Poliomyelitis (Heine-Medin disease)

Adolf Kussmaul (1822-1902), and the naming of "poliomyelitis"

In most parts of the developed world today, the neurological diagnosis of poliomyelitis is discussed only as a historical curiosity. For decades an epidemic cause for lameness and paralysis in infected children, reported cases of polio plummeted following the introduction of effective vaccines against the causative virus in the 1950s and 1960s. Much has been written of the trials and successes of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, but little is generally known about how the disease was originally named. In an authoritative reference work on the History of Poliomyelitis (1971), John R. Paul attributed in passing the coining of the term "poliomyelitis" to the celebrated German clinician Adolf Kussmaul (1822-1902). Kussmaul is widely known to physicians today for several unrelated contributions, but none of his authorized biographers have mentioned his naming the disease. In this historical review article, we set out to verify the claim that Kussmaul coined the term "poliomyelitis," surveying in the process his broader contributions to neurology and medicine.

Epidemics and outbreaks of peripheral nervous system disorders: II. Toxic and nutritional causes

Peripheral neuropathies have various causes, both infectious and non-infectious. When we think of “epidemics”, we often refer to an infectious or even post-infectious origin. Nevertheless, the history of mankind is marked by episodes of epidemics of peripheral neuropathies of non-infectious nature, either of nutritional or toxic origin: we present here the main causes of such epidemics.

Acute Flaccid Myelitis: Lessons From Polio

With the eradication of poliomyelitis in the United States, the appearance of acute flaccid myelitis outbreaks has raised questions regarding their causation. Review of the epidemiology, clinical aspects, and laboratory findings of bygone cases of poliomyelitis have revealed shows important similarities with those of newer cases of acute flaccid myelitis. Many occurrences are preceded by an apparent viral illness, and a number of viruses, particularly enteroviruses A71 and D68, can be isolated from respiratory or stool specimens. Our inability to detect these viruses in cerebrospinal fluid samples from these patients does not eliminate them as etiologic agents, because poliovirus is often not detected in cerebrospinal fluid samples of patients with paralysis caused by poliomyelitis.