A TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
VOL. I
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2010 with funding from
Open Knowledge Commons-
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A TEXT- BOOK OF
MEDICINE
BY
G. DIEULAFOY
PROFESSOB OF CLINIC.UL MEDICINE AT THE FACULTE DE MEDECINE DE PABIS ; PHYSICIAN
TO THE HOTEL DIEU ; MF.MBRE DE l'aCADEMIE DE MEDECINE
AUTHORIZED ENGLISH TRANSLATION FROM THE
FIFTEENTH EDITION OF "MANUEL DE
PATHOLOGIE INTERNE"
BY
V. E. COLLINS, M.D. Lond., M.R.C.S., L.R.G.P.
AM)
J. A. LIEBMANN, PhD, M.A., LL.D.
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I
NEW YORK
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
1911
\ I- IIS" 7/ ^
LT^
s>l
AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION.
Having been asked for a preface to tlie English translation of my " Text-
Book of Medicine," my first desire is to express tlie great satisfaction I
feel at seeing my work translated into English, for that language is so
widespread over both hemispheres that no other translation which has
yet been made would have contributed to the same extent to the recognition
abroad of this work of French origin.
I must add that in writing my " Text-Book of Medicine," which has now
reached its fifteenth edition, I have given much space to the works of my
eminent English colleagues, since a number of them are of the very first
importance. Thus will be found the illustrious names of Sydenham, Graves,
Basedow, Corrigan, Addison, Bright, Stokes, Paget, etc., whose scientific
researches are known and appreciated by everyone.
Long ago my venerated master, the great Trousseau, popularized in his
"Clinical Lectures" the valuable discoveries of English practitioners, and
gave the names of their authors to the newly diagnosed diseases. I have
followed the example of Trousseau, and have often dipped into English
medical literature, so rich in precious documents. I shall lie satisfied if
the medical profession in England will on their side give a good reception
to the work which I am now presenting to them.
G. DIKULAFOY.
Paris,
April 17, 1910.
TRANSLATORS' PREFACE
The " Manuel de Pathologie Interne," by Professor Dieulafoy, has passed
through fifteen editions in France, and has been also translated into several
European languages. The translators of the English edition have undertaken
the work in the hope that English-speaking physicians may be afforded an
opportunity of reading one of the most complete and helpful works on the
practice of medicine that has appeared within recent times. The author's
association with the late Professor Trousseau, combined with his own pro-
found clinical knowledge, certainly makes his manual a safe guide to the
practice of medicine. The author has throughout confined himself to
established facts, avoiding useless discussions and sterile hypotheses. We
have to thank Dr. A. N. Sinclair, for much kindly help in reading the proof-
sheets.
V. E COLLINS.
J. A. LIEBMANN.
April, 19J0.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I
u/
PART I
DISEASES OP THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
CHAPTER PAGE
I. DISEASES OF THE NASAL FOSS^ --.... 1
I. CORYZA ........ 1
n. NASAL DIPHTHERIA -.-.... 4
in. NASAL SYPHILIS — SYPHILITIC RHINITIS .... 5
n. DISEASES OF THE LARYNX - - - - - - 23
I. GENERAL SURVEY OP THE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE
LARYNX ------- 23
II. ACUTE CATARRHAL LuVRYNGITIS - - - - - 27
III. CHRONIC LARYNGITIS -••--- 29
IV. SYPHILIS OF THE LARYNX (SECONDAl^ LARYNGOPATHIES — TERTIARY
LARYNGOPATHIES) - - - - - - 31
V. TUBERCULOSIS OF THE L.4RYNX — LARYNGEAL PHTHISIS - - 40
VI, LARYNGEAL DIPHTHERIA — CROUP - - - - - 47
VII. STRIDULOUS LARYNGITIS — FALSE CROUP - - - -56
VUI. (EDEMA OF THE LARYNX — (EDEMA IN BRIGHT's DISEASE - - 57
IX. SPASM OF THE GLOTTIS ------ C9
X. PARALYSIS OF THE MUSCLES OF THE LARYNX - - - 71
in. DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI --.-..- 76
-'l. ACUTE BRONCHITIS ----..- 76
_n. CAPILLARY BRONCHITIS — BRONCHO-PNEUMONIA — LOBULAR PNEU-
MONIA .-..-.-- 79
-III. CHRONIC BRONCHITIS ...... 91
