History
In the early 20th century, William John Adie described a second type of pupil that could “accommodate but not react.” Adie’s tonic pupil is usually associated with a benign peripheral neuropathy (Adie syndrome), not with syphilis.
When penicillin became widely available in the 1940s, the prevalence of AR pupils (which develop only after decades of untreated infection) decreased dramatically. AR pupils are now quite rare. A patient whose pupil “accommodates but does not react” almost always has a tonic pupil, not an AR pupil.
In the 1950s, Loewenfeld distinguished between the two types of pupils by carefully observing the exact way in which the pupils constrict with near vision. The near response in AR pupils is brisk and immediate. The near response in tonic pupils is slow and prolonged.
Read more about this topic: Argyll Robertson Pupil
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of the world is the record of the weakness, frailty and death of public opinion.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“The disadvantage of men not knowing the past is that they do not know the present. History is a hill or high point of vantage, from which alone men see the town in which they live or the age in which they are living.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)
“It’s nice to be a part of history but people should get it right. I may not be perfect, but I’m bloody close.”
—John Lydon (formerly Johnny Rotten)