Family amaurotic idiocy without characteristic ophthalmoscopic signs / by F. Parkes Weber.

  • Weber, Frederick Parkes, 1863-1962.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Family amaurotic idiocy without characteristic ophthalmoscopic signs / by F. Parkes Weber. 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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    [^Beprinted from the Proceedings of the Koyal •] Family ithout Characteristic Ophthalmoscopic Signs. Society of Medicine, By F. Pabkes Webee, M.D. The child, M. A., female, aged 14 months, is not wasted, but is unable to sit up, and, owing to weakness in the muscles of the back and neck, its head (which seems rather large and heavy, and measures 18^ in. in circumference) falls backwards if not supported (“head-lolling”). There is occasionally likewise active retraction of the head, which must not be confused with the merely passive head drop. It cannot move about; it cannot even turn or roll itself over in the bed from one side to the other. It can, of course, only be fed with fluids, and when it sucks from a feeding-bottle the movements of its jaws appear automatic, rhythmic, and exaggerated; they suggest the auto- matic movements of a frog deprived of its cerebrum. Similar rhythmic movements of the jaws and mouth are sometimes present when the child is not feeding. It occasionally “ swallows the wrong way.” It generally lies apathetic or somnolent, taking no notice of anything unless disturbed by medical examination or otherwise, but will cry out when the feeding-bottle is removed. It never attempts to grasp or even to touch anything, not even the feeding-bottle. There is a variable amount of rigidity, due to tonic muscular spasm, affecting the trunk and both upper and lower extremities. The lower extremities are often rigidly extended, with the feet in a tetany-like position; the upper extremities are flexed at the elbows, and the hands are often clenched, with the thumbs between the middle and index fingers. The knee-jerks can be obtained, and are at present rather exaggerated. No ankle clonus. The plantar reflexes tend, on the whole, to be of the extensor type