THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM IN UREMIA

Abstract

Uremia, because of its frequent renal origin, has been a subject of investigation primarily of the internist. For this reason, the greatest emphasis in the more recent literature has been placed on the renal and chemical aspects of this disease in spite of the fact that some of the most outstanding symptoms are neuropsychiatric in nature. The most common complaints referable to the nervous system are convulsions and coma. Addison,¹ as early as 1839, characterized the cerebral symptoms as "dullness of the intellect, sluggishness of manner, drowsiness going on to quiet stupor and ending in coma, often with convulsions." Although these are the better recognized forms of cerebral symptoms, a careful survey of a large series of cases will demonstrate almost every type of neuropsychiatric involvement, from the purely ascending motor disturbances to the full-blown psychoses of almost every type. The significance of the cerebral involvement which occurs in