-IV. DILATATION OF THE BRONCHI — BROXCHIECTTASIS - - - 94
-V. PSEUDO-MEMBRANOUS BRONCHITIS - - - . - KX)
VL TRA(rHEO-BRONCHIAL SYPHILIS ..... 102
VII. WHOOPING-COUGH ....... 104
VIII. ASTHMA ........ 109
IX. SUMMER ASTHMA — HAY-FEVER - - - - - 115
IV. DISEASES OF THE LUNG - - - - - - - 117
I. GENERAL SURVEY OF THE ANATOMY OF THE LUNG - - 117
— n. PULMONARY CONGESTION - - - - - - 118
Iir. INFLAMMATION OF THE CHEST - - - - - 119
IV. ACUTE LOBAR OR FIBRINOUS PNEUMONIA — PNEUMOCOCCIO INFEC-
TION — PNEUMOCOCCIA - - - - - - 121
-V. CHRONIC PNEUMONIA — FIBROSIS OF THK LUNG - - - 139
-VL OCCUPATION PNEUMONIA — PNEUMOKONIOSI3 - - - 142
-VII. THROMBOSIS AND EMBOLISM OF THE PULMONARY ARTERY - 144
-VIU. GANGRENE OF THE LUNG — GANGRENE OF E.MBOLIO ORIGIN —
GANGRENE OF AEKIAL OltlGIN .... - 149
ix
CONTENTS OF VOL. I
CHAPTER PAGE
IV. DISEASES OF THE LUNG — Continued :
IX. BRONCHO-PULMONARY HEMORRHAGE — HEMOPTYSIS - . 154
X. PULMONARY EMPHYSEMA ---... I59
XL CEDEMA OF THE LUNG — SUPERACUTE CEDEMA IN BRIQHT's DISEASE 161
XII. ON TUBERCULOSIS IN GENERAL — BACILLUS TOXINES - . 169
XIIL PULMONARY PHTHISIS — COMMON CHRONIC TUBERCULOSIS - - 176
Xn^ FIBROID PHTHISIS ---.-.. 195
XV. PNEUMONIC PHTHISIS — TUBERCULAR PNEUMONIA — CASEOUS PNEU-
MONIA -------- 198
XVI. ACUTE GRANULAR TUBERCULOSIS — ACUTE GENERALIZED TUBER-
CULIZATION ....... 203
XVII. FALSE TUBERCULOSIS OF THE LUNG - - - - 207
■ XVni. CANCER OF THE LUNG --.... 213
XrX. BRONCHO-PULMONARY HTHIASIS - . . . . 216
XX. HYDATID CYSTS OF THE LUNG AND OF THE PLEURA - - 219
XXI. SYPHILIS OF THE LUNG - - - - • - 231
V. DISEASES OF THE PLEURA ---.... 248
I. ACUTE SERO-FIBRINOUS PLEURISY — TUBERCULAR SERO-FIBRINOUS
PLEURISY ..---.. 248
II. HOW TO TELL IF AN ACUTE SERO-FIB«INOUS PLEURISY IS OR IS NOT
TUBERCULAR — CYTO-DIAGNOSIS — SERO-DIAGNOSIS " • 268
III. HEMORRHAGIC PLEURISY ...... 284
rv. TRAUMATIC HEMOTHORAX ---... 295
V. PURULENT PLEURISIES OF THE GENERAL PLEURAL CAVITY • 305
VI. ASEPTIC PURIFORM EFFUSIONS IIs'TO THE PLEURA — INTEGRITY OP
THE POLYNUCLEAR CELLS ..... 314
VII. PULSATING EMPYEMA - - - - - - 317
VIII. INTERLOBAR PLEURISY — VOMICE — INTERLOBAR HEMOPTYSIS - 325
IX. MEDIASTINAL PLEURISY — MEDIASTINAL SYNDROME - ■ 337
X. DIAPHRAGMATIC PLEURISY ---... 343
XL LOCULATED, AREOLAR, OR POLYMORPHOUS PLEURISY - 344
XII. SYPHILITIC PLEURISIES ...... 346
XIIL APPENDICULAR PLEURISIES — PYOPNEUMOTHORAX AND SUBPHRENIC
EMPYEMA -.-.... 348
XrV. FCETID, PUTRID, AND GANGRENOUS PLEURISY - - - 357
XV. VOMICE -.-.-..- 367
XVI. CHYLIFORM AND CHYLOUS EFFUSIONS OF THE PLEURA . - 369
XVn. HYDROTHORAX ....... 372
XVIII. PNEUMOTHORAX — HYDROPNEUMOTHORAX .... 373
VI. DISEASES OP THE MEDIASTINUM ...... 377
I. TUMOURS OF THE MEDIASTINUM ..... 377
11. CANCER OF THE THORACIC DUCT ..... 382
PAET II
DISEASES OF THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
DISEASES OP THE PERICARDIUM . . . -
I. ACUTE PERICARDITIS ....
n. CHRONIC PERICARDITIS — ADHERENT PERICARDIUM -
III. HYDROPERICARDIUM — HYDROPNEUMOPERICARDIUM
385
385
391
392
CONTENTS OF VOL. I
XI
CHAPTER PAOK
II. DISEASES OF THE ENDOCAKDITM --.... 393
I. ACUTE ENDOCARDITIS ...... 393
n. CHRONIC ENDOCARDITIS ...... 404
in. VAL\njLAR LESIONS OF THE HEART .... 40.5
IV. MITRAL ORIFICE — INSUFFICIENCY AND STENOSIS . • - 410
V. AORTIC ORIFICE — INSUFFICIENCY AND STENOSIS - • • 425
VI. THE TRICUSPID ORIFICE — INSUFFICIENCY AND STENOSIS . . 427
VII. PULMONARY ARTERY — INSUFFICIENCY AND STENOSIS . . 429
VIII. MORBUS C.ERULEUS — CYANOSIS ..... 430
III. DISEASES OF THE MYOCARDIUM ...... 433
I. ACUTE MYOCARDITIS —FATTY DEGENERATION OF THE HEART • 433
II. FIBROSIS OF THE HEART --..-. 436
III. ANEURYSMS OF THE HEART — INFARCTS AND FIBROUS PATCHES, ETC.
— RUPTURE OF THE HEART ..... 438
IV. SYPHILIS OF THE HEART ...... 441
V. TUMOURS OF THE HEART AND TUBERCULOSIS OF THE MYOCARDIUM 442
VI. HYPERTROPHY AND DILATATION OF THE HEART . - - 442
Vn. ASYSTOLE -...-... 446
nr. NEUROSES OP THE HEART ....... 447
I. PALPITATION ....... 447
n. PAROXYSMAL TACHYCARDIA ..... 449
III. PERMANENT BRADYCARDIA ---... 450
rV'. EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE — BASEDOW'S DISEASE - . - 453
