Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

TABES DORSALIS

1929; American Medical Association; Volume: 21; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1001/archneurpsyc.1929.02210200067007

2330-9628

George B. Hassin,

Neurogenetic and Muscular Disorders Research

Of the numerous theories of the pathogenesis of tabes dorsalis, only two deserve consideration. According to one theory, advocated by Strumpell, 1 Spielmeyer, 2 Hauptmann 3 and others, tabes is an endogenous disease process. It is supposed to be caused by a syphilitic toxin which selectively affects certain parts of the posterior columns and causes their degeneration. The other, equally popular, theory is that tabes is an exogenous disease, which originates outside the spinal cord, either at the so-called area of Obersteiner-Redlich or in the radicular nerve of Nageotte. Obersteiner and Redlich 4 called attention to the fact that at the place of their passage through the pia, the posterior roots seem to be deprived of some of their myelin, and, as a result of this, exhibit there a visible constriction; as the axons in this area lie unprotected and naked, they become the locus minoris resistentiae, that is, particularly