Pick's Disease

In 1892 Arnold Pick1published his first observation on atrophy of the brain with focal lesions, which he interpreted as atypical senile dementia. In analyzing the syndrome he was mainly concerned in correlating the clinical picture with the localization of the lesions. The great significance of Pick's contribution was not recognized until later studies proved that the symptom complex originally outlined was in reality a disease entity. The disease is rare, about fifty cases having been reported in the literature. In spite of recent studies clinical diagnosis remains difficult, but knowledge of the pathologic features has been considerably enlarged. Four new cases are reported here. REPORT OF CASESCase 1. —Enda N., aged 47, married, the mother of six children, was admitted to the hospital on May 13, 1931. There were no known hereditary trends. She had had a colloid goiter and "choking spells" for the past several years.