V. DISEASES OF THE VESSELS - " - . - - . . 470
I. PHXEBITIS — PHLEGMASIA ALBA DOLENS .... 470
II. SYPHILITIC PHLEBITIS ...... 47n
in. ARTERITIS — ATHEROMA — ARTERIO-SCLEROSIS - • - 478
IV. SYPHILITIC ARTERITIS — ARTERITIS OBLITERANS — SYPHILITIC GAN-
GRENE — ARTERITIS ECTASIANS — SYPHILITIC ANEURYSM - 486
V. ACUTE AND CHRONIC AORTITIS ..... 488
VI. ANEURYSMS OF THE THORACIC AORTA . • . - 491
VII. SYPHILIS OF THE AORTA — SYPHILITIC AORTIC ANEURYSMS - 502
VIIL DIAGNOSIS BETWEEN ANEURYSM AND NERVOUS PULSATION OF THE
ABDOMINAL AORTA ...... 518
IX. CARDIO-AORTIC LESIONS VS TABES — TABETIC ANGINA PECTORIS - 519
X. ANGINA PECTORIS ....... 525
XI. ARTERIAL TENSION — HYPERTENSION — HYPOTENSION • - 530
PART III
\/^DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
L DISEASES OF THE MOUTH
I. ERYTHEMATOUS STOMATITIS
11. MERCURIAL STOMATITIS
lU. ULCERO-MEMBRANOUS STO.AUTITIS
IV. THRUSH ...
V. APHTHA
VI. GANGRENE OP THE MOUTH — NOMA
VII. SYPHILIS OF THE LIPS
534
53 t
535
.537
539
543
.541
545
xii CONTENTS OF VOL. I
CHAPTER PAQX
I. DISEASES OF THE MOUTH — Continued :
VIII. SYPHILIS OP THE TONGUE -..--- 546
IX. SYPHILITIC PERFORATION OF THE ROOF OF THE PALATE - • 551
X. TUBERCULOSIS OF THE MOUTH . . . - . 556
n. DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARYNX ----- 559
I. ACUTE CATARRHAL ANGINA — ACUTE ERYTHEMATOUS ANGINA - 559
n. ACUTE TONSILLITIS — SIMPLE TONSILLITIS — SUPPURATIVE TONSIL-
LITIS — ULCERO-MEMBRANOUS TONSILLITIS — VINCENT'S ANGINA 560
in. RETROPHARYNGEAL ABSCESS ..... 566
IV. CHRONIC ANGINAL CATARRH — GRANULAR ANGINA — CHRONIC TONSIL-
LITIS ..-.---- 567
V. DIPHTHERIA - - - - - - - 569
VI. DIPHTHERITIC ANGINA ..---- 574
VII. PSEUDO-DIPHTHERITIC MEMBRANOUS ANGINA - . - 602
VIII. DIPHTHERITIC PARALYSIS - - - - ' - - 607
IX. HERPETIC ANGINA -.--.-- 612
X. GANGRENOUS ANGINA - - - - - -61.3
XI. CHANCRE OP THE TONSIL - - - - - - 614
Xn. SYPHILIS OP THE SOFT PALATE, THROAT, AND PHARYNX - - 020
XIII. TUBERCULOSIS OP THE BACK OP THE MOUTH AND OP THE PHARYNX 625
XrV. MASKED TUBERCULOSIS OF THE THREE TONSILS - - - 628
III. DISEASES OP THE CESOPHAGUS ..--.- 636
I. OESOPHAGITIS ....... 636
11. SPASM OP THE (ESOPHAGUS .... - 637
III. CANCER AND STRICTURES OF THE CESOPHAGUS ... 838
rV. DISEASES OF THE STOMACH ------- 644
I. GASTRIC DISTRESS — ACUTE CATARRHAL GASTRITIS -' - - 644
n. ACUTE GASTRITIS ------- 646
III. CHRONIC GASTRITIS ------- 647
IV. DYSPEPSIA -------- 649
V. GASTRALGIA -------- 654
VI. ULCERATION OP THE STOMACH — GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS - 656
VII. PNEUMOCOCCAL GASTRITIS WITH ULCERATION - - - 658
Vin. APPENDICULAR VOMITO NEGRO ----- 661
IX. EXULCERATIO SIMPLEX OP THE STOMACH - - - - 666
X. SIMPLE ULCER OP THE STOMACH (CRUVEILHIER's DISEASE) - 680
XI. PERFORATION OF SIMPLE ULCER OP THE STOMACH — SUPERACUTE
PERITONITIS - - - - - - - 691
XII. PERFORATING ULCERS OF THE STOMACH AND DUODENUM CON-
SECUTIVE TO APPENDICITIS - ... - 695
Xin. TRANSFORMATION OP SIMPLE ULCER OP THE STOMACH INTO CANCER 699
XrV. GASTRIC POLYADENOMA ------ 705
XV. CANCER OP THE STOMACH ------ 706
XVI. SYPHILIS OF THE STOMACH . . - - . 716
XVII. DILATATION OF THE STOMACH ... - - 720
XVIU. GASTRORRHAGIA — H^^MATEMESIS .... - 722
XIX. VISCERAL PTOSES ..----- 724
V. DISEASES OF THE INTESTINE -...-- 726
I. ACUTE ENTERITIS -.----- 726
II. INFANTILE GASTRO-ENTERITIS (INFANTILE CHOLERA) - - 728
CONTENTS OF VOL. I xiii
CHAPTER PAGE
V. DISEASES OF THE INTESTIJfE — Continued :
III. APPENDICITIS — APPENDICULAR PERITONITIS— APPENDICULAR IN-
TOXICATION — APPENDIC^MLA - - - . . 735
IV. MUCOUS, MEMBRANOUS, AND SABULOUS ENTERO-TYPHLOCOLITIS^
INTESTINAL LIATHISIS --.-.. 774
V. FALSE APPENDICITIS ---... 782
VI. INTESTINAL TUBERCULOSIS — TUBERCUL.\R ENTERITIS - - 788
VU. HYPERTROPHIC TUBERCULOJIA OF THE C^CUM — DIAGNOSIS OF THE
TUMOURS OF THE RIGHT ILIAC FOSSA - - . - 792
VIII. ANO-RECTAL TUBERCULOSIS - - - - - 806
IX. SIMPLE ULCER OF THE DUODENUM — PERFORATION — SUPERACUTE
PERITONITIS --..... 808
X. CANCER OF THE INTESTINE ..... 813
XL INTESTINAL OCCLUSION --.... 814
XII. CANCER OF VATER'S AMPULLA ..... 819
XIII. DYSENTERY ........ 821
XIV. INTESTINAL WORMS ..-..-- 828
