ACETARSONE IN THE TREATMENT OF OSSEOUS LESIONS OF EARLY CONGENITAL SYPHILIS

Since 1921 there has been much reference in the literature to the treatment of congenital syphilis by the oral administration of arsenic preparations. Fourneau¹ and Levaditi and his colleagues² were the first to make practical use of the drug discovered by Ehrlich in 1908, and designated by him 594. This corresponds to preparation 190 of Fourneau. Chemically it is the acetyl derivative of 3-amino-4-oxyphenylarsonic acid. Recently the drug has been officially accepted in the United States under the name of acetarsone.³ In reviewing the literature one is struck by the unanimity of opinion regarding the efficacy of this preparation when given by mouth in the treatment of infantile syphilis. Oppenheim,⁴ Tuscherer,⁵ Soldin and Lesser,⁶ Dupérié, Cadenaule and Clarac,⁷ Bratusch-Marrain,⁸ Nedelman,⁹ Rosenbaum¹⁰ and Maxwell and Glaser¹¹ are among those who have added indisputable evidence of the value of this drug