10 c.c. of serum were injected subdurally and 4o c.c. sub- cutaneously. Sept. 14. Temperature 99.6°F. Weakness of muscles diminished rapidly. The serum was administered within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms and at a time when several muscle groups were impaired. The tempera- ture quickly fell to normal and the muscular weakness soon disappeared. In considering Cases 1 to 12 the points that can be made definitely are: (1) the diagnosis was clearly established in each; (2) there was some grade of paralysis present in each; and (3) with the exception of Case 1, 8 and 9, there was either no increase of the existing muscular weakness or paralysis, or there was prompt improvement in these conditions. Group II. No Paralysis at the Time of Treatment In the following series of fourteen cases, no paralysis was detected up to the time that the serum was administered. One reservation should, how- ever, be made: in the early stages of the disease, some of the patients were too ill to warrant a full examination of all the muscle groups and hencea degree of weakness or paralysis may have sometimes been overlooked. Moreover, the quantity of serum administered varied considerably, depending upon circumstances. ‘The cases will be considered in the order of the amounts of serum given. Case 13.— Male. Age 8 years. September 19, 1916. Headache, fever, and drowsiness. Sept. 20. Same condition; neck and back stiff. Sept. 21. Admitted to hospital. No paralysis detected. Temperature 102.5°F.; pulse 102; respirations 32. Cerebrospinal fluid, 850 cells per c.mm.; globulin increased. On Sept. 21, 5 c.c. of serum were given intraspinally and 15 c.c. sub- cutaneously. Sept. 24. Temperature normal. In the interim weakness of the following muscle groups developed: deltoids, pectorales, major rotators (outward) of arms, flexors of hip, quadriceps and hamstrings, and abdominal wall. The serum was administered within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms.
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