VI. DISEASES OF THE PERITONEUM - .... 833
I. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF PERITONITIS - - - 833
n. ACUTE AND SUBACUTE TUBERCULAR PERITONITIS - - - 837
in. CHRONIC TUBERCULAR PERITONITIS - . . . 839
IV. PRIMARY PNEUMOCOCCAL PERITONITIS — ASSOCIATION OF THE COLI
BACILLUS ---.... 846
V. PRUIARY STREPTOCOCCAl. PERITONITIS .... 854
VI. CANCER OP THE PERITONEUM — CANCEROUS PERITONITIS - - 860
VU. HYDATID CYSTS OF THE PERITONEUTM .... 862
VIII. ASCITES ........ 864
IX. CHYLOUS, CHYLIFORM, LACTESCENT ASCITES ... Sfio
VII. DISEASES OF THE LIVER ....--. 870
X. ANATO>rY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE LIVES - - - 870
n. CONGESTION OF THE LIVER ..... 874
ni. PASSIVE CONGESTION — CARDIAC LIVER .... 875
rv. CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER IN GENERAL .... 878
V. VENOUS CIRRHOSIS — LAENNEC's ATROPHIC CIRRHOSIS — CIRRHOSIS
BY GASTRO-INTESTINAL AUTO-INTOXICATION - - - 881
VI. HYPERTROPHIC ALCOHOLIC CIRRHOSIS — ^REGENERATION OF THE
LIVER .-.-..-- 896
VII. CURABILITY OF CIRRHOTIC ASCITES AND CIRRHOSIS - - 899
VIII. HYPERTROPHIC CIRRHOSES . ..... 904
IX. PIGMENTARY UYPERTKOPHIC CIRRHOSIS — PIGMENTARY CACHEXIA 904
X. HYPERTROPHIC BILIARY CIRRHOSIS — HANOT's DISEASE - - 907
XI. MIXED CIRRHOSIS ....
XII. TUBERCULOSIS OF THE LIVER
XIII. CANCER OF THE LIVER AND BILE-DUCTS -
XIV. SYPHILIS .....
XV. HYDATID CY.STS OF THE LIVER
XVI. ALVEOLAR HYDATID CYST OF THE LIVER -
XVII. FATTY AND AMYLOID DEGENERATION OF THK LIVEK - - 949
XViri. ABSCESS OF THE LIVER ..---- 9.")!
XIX. APPENDICULAR LIVER ...-.- 9.").")
915
917
922
!»29
934
948
xiv CONTENTS OF VOL. I
CHAPTER PAGE
VII. DISEASES OF THE LiVEK — Continued :
XX. GALL-STONES - - - - - - - . 964
XXL PERMANENT OBLITERATION OF THE COMMON DUCT — DIAGNOSIS OF
THE CAUSE OF THE OBLITERATION - - - - 987
XXII. ANGIOCHOLITIS — CHOLECYSTITIS ----- 997
XXIII. ASSOCIATION OP APPENDICITIS AND CHOLECYSTITIS - - 999
XXIV. ABERRANT LOBE OF THE LIVER ----- 1004
XXV. ICTERUS — JAUNDICE — CHOL^MIA ----- 1004
XXVI. ICTERUS GRAVIS — ICTERUS AND THE PUERPERAL STATE - - 1011
XXVII. CATARRHAL ICTERUS — PROLONGED CATARRHAL ICTERUS - - 1021
VIII. DISEASES OF THE PANCREAS . - - - i - 1028
I. GENERAL SURVEY OP THE DISEASES OP THE PANCREAS - - 1028
IL CANCER OP THE PANCREAS ------ 1029
III. CYSTS OF THE PANCREAS --.--- 1029
IV. IL^MORRHAGE OF THE PANCREAS - ... - 1030
V. PANCREATITIS ---...- 1031
VI. PANCREATIC CALCULI ------ 1031
VII. RELATION BETWEEN PANCREATITIS AND GALL - STONES — PAN-
CREATICO-BILIARY SYNDROME — CYTOSTEATONECROSIS AND
PANCREATICO -PERITONEAL H-3EM0RRHAGE - - - 1032
TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
PART T
DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
CHAPTER I
DISEASES OF THE NASAL FOSSAE
T. CORYZA.
Coryza, or nasal catarrh, is the term applied to inflammation of the pituitary
mucosa.
I . Acute Coryza.
Description. — Acute coryza shows itself by frontal headache and a
feeling of obstruction and of tickling in the nasal fossae. At first sneezing
is frequently repeated, and brought on again by the slightest impression of
cold. The nasal mucosa, at first dry, soon secretes a clear and irritating liquid,
causing erythema of the parts over which it flows. The nose is shiny and
swollen ; the sen.ses of smell and of taste are blunted or abolished. The
patient constantly keeps his mouth open, whilst his breathing is diflicult and
noisy. Suction and deglutition are rendered difficult by the blocking of the
nasal passages. These troubles are insignificant in the adult, but become
serious in the infant, who cannot take the breast without suffocating.
The inflammation spreads in various directions : to the frontal sinuses
(sharp pains in the head) ; to the conjunctivae (injection of the eyes and
lachrymation) ; to the mucous membrane of the Eustachian tubes (auditory
troubles, buzzing noises).
General malaise and transient fever may also be present. By the
second or third day the cold is ripe : the nasal .secretion becomes thick and
greenish, crusts form, the patient's nose is blocked up, his voice has a nasal
twang, and her[)etic vesicles often appear round the nostrils or the lips.
