CAT-SCRATCH DISEASE AND PARINAUD'S OCULOGLANDULAR SYNDROME

Abstract

THE ETIOLOGY of Parinaud's oculoglandular syndrome has always been an enigma. In some cases the syndrome has been associated with tularemia; in many with leptothricosis, and in a few, with syphilis, tuberculosis, or sporotrichosis. In a large number of cases, however, a thorough search for an inciting factor has been of no avail, and the origin of the disease is surrounded with much uncertainty. Numerous reports concerning cat-scratch disease have appeared in the recent medical literature. In many instances Parinaud's oculoglandular syndrome is probably a form of the same disease entity in which the etiologic agent has gained entrance into the conjunctiva rather than into the skin. In 1889 Parinaud¹ described cases of oculoglandular fever starting as conjunctivitis with granulations, associated with enlargement of regional lymph nodes and a moderate fever, which persisted for weeks. He believed that this disease was contracted from animals. Gifford,² in 1898, gave