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Tabes dorsalis

Etymology:

L. tābes: "the act of wasting away, to melt" (referring to a kind of slow bodily wasting or emaciating disease, often accompanying a chronic disease) + L. dorsum: “the back”

Definition:

A degeneration (that is, a slow wasting) of the sensory neurons of the dorsal column (located posteriorly, or toward the back) spinal cord carrying afferent information, as caused by neurosyphilis

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