Towards the end of the first week the coryza ceases. When the inHammation
reacht's the, laryn.x and the trachea, it produc^es laryngitis and tracheitis ;
in vulgar parlance, " the cold has settled on the chest,"
1
2 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
^Etiology — Diagnosis. — Cold and damp weather, the first sunshine of
spring, chills of every kind, but especially of the feet, are the common causes
of coryza. Influenza at its onset, measles during the period of invasion, and
the iodides, produce a nasal catarrh which differs in nature from true
coryza.
Some asthmatics are suddenly seized with violent and repeated fits of
sneezing. During the fit, which lasts from a few minutes to a quarter of an
hour, the eyes are injected and watery and the nose runs freely; but after
this fit, which precedes or replaces the attack of asthma, everything returns
to normal. True coryza differs as much from this manifestation of asthma
as it does from hay-fever, or spasmodic rliino-bronchitis. This malady,
wliich in England has been described under the name of hay-fever, and in
which there is a nervous element besides the catarrhal one, is often the ap-
panage of gouty or asthmatic patients, and usually appears at the beginning
of summer. It presents two chief forms, which may follow one another or
be present together — on the one hand, nasal catarrh, with abundant secre-
tion, uncontrollable sneezing, pricking sensations in the eyes, injection of the
conjunctivae, violent headache and insomnia ; on the other hand, dyspnoea,
resembling that of asthma and playing the chief part, while the nasal catarrh
may be of secondary moment. Hay-fever will be discussed in detail under
Diseases of the Bronchi,
We must not confuse coryza with the nasal forms of diphtheria, of blen-
norrhagia, and of glanders. When diphtheria attacks the nasal mucous
membrane, it produces an abmidant secretion, wliich is sometimes san-
guineous. On examining the nasal fossae, we can usually discern the diph-
theritic membrane, and bacteriological examination shows the presence of
Loffier's bacillus.
Glanders likewise produces a specific coryza : the nasal mucous mem-
brane is swollen, excoriated, and ulcerated ; nasal respiration is impossible,
and sanious, foetid liquid flows from the nostrils. This discharge, wliich
constitutes a sign of the liighest importance in animals, is much less profuse
in man, and its presence would not suffice to establish the diagnosis if the
cutaneous eruptions and the articular manifestations of glanders were
absent.
Treatment. — Inhalations of vapour of iodine and of ammonia have been
extolled. In infants at the breast care must be taken to cleanse the nasal
fossae of the secretions which hamper the movements of sucking and swal-
lowing.
Some rehef may be obtained from the following j)owder :
SaHcylate of bismuth . . . . . . . . . . oiv.
Powdered camphor . . . . . . . . . . 3i.ss.
Cocaine hydrochlorate . . . . . . . , . . gr. i.
DISEASES OF THE NASAL FOSS.E 3
The pricking sensations and the secretions are reHeved by the use of the
following ointment twice daily :
Menthol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . gr. ii.
Lanoline . , . . . . . . . . . . gr. xlv.
VaseUne (pure) . . . . . . . . . . . . 5ii.
2. Chronic Coryza.
Description. — This form may follow attacks of acute coryza, or may be
chronic from the outset.
The sneezing, the frontal headache, and the fever of acute coryza are
wanting, but there is no lack of other signs. The nose is stuffed up, so that
the patient can only breathe with liis mouth open, especially at night.
Respiration is embarrassed, noisy, and sometimes accompanied by a kind
of snoring sound ; the voice is nasal ; the senses of taste and of smell are
blunted ; the hearing is less acute, and buzzing in the ears is frec^uent. The
nasal secretion may be scant or abundant. In clironic dry rhinitis, wliich
is most conunon in adults, secretion is almost absent, and patients complain
of a distressing feeling of dryness. More commonly, especially in young
subjects, the nasal secretion is abundant, and the nasal nmcous membrane
is covered with crusts and dried mucus. Chronic coryza has a slow course
and an indefinite duration ; it is sometimes interrupted by acute attacks,
and at other times more or less lengtliy remissions give some respite to the
patient. We shall see later the frequency of ozaena in chronic coryza.
On rhinoscopic examination, the mucous membrane appears red and
hypertrophied, especially over the anterior part of the inferior turbinate
bone (hypertropliic rliinitis). When the coryza is of very long duration, the
nmcous membrane is indurated and fibrous, wliile the glandular elements
show a tendency to disappear.
Under the name of posterior coryza, Desnos has described a chronic
inflammation of the naso-pharyngeal cavity. This variety is cliiefly asso-
ciated with glandular angina ; the local lesions can only be discerned by
rhinoscopy, and its chief symptoms are snuffling and hawking.
In lymphatic cliildren a chronic herpetic coryza has been described.
The orifice of the nostrils and the septum are covered by crusts like those of
impetiginous eczema. After the crusts fall off, they leave bare slight ulcers,
which become covered with new crusts, and the duration of the illness is
indefinite.
TJie changes in the so-called scrofulous coryza of infants arc character-
ized by hypertrophy of the nasal mucous membrane which shows fungating
vegetations, by deep ulcers wliich may attack the bones, by deformity and
flattening of the nose. This old descri[)tion jnust be r(^vis«'(l, for niosi of these
lesions are due to tubercular disease, or to early or late hereditary syphilis.
1—2
4 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Diagnosis. — In the following chapters we shall give the diagnosis ot
chronic coryza from nasal syphihs and tuberculosis. It is enough for me
to mention here that chronic coryza has many symptoms in common with
adenoid growths of the naso-pharynx and with mucous polypi of the
nose. Rhinoscopic examination will remove all doubts.
Treatment. — The local treatment of chronic coryza consists in cleaning
the mucosa by means of appropriate douches ; cauterization, powders, and
snuffs are then employed. Lavage may be carried out by a siphon douche,
the nozzle of wliich fits the nostril tightly ; the fluid, introduced without
force, into one nostril, flows back through the opposite one without passing
into the pharynx. These douches consist of lukewarm saline solutions,
weak boric lotions, or solutions of chlorate of potash. The cures at Challes
and Mont-Dore are of much service. As a snufE, one of the following
preparations may be recommended :
1. Bismuth subnitrate ) -- t*"
Venetian talc J * ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '•->•"•
Precipitated chalk . . . . . . . . . . gr. v.
