THE FREQUENCY OF SYPHILITIC PRIMARY OPTIC ATROPHY IN DEMENTIA PARALYTICA
A Clinico-Anatomic Study
WALTER L. BRUETSCH M. D.1
1 The Research Department, Central State Hospital, Indianapolis, Ind., The Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine.
Complete syphilitic optic atrophy in dementia paralytica, including taboparalysis, has been observed in 2%. Incipient and intermediate stages of optic atrophy are much more frequent and have been found in 62.5%, on histologic examination, of the optic pathways of 32 general paralytic patients.
There is no convincing evidence that syphilitic primary optic atrophy occurs with so much greater frequency in taboparalysis than in general paralysis, as has been reported in the literature.
