PENICILLIN IN THE TREATMENT OF NEUROSYPHILIS

Abstract

A study of the effects of penicillin in various forms of neurosyphilis was begun at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in October 1943. The results of the first two years' experience are being reported in a series of papers. The first of these 1 dealt with asymptomatic neurosyphilis. This, the second, is concerned with the treatment of dementia paralytica. As of December 1945, 41 patients with dementia paralytica have been treated with penicillin. Twenty-four of these patients (group A) received penicillin alone in amounts ranging from 2.0 to 10.0 million units in divided doses; the remaining 17 patients (group B) received from 2.0 to 4.28 million units of penicillin in divided doses concurrently with induced tertian malaria. An effort will be made to compare the results of treatment with penicillin alone with those of penicillin plus malarial therapy. The results which are presented in this paper must be interpreted not only