2 . Chlorate of potash . . . . . . . . . . gr. xlv.
Powdered sugar . . , . . . . . . . 5v.
Arsenical preparations, taken internally, are useful when the rhinitis is
associated with the gouty diathesis.
II. NASAL DIPHTHERIA.
Description. — Nasal diphtheria is nearly always associated with diph-
theria of the fauces, which it may precede or follow. It begins somewhat
like a simple coryza, with redness of the nostrils and nasal discharge. There
is but little sneezing. The nasal discharge is sanious, muco-purulent, or
sanguineous, and contains membranes. Epistaxis is common, and usually
precedes the formation of membranes. Repeated and profuse epistaxis
was thought by Trousseau to be of evil omen.
The patient's voice is nasal, and he can only breathe with his mouth open.
The submaxillary glands are swollen. On rhinoscopic examination, the
mucous membrane is swollen and coated with membrane, which is adherent,
and usually localized to the posterior half of the nasal fossae.
In some cases, especially in children with measles, the diphtheria may
reach the nasal duct, and spread to the eyelids and the eyes. This oculo-
palpebral variety shows itself by lachrymation, Avith redness and swelling
of the conjunctiva and of the eyelids. Sero-purulent secretion appears, the
eyelids and the ocular conjunctiva are covered with false membrane, and
in some cases perforation of the cornea and destruction of the eye result
when streptococcal infection is also present.
DISEASES OF THE NASAL FOSS^ 5
Nasal diphtheria, described by the term " fibrinous rhinitis," may be
of such duration as to be chronic.
The diagnosis of diphtheritic coryza is easy wlien the patient is already
suffering from pharyngeal or laryngeal diphtheria ; if coryza be the first
symptom hesitation is pardonable. The diagnosis is very difficult, especially
at the commencement, and I know only one way of settling the question
— viz., by culture and bacteriological examination of the membrane or of
the nasal mucus {vide Diphtheritic Angina).
The prognosis is not very grave if the disease remain limited to the nasal
fossae, and if the diphtheria bacillus be present alone without the strepto-
coccus. If both organisms are present, the membranes usually present a
different aspect, being diffluent and gangrenous, while the discharge is
profuse, persistent, and accompanied by epistaxis. Such a coryza usually
points to very severe diphtheria, and is one of the manifestations of Trous-
seau's malignant diphtheria. Loffler's bacillus finds so favourable a soil in
the nasal fossae that its localization in the nose appears to me to have great
weight in determining diphtheritic paralysis.
We often find virulent bacilli in the nasal cavities several weeks after tlie
cure of diphtheritic angina.
Diphtheritic coryza, like all thja varieties of diphtheria, should be treated
mth injections of serum. The earlier the injection, the better the chance
of success ; hence the importance of making a correct chagnosis from the
very first.
III. NASAL SYPHILIS— SYPHILITIC RHINITIS.
In this chapter I shall review (1) the primary lesion, the chancre; (2)
secondary troubles ; and (.'3) tertiary troubles.
1. Nasal Chancre.
Description. — The study of nasal chancres comprises chancre of the
skin of the nose and chancre of the nasal fossa\ Every sy{)hilitic chancre
is composed of a mass of embryonif cells, and i'onns a small tumour (primary
syphiloma), developed at the expense of the skin and of the subcutaneous
tissue. The appearance of the chancre differs, however, on the skin and on
the mucous membrane. On the skin it is covered by a crust, due to tiie
j)resence of the horny layer, which does not exist in the nuico.sa ; the lesions
of the mucous epithelium, soaked with fibrino-purulent licpiid, end, not in the
formation of a crust, but of a false membrane, which is flaccid, greyish, and
diphtheroid.
1. Let us first consider chancre of the skin. It is situated «tn the
bridge of the nose, on tin* nostrils, on the ti[) of the nose, or on the
6 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
nasolabial fold. On the bridge the chancre is flat ; elsewhere it is bulky,
prominent, and spread out, forming a hypertrophic papule (Fournier). It
runs the same course as all cutaneous chancres : at first it is a crack, or a
reddish erosive papule, then it grows larger, becomes prominent and en-
crusted, but always remains painless.
This encrusted or pustulo-crustaceous chancre has the appearance of
ordinary ecthyma. If the crust be raised, after having been first softened,
the chancre appears with all its characteristics — viz., flat or slightly convex
surface, erosive, but not ulcerated, smooth, reddish, often bleeding and
covered with papillae. Sometimes a scanty purulent secretion may be
noticed. The edges of the chancre are flat, not perpendicular ; strictly
speaking, there is no edge, because there is no ulceration. Its base is
indurated and parchment-like. Adenopathy is constant and may be uni-
lateral or bilateral ; the condition is somewhat indolent, and is confined to
the glands at the angle of the jaw, while one gland is often much larger than
the 'others.
After about two months the chancre heals without cicatrization ; the
induration and the adenopathy, however, persist for a long while.
The nasal chancre must not be confounded with a furuncle. From the
first the part on which a boil is about to develop is swollen, painful, red, and
shiny ; later it becomes purulent — characters which are quite different from
those presented by a chancre. Chancre will not be mistaken for epithelioma,
as the latter is a painful tumour, infinitely slower in its development,
ulceration is delayed, the base is not indurated, and enlarged glands do
not appear till much later. Epithelioma does not tend to spontaneous
cicatrization, as chancre does.
2. Let us now consider chancre of the nasal fossae. This chancre
always occurs on the anterior or posterior part of the nasal fossa. I merely
mention chancre of the posterior orifice of the nasal fossa from accidental
inoculation by an infected Eustachian catheter.
