Santiesteban-Freixas R, Pamias-González E, Luis-González S, Serrano-Verdecia C, González-Quevedo A, Alfaro-Capdegelle I, Francisco-Plasencia M, Suárez-Hernández J
Departamento de Neuroftalmología del Instituto de Neurología y Neurocirugía, La Habana, Cuba.
Rev Neurol. 1997 Dec;25(148):1950-6.
Strachan's disease is a condition which mainly affects the nervous system. It is characterized by optic, auditory and peripheral neuropathies and lesions of the skin and mucous membranes. In 1955 Miller Fisher gave it this name, since the clinical condition described by Henry Strachan in Jamaica during the nineteenth century was similar to that seen in Canadian prisoners-of-war in Japanese concentration camps during the Second World War.
Since there are similarities between these clinical disorders and the major neuropathic epidemic seen recently in Cuba, we have reviewed and compared the endemic and epidemic conditions of similar characteristics seen in Cuba during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We also make a detailed review of a similar condition described in 1898-1900 by Doctors Madan, López and Santos Fernández, during the last Cuban War of Independence. This seems to be one of the earliest descriptions of the disorder. We also consider the so-called Strachan's syndrome or disease, and descriptions from the same period of tobacco-alcohol amblyopia and beriberi. These conditions seem to have been very similar to the so-called optical and peripheral forms of the current Cuban epidemic. It is concluded that the clinical characteristics of the recent Cuban neuropathic epidemic, at least in the optical form, were seen to be endemic during the nineteenth century. In many cases this was considered to be alcoholic amblyopia or some other obscure neuropathy which became epidemic during periods of severe economic depression.
Madan gave a full description of the disorder at the same time as Strachan did. In 1898 he also suggested its true cause and died trying to relieve it. We therefore consider that Strachan's syndrome should be renamed the Strachan-Madan syndrome.
斯特罗恩病是一种主要影响神经系统的疾病。其特征为视神经、听神经及周围神经病变以及皮肤和黏膜病变。1955年米勒·费希尔赋予其这个名称，因为19世纪亨利·斯特罗恩在牙买加描述的临床病症与二战期间在日本集中营的加拿大战俘身上所见病症相似。
由于这些临床病症与近期古巴出现的主要神经病变流行情况存在相似之处，我们回顾并比较了19世纪和20世纪古巴出现的具有相似特征的地方病和流行病情况。我们还详细回顾了1898 - 1900年古巴最后一次独立战争期间马丹、洛佩斯和桑托斯·费尔南德斯医生所描述的一种类似病症。这似乎是对该病症最早的描述之一。我们还考虑了所谓的斯特罗恩综合征或疾病，以及同一时期关于烟草 - 酒精性弱视和脚气病的描述。这些病症似乎与当前古巴流行病的所谓视神经和周围神经形式非常相似。得出的结论是，近期古巴神经病变流行的临床特征，至少在视神经形式方面，在19世纪就已呈地方病状态。在许多情况下，这被认为是酒精性弱视或其他一些不明原因的神经病变，在严重经济萧条时期成为流行病。
马丹与斯特罗恩同时对该病症进行了全面描述。1898年他还提出了其真正病因，并在试图缓解病情时去世。因此我们认为斯特罗恩综合征应更名为斯特罗恩 - 马丹综合征。
