Metasyphilis

МЕТАСИФИЛИС (from Greek meta- after), a term first introduced by Mobius (1876) to denote late manifestations of syphilis, chiefly lesions of the central nervous system, such as tabes dorsalis and progressive paralysis (see), which in the era of the Metasyphilis doctrine were called metasyphilitic psychoses. Along with the term "metasyphilis," Fournier and Erb proposed the term "parasyphilis," which to some extent has a somewhat broader character, relating not only to lesions of the nervous system but also covering all late lesions of visceral organs. Both these terms were associated with the opinion that these lesions are caused not directly by the spirochete but by intoxication, or are secondary diseases in an organism weakened by syphilitic infection. At present, after the discovery of spirochetes in the brains of paralytics by Noguchi (1913), the research of Jalmel, which discovered spirochetes in the vessels and ganglion cells, the research of Jakob, which proved the development of miliary gummas in progressive paralytics, and the newest research in connection with the treatment of progressive paralysis by malaria, the majority of authors have abandoned the theory of the metasyphilitic process and regard progressive paralysis and tabes as a peculiar form (tertiary syphilis) of syphilis.