TABES DORSALIS

The slowly progressive degeneration of the spinal cord that occurs in the late (tertiary) phase of syphilis a decade or more after contracting the infection. Among the terrible features are lancinating lightning pain, ataxia (wobbliness), deterioration of the nerve to the eye (the optic nerve) leading to blindness, urinary incontinence, loss of the sense of position, and degeneration of the joints (Charcot’s joints). Tabes is the Latin word for decay. The term tabes dorsalis was devised in 1836 when the cause of the condition was thought to be wastage of the dorsal (posterior) columns of the spinal cord, well before it was recognized as part of late syphilis.