Problems in Riboflavin and Allied Deficiencies--II

Neurological disorders in the Zulu

“…19 Ocular manifestations were unusual. The signs of malnutrition were usually dyssebacia around the nose, cheeks, and lips; cheilosis; angular stomatitis; and glossitis.…”

The Visual Field Defects in Subacute Combined Degeneration of the Spinal Cord

“…The idea has indeed long been current that a vascular factor might explain the characteristic distribution of the lesions of subacute combined degeneration within the nervous system (Russell, Batten, and Collier, 1900;Wilson, 1940;Biggart, 1949) but a satisfactory precise formulation has never been achieved. Stannus (1944) claimed that in ariboflavinosis the lesions were situated in those parts of the nervous system with the richest capillary blood supply, and advanced the concept of a " capillary dysergia " manifesting itself by dilatation ofvessels and retardation offlow, causing interference with normal cellular metabolism and derangement of tissue function. The tentative description given by Evans (1940) of dilatation of the paramacular vessels is reminiscent of this hypothesis, but the two theories differ fundamentally: with Stannus (1944) the vessels dilate because of intrinsic capillary damage of nutritional origin, whereas with Evans (1940) they dilate in response to some change in the tissues they supply.…”

“…Stannus (1944) claimed that in ariboflavinosis the lesions were situated in those parts of the nervous system with the richest capillary blood supply, and advanced the concept of a " capillary dysergia " manifesting itself by dilatation ofvessels and retardation offlow, causing interference with normal cellular metabolism and derangement of tissue function. The tentative description given by Evans (1940) of dilatation of the paramacular vessels is reminiscent of this hypothesis, but the two theories differ fundamentally: with Stannus (1944) the vessels dilate because of intrinsic capillary damage of nutritional origin, whereas with Evans (1940) they dilate in response to some change in the tissues they supply. Moreover, the concepts of Stannus (1944), whatever their relevance to ariboflavinosis, cannot well explain the distribution of lesions in subacute combined degeneration, in which areas of low vascularity like the posterior columns (Stannus, 1944) are commonly involved.…”

“…The tentative description given by Evans (1940) of dilatation of the paramacular vessels is reminiscent of this hypothesis, but the two theories differ fundamentally: with Stannus (1944) the vessels dilate because of intrinsic capillary damage of nutritional origin, whereas with Evans (1940) they dilate in response to some change in the tissues they supply. Moreover, the concepts of Stannus (1944), whatever their relevance to ariboflavinosis, cannot well explain the distribution of lesions in subacute combined degeneration, in which areas of low vascularity like the posterior columns (Stannus, 1944) are commonly involved. Neither is the problem clarified by direct comparison of the visual field changes in subacute combined degeneration with those in other forms of nutritional neuropathy.…”

European Conference of the Nutrition Society

“…at which most of the food was tinned, and fresh fruit and vegetables were VOL. 5 , 19471 Saturation tests were devised by Wang and Yudkin (1940) and Stannus (1944) reviewed the effects of deficiency of riboflavin.…”