Argyll Robertson, Douglas

Scottish ophthalmologist Douglas Argyll Robertson (1837–1909) became well known because of his description of the pupillary disorder in which small and irregular pupils do not constrict to light, but do so in convergence, i.e., so-called light-near dissociation. He observed it in tabes dorsalis. At the time, the syphilitic origin of tabes dorsalis had not been proven, although Jean Alfred Fournier and Wilhelm Erb would soon suggest the relationship on epidemiological grounds. Today, Argyll Robertson pupils are rarely seen in cases of dementia paralytica, also a neurosyphilitic disorder. Tabes dorsalis is now rarely seen.