THE BULBAR FORM OF POLIOMYELITIS

Abstract

Despite the fact that most of the deaths from acute poliomyelitis are commonly conceded to result from involvement of the medulla oblongata and immediately contiguous brain centers, comparatively little special attention has been given to this form of the disease by either clinical or laboratory investigators. This obvious neglect of one of the most important aspects of the problem of poliomyelitis can be attributed, in part at least, to two erroneous assumptions. The first of these is that the incidence of the bulbar form of poliomyelitis is low, the 6 per cent figure of Wickman¹still being relied on by many authorities as a basis of estimation. The second is that there is little to offer the victims of this form of the disease in the way of therapy. It is not unusual, for instance, to hear the glib statement that patients with bulbar involvement are divisible into but