23,6 Rodriguez and Eubanas: Leprosy with Antimony 591 



remarkable results, having observed rapid relief of paralyses, 

 drying up of ulcers, and improvement of the general condition. 



Thirty patients in the General Hospital of Culion Leper 

 Colony were given tartar emetic intravenously, twelve received 

 antimony wine in cough mixture, and ten antimony wine un- 

 diluted. Treatment was given for six months. Twelve other 

 patients received a modified Castellani mixture for three months 

 only. 



These patients were mostly males, the majority more than 

 30 years of age, and the average duration of the disease was 

 about eleven years. 



By the intravenous method, using a fresh 1 per cent solution 

 of tartar emetic in water, we were able to give only an average 

 dose of 0.0015 gram of tartar emetic per week. Administered 

 orally in the form of vinum antimonii, the highest dose that 

 could be given was 0.252 gram per week. In the Castellani 

 mixture 0.2275 gram weekly was given. 



No improvement of the leprosy itself was noticed in any 

 of the groups. On the whole, the general condition ,was un- 

 favorably affected. Six of those in the intravenous group and 

 one of those taking the Castellani mixture died during the 

 period of observation. In about 25 per cent of the survivors 

 in the intravenous group and 42 per cent in the Castellani 

 group the ulcers were improved. This improvement was noticed 

 mostly in ulcers of nodules of short duration. 



The outstanding side effects noticed were, in those receiving 

 tartar emetic intravenously, injury to the kidneys ; and, in the 

 Castellani group, simple fever and the reaction often spoken 

 of as "lepra fever." 



A case of extensive ulceration, probably tertiary yaws, in- 

 jected for about two months, showed marked improvement and 

 none of the ill effect on the kidney that was so noticeable in 

 the lepers. 



The most striking observation in this work is the low toler- 

 ance of our patients to tartar emetic introduced intravenously. 

 If we compare the small dose that we were able to give with 

 the massive doses that can be given with impunity in the 

 treatment of other affections, it becomes evident how greatly 

 below par are the kidneys of advanced cases of leprosy that 

 we treated. This is not surprising if we consider the strain 

 on the kidneys in these advanced cases. To whatever direct 

 injurious action may result from the disease itself, with its 

 long years of slow progress and its occasional more or less 



