Lectures on the diseases of the nervous system / Delivered at La Salpêtrière. By J.M. Charcot. 2d series. Translated and edited by George Sigerson.
- Jean-Martin Charcot
- Date:
- 1881
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Lectures on the diseases of the nervous system / Delivered at La Salpêtrière. By J.M. Charcot. 2d series. Translated and edited by George Sigerson. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
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![with blood. An intense feeling of sickness and vertigoes are superadded to the vomiting and cardialgic pains; these may be really excruciating, and the situation is then the more afflicting because the painful fulgurations often at the same time affect the extremities with an exceptional intensity of torture. The gastric crises of ataxic patients habitually persist, like the fulgurant crises, almost without respite for two or three days; and it is very remarkable that, in the intervals of these paroxysms, the functions of the stomach are generally performed with great regularity. Such crises may appear at the beginning of the dis- ease, and may for long years form, together with shooting pains, the whole symptomatology of the disease. When the ataxia is fully established, and motor incoordination has been developed, the gastric crises do not therefore always disappear; often, on the con- trary, they are reproduced with every paroxysm of shooting pain until the fatal termination. Such was the case with the patient Meni], to mention but one, whom we have had full opportunity of observing during her sojourn of over six years in these wards. That is, undoubtedly, a form of cardialgia which is very singular, very remarkable in all its bearings. Nevertheless, you will not find it mentioned, at least I believe it is not mentioned, in any of even the most recent special treatises on diseases of the stomach. Many a time I have seen this symptom diverting the attention of the physician, and causing him to misapprehend the real nature of the disorder; I also have several times fallen into the snare in other days. A notary came from the provinces, ten years ago, to consult me concerning attacks of cardialgia, presenting the characters which I have just described; he suffered likewise in the extremities from paroxysmal pains which, however, were not very acute. I was not then aware of the link which unites these different phe- nomena. The gastric crises have disappeared, but the patient suffers to-day from all the symptoms of locomotor ataxia of the most characteristic kind. The first time it was given to me to recognise the true signi- fication of gastric crises, occurred when attending a young physician, who, besides these crises, suffered from shooting pains and hydar- throsis of one of the knees, spontaneously developed (arthropathy of ataxic patients). Motor incoordination did not show itself, in his case, till some months later. The whole of this group of symptoms—gastric crises, shooting pains, and arthropathies—](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21045884_0051.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