Chancre of the vestibule usually arises on the cartilaginous septum. It
develops as a greyish or reddish lump, wliich may be indurated or softened,
and has rouglily the appearance of a mushroom. This chancre, in its
hypertrophic form, partly fills the nostril and causes an ichorous or bloody
discharge. The nose is red and swollen ; though it is deformed externally,
no deviation of the septum is present. Eadiation of pain to the nose or the
face is common. Enlarged glands at the angle of the jaw are always found.
The chancre lasts from six weeks to two months, and then heals without
cicatrization.
The diagnosis between chancre and malignant tumour of the nasal
fossa (sarcoma) must be based upon the following considerations : The
evolution of sarcoma is much slower than that of chancre, nasal haemorrhage
DISEASES OF THE NASAL FOSS.E 7
may be frequent and profuse, ulceration appears late, pain is acute, en-
larged glands appear slowly ; lastly, sarcoma deforms the nasal fossaj and
causes deviation of the septum.
2. Secondary Troubles — Syphilitic Coryza.
I shall describe first cutaneous syphilides, and secondly those of the
mucous membrane.
1. Cutaneous syphilides show here, as elsewhere, different forms, and
may be dry, moist, or crusted. The dry syphilides are papular, papulo-
lenticular, or papulo-squamous. They are frequent on the alse nasi, where
they often present the granular form (Fournier).
The moist, erosive syphilides, or mucous patches, appear as cracks and
clefts in the ala nasi and the naso-labial fold. Sypliilides which are crus-
taceous, papulo- or pustulo-crustaceous may invade the whole of the nose.
All these syphilides are indolent in character and do not itch. They
are rarely confined to the nose alone, and are generally found on the cheeks,
the chin, or the forehead.
2. Secondary syj)hilis of the mucous membrane presents a different
aspect, according to whether it attack the adult or the new-born infant, as
early hereditary syphilis.
In the adult we find bright red erythema of the mucous membrane and
erosions, with muco-purulent or muco-sanguineous secretions, and with
formation of crusts, which reform after they have been rubbed off. These
crusts may block the nostrils, impede respiration, and simulate eczema.
In the newly-born coryza is often the first sign of hereditary syphilis.
It appears a few weeks after birth. The cliild breathes with great difficulty
through the nostrils, and the movements of sucking are hampered ; but
so far there is little distinction between syphilitic and simple coryza. Sero-
purulent, and in some cases bloody, fluid exudes from the nose ; the secretion
becomes more and more sanious, without being profuse, irritates the alae
nasi and the upper lip, and produces ulcers covered by yellowish or greenish
crusts, which may hide the upper lip. Nasal syphilis in the new-born, in
contradistinction to what is seen at a later age, rarely results in tertiary
le.sions and deformities (Trousseau). Specific coryza, however, may become
chronic, with tliickening of the nmcous membrane, ulceration and swelling
of the adenoid tissue. Perichondritis of the septum, destruction of the
vomer, and obliteration of the lachrymal duct, have also been seen (Ziem).
We must recognize sypliilitic coryza of the new-born in order to treat it
without delay, and to avoid the possible contamination of the nurse from the
child. Coryza rarely exists as the only manifestation of syphilis, and is
usually accompanied or followed by other troubles which are an aid to
diagnosis. We must, therefore, examine the child's body for skin cruption.s,
8 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
roseola, erythema of an ashy tint on the neck, Imnds, or feet, and patches
which are scalloped, do not itch, and are often scaly. We may sometimes
find mucous patches round the anus or the navel, behind the ears, upon
the scrotum or the labia majora, and Trousseau used to lay stress upon
unhealthy fissures and ulcers of the folds of the skm. From this time
many children with hereditary syphilis show changes in appearance : their
bodies take on a brownish colour, the eyebrows fall out, and are replaced
by the yellowish, scaly plaques of psoriasis. These marks of hereditary
syphilis will aid in the diagnosis of syphilitic coryza.
3. Tertiary Troubles of Nasal Syphilis.
The tertiary lesions of nasal syphilis which may result from the acquired
or hereditary disease are in each case identical. As, however, syphilis may
invade the nose or the nasal fossae, it is necessary to study each form.
1. Tertiary Syphilis of the Nose. — The skin lesion here is essentially
the tubercle, which much resembles the chancre in structure, and is
composed of a mass of embryonic cells. The syphilitic tubercle is a
cutaneous gumma, and forms a small tumour of the size of a millet-seed,
a small pea, or a cherry-stone. This gumma, which is, as it were, set in the
skm, is at first firm and resistant, and projects above the surface of the
skin. The syphilitic tubercle is rarely solitary, and variable numbers are
seen in the same region ; they may be grouped in a mass, form segments
of a circle, or sometimes fuse together and produce' a true gummatous
infiltration, " a kind of plaque of hyperplastic integuments, studded or
bordered by tubercular nodules."
These dermatoses are common upon the face, but the nose is the " victim
by choice " (Fournier). They are sometimes confined to one part of the
nose ; at other times they invade the whole nose and spread to the face.
The lesion, as we have said, appears as a tubercle (nodular syphiloma) or
an infiltration (dilTuse sypliiloma). For several months the disease is in-
sidious in its development ; pain, fever, enlargement of glands — in short, all
signs — are absent. The nose, however, loses its normal aspect, becoming
deformed and increased in size, while the affected skin is studded by dull
red projections, and slight desquamation of the epidermis occurs. At a
more advanced stage the dermatosis may present different aspects : in rare
cases the tubercles, especially those which are isolated, spread, become
indurated or almost horny, and end in atrophy. As a rule, however, both
the nodular and the diffuse syphiloma, when untreated, end in softening,
ulceration, suppuration, and formation of crusts. These syphilides are
known as tuberculo - ulcerating and tuberculo-crustaceous, or as the
gummatous ulcer which is serpiginous and perforating.
Tliis phase, in which the gummatous tissue softens and ulcerates, is
DISEASES OF THE NASAL FOSS.E 9
relatively rapid, and contrasts with the slowness of the preceding phase.
