The Management of the Quinizarin

The investigation of sweating represents a special and relatively new approach to clinical and physiological research on cutaneous fupction.The recent war has afforded great opportunities for investigating the phenomena resulting from injuries of the nervous system affecting the sweat mechanisms, and the Quinizarin method (L. Guttmann, 1937, '38, '40, '4I, '46; Highet, I942; Lewin, 1943; Seddon, 1942) has proved a reliable and the most simple method of studying these phenomena in detail. Disturbances of the central and peripheral sudomotor pathwavs can be accurately revealed and the purely physiologial activity of sweat glands estimated. The Quinizarin Sweat Test (Q.S.T.) is objective and, unlike sensory tests, does not depend upon statements made by the patient. In fact, in certain types of peripheral nerve lesions, such as incomplete or dissociated lesions, and for the localization of plexus lesions and the differentiation between pure cauda equina lesions and those complicated by superimposed damage to peripheral nerves or sympathetic column, the Q.S.T. has yielded information allowing accurate diagnosis, which could not be obtained by mere consideration of the disturbances of the motor and sensory functions alone. Moreover, the success of operations involving the removal of portions of the sympathetic nervous system can be determined accurately by this method. The more widespread the use of the Q.S.T. as a supplement to other diagnostic methods and, in particular, for clinical and physiological research, the more essential it is to employ an adequate and standardized technique to guarantee optimum conditions for accurate results. The purpose of this paper is to present a full description of the author's technique in the management of the Q.S.T., as developed during the last ten years. The Quinizarin Compound