This case is so unusual, both as to the etiology and the failure to recognize the condition for a long period, that it is well worth reporting.
REPORT OF CASE
A private, white, aged 22, a farmer before entering the Army, with negative family and past history, was admitted to one of the base hospitals, Dec. 19, 1917, suffering from measles and acute follicular tonsillitis. Tonsillectomy was performed, Jan. 16, 1918; the night of the operation the patient's neck suddenly became stiff, and had remained that way ever since.He arrived at General Hospital No. 6, in July, 1918, and the following brief history accompanied him: "1. Complaint: Pain in neck, stiffness of cervical muscles which permits of very little motion of the head, except anterior-posteriorly, which motion is limited. 2. Search for focal infection: (a) Tonsils (fragments); (b) roentgen ray, ostearthritis, first and second cervical vertebrae; (c) teeth, abscess