Nerve Degeneration in Poliomyelitis

The special predilection of the virus of poliomyelitis for the large anterior horn cells of the spinal cord is a well established and generally accepted feature of this disease. The cytopathologic changes occurring in these cells have been reviewed frequently. In the earlier papers of this series by O'Leary, Heinbecker and Bishop,1the changes in nerve fibers resulting from the action of the poliomyelitis virus have been described from both the histologic and the physiologic point of view. The lesions in the muscles have frequently been investigated, and the results have been reviewed by Kopits.2The status of the motor nerve endings received passing comment by him to the effect that in the specimens of paralyzed muscles studied no endings were demonstrable. Whether or not such findings imply their absence or a failure of the staining technic to reveal them, Kopits was unable to determine. It was the