Neurosyphilis in interwar period in Lithuania: etiology, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment methods
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Š. Jukna
Vilnius University, Lithuania
E. Sakalauskaitė-Juodeikienė
Vilnius University, Lithuania
Published 2020-12-21
https://doi.org/10.29014/ns.2020.39
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Keywords

neurosyphilis
salvarsan
fever therapy
malaria
journal Medicina
interwar period
Lithuania

How to Cite

1.
Jukna Š., Sakalauskaitė-Juodeikienė E. Neurosyphilis in interwar period in Lithuania: etiology, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment methods. NS [Internet]. 2020 Dec. 21 [cited 2024 May 19];24(4(86):309-1. Available from: https://www.journals.vu.lt/neurologijos_seminarai/article/view/27710

Abstract

Neurosyphilis was an incurable and in most cases fatal disease until the beginning of the antibiotic era. The aim of this paper is to find out how the etiology and clinical symptoms of neurosyphilis were perceived, what diagnostic and treatment methods were used in Lithuania in the interwar period (1920-1939). We analyzed the first scientific medical journal Medicina in Lithuania and Baltic States. The main cause of neurosyphilis in the interwar period was identified as a consequence of untreated or undertreated syphilis. Wasserman, Pandy and Nonne-Apelt globulin reactions, as well as evaluation of cerebrospinal fluid cytosis were the most commonly used laboratory tests to diagnose the disease. Heavy metal therapy (arsenic, bismuth, mercury salts) and fever therapy (injections of the malaria agent, boiled cow’s milk, neobenzinol and pyrifer) were used to treat neurosyphilis in Lithuania in the period of 1920-1939.

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