What Is Locked In Syndrome?
2. Alexandre Dumas
It was the well-known French author, Alexandre Dumas, that gave one of the first descriptions of locked-in syndrome. The description is found in The Count of Monte Cristo, which he completed in 1844. He was describing the character Monsieur Noitier de Villefort and, because of its appearance in the book, the condition used to be known as Monte Cristo syndrome.
Dumas described how the patient was unable to move but that the patients mind was still occupied despite them being otherwise motionless. His description highlighted how the patient could still have a life with meaning despite their inability to move a muscle.
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