Louis Elan D
G.H. Sergievsky Center and Department of Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
Mov Disord. 2007 Jul 15;22(9):1217-22. doi: 10.1002/mds.21526.
Silas Weir Mitchell (1829-1914) is recognized as an important American neurologist. Biographers refer in brief to a tremor. The objective of this review was to characterize Mitchell's tremor using handwriting samples, to examine handwriting samples of family members to determine whether this tremor was familial, and study Mitchell's allusions to tremor in personal, scientific, and fictional writings. Primary sources were the Papers of S. Weir Mitchell, College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and Mitchell's scientific and fictional writings. Mitchell's early handwriting was tremor-free yet, by 1873, the writing was tremulous. Handwriting in the 1880s and 1890s shows clear oscillations of moderate-amplitude. By the first decade of the 20th century, his handwriting was virtually illegible. Letters written by two siblings, his mother, and maternal grandfather also reveal tremor. Tremor was not prominent in Mitchell's personal or scientific writings and Mitchell referred to tremor in only 4 of 27 fictional writings. In conclusion, Mitchell had a familial action tremor that began when he was in his early 40's and worsened considerably with age. The likely diagnosis was essential tremor. Curiously, Mitchell rarely alluded to tremor in personal writings and tremor was not prominently featured in his scientific or fictional works.
西拉斯·韦尔·米切尔（1829 - 1914）被公认为美国一位重要的神经学家。传记作者简要提及了他的震颤症状。本综述的目的是利用笔迹样本对米切尔的震颤进行特征描述，检查其家庭成员的笔迹样本以确定这种震颤是否具有家族性，并研究米切尔在个人、科学及虚构作品中对震颤的提及。主要资料来源是费城医师学院的西拉斯·韦尔·米切尔文件以及米切尔的科学和虚构作品。米切尔早期的笔迹没有震颤，但到1873年，笔迹开始出现颤抖。19世纪80年代和90年代的笔迹显示出明显的中等幅度振荡。到20世纪的第一个十年，他的笔迹几乎难以辨认。他的两个兄弟姐妹、母亲和外祖父所写的信件也显示出震颤。震颤在米切尔的个人或科学作品中并不突出，在他27部虚构作品中，只有4部提到了震颤。总之，米切尔患有家族性动作性震颤，始于他40岁出头，且随着年龄增长而显著恶化。可能的诊断是特发性震颤。奇怪的是，米切尔在个人作品中很少提及震颤，并且震颤在他的科学或虚构作品中也未得到突出体现。