At this period the nose is deformed, enlarged, budding out at one spot,
ulcerated at another, sometimes gullied by purulent ulcers, and covered in
places by brownish or greenish crusts, which are thick, stratified, and
adherent. In spite of these lesions, we usually notice no functional trouble
no fever, and little or no pain.
When the lesions are deep, and especially when they have not beep
treated in time, tertiary syphilis leaves indelible marks : the alae nasi are
scalloped and destroyed ; the nose is deformed, flattened, thinned, and
furrowed with hard, wliite, and honeycombed scars.
2. Tertiary Syphilis of the Nasal Fossae.— The lesions usually com-
mence in the mucosa, and then invade the perichondrium, the cartilages.
the periosteum, and the bone. The cartilage and the bone may be attacked
from the outset. Sometimes the disease produces only superficial ulcers,
which are not serious and readily recover, but at other times it destroys
by invasion and perforation. It attacks the bony and the cartilaginous
framework of the nose, lays bare the cartilages and the bones, gives risf
to sequestra, and mutilates the organ, causing irremediable destruction.
These lesions must be studied separately, for they present different
symptoms according to the regioij. affected.
(a) Hypertrophic Syphilitic Rhinitis. — The picture is one of chronic
coryza : nasal respiration is incomplete or impossible, the patient wipes
away thick mucus with crusts, and acute attacks sometimes supervene.
On examination of the nasal fossa^, we find hypertrophy of the mucosa ; but
this hypertrophy, which may be polypoid, must not be confounded with
adenoid vegetations. The rhinitis is not always general, and may confine
itself to one fossa, or to the inferior turbinate bone which fills the meatus.
Ozaena often accompanies this syphilitic rliinitis.
(6) Perforatiofi of the Septum. — The nasal fossae are separated by a bony
and cartilaginous partition ; the bony part is formed, above by the per-
pendicular plate of the etlimoid, below by the vomer, while the cartilaginous
l)art is formed by the triangular cartilage, which fills up the gap left by the
bony plates. The cartilage is usually first affected by syphilis : the lesion
Itegins in the mucosa, reaches the perichondrium, which if lays bare, sets up
necrosis of the subjacent cartilage, and then causes a round or oval perfora-
tion of variable size. In some cases the lesion extends to the vomer
na, other kinds being considered
symptomatic. This malformation consists in a considerable enlargement
of the nasal fossa;, with atrophy of the turbinate bones (especially the
inferior ones) and thickening of the mucosa (Zaufal). This gaping of the
nasal fossa; allows such a free passage to tiie current of e.\[)ired air that the
secretions arc imperfectly swept away, the mucus becomes stagnant, and
2
18 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
crusts form. In this alkaline medium a special micro-organism (a large
diplococcus) has been described by M. Loewenberg, who considers it to be
the specific cause of the foetor.
Ozgena does not always develop in the same way. Its evolution is more
or less rapid. True oza3na, which seems to be due to a congenital malforma-
tion of the nose, generally shows itself during late infancy, when the nasal
cavities are growing ; it takes months and years to develop. The foetor
varies in different subjects, but is especially marked when crusts and mucus
are expelled, and is so intense in certain patients that a whole ward may
be tainted. As the sense of smell is lost, the patient is unconscious of the
fcetor, but the disgust which he causes to those around him makes life
miserable. The social consequences of this affection are terrible ; life in
common with others becomes difficult, marriage is impossible for young
girls, and the tendency to suicide is not rare. The patient often speaks
with a nasal tone, which results from the resonance of the voice in the
abnormally enlarged nasal cavities. The nose is often saddle-backed, the tip
is tilted, and the nostrils gape.
The infection which produces ozsena may be propagated in different
directions, and give rise to dacryocystitis, conjunctivitis, keratitis, or
sinusitis. M. Luc has described tracheal ozaena.
The treatment of ozsena consists in the daily use of a nasal douche of
bichloride of mercury (1 part of mercury in 10,000 of water). After the
douche boric powder (Loewenberg) is carefully blown' into the nasal fossae
and upper parts of the pharynx. Aspirations of very hot saline solution
morning and evening for several months give excellent results (Bonnier).
In the case of syphilis mercury as described in the preceding chapter must
be exhibited.
6. Epistaxis.
Description. — Epistaxis is hoemorrhage from the nasal mucosa. The
bleeding, which is usually slight, consists in the flow of bright blood, drop by
•drop, from one nostril, rarely from both.* If the bleeding be abundant, and
especially if it occur while the patient is lying down with the head back, the
blood flows through the posterior nares, and may then pass along the pharynx
and oesophagus into the stomach, to be rejected by vomiting. A mistake
may thus occur if the patient does not recognize the epistaxis, and is content
with saying that he has vomited blood ; hence the rule to explore the nasal
fossae carefully in doubtful cases of haematemesis. I have several times seen
such errors in diagnosis.
This year, at the Hotel-Dieu, one of my patients vomited fluid blood
* Galen has noticed that the blood generally comes from the right nostril in
diseases of the liver.
DISEASES OF THE NASAL FOSSAE 19
and clots ; the hsematemesis resulted from nasal haemorrhage diverted into
the stomach. On depressing the tongue we saw the blood flowing down
the posterior wall of the pharynx, and examination of the septum revealed
the source of the haemorrhage, which was at once arrested.
The quantity of blood lost is very variable. In some cases the loss
is slow, lasts from ten minutes to a quarter of an hour, and the subject
does not lose more than one or two ounces of blood. In other cases the flow
is rapid and profuse, appears from the nose and mouth at once, and may last
several hours if efficacious treatment do not intervene ; the loss may then
amount to more than a pint. Furthermore, as the bleeding readily recurs — ■
since any effort, such as blowing the nose or sneezing, is enough to detach
the clots — it follows that in predisposed subjects (haemophilia) the loss of
blood may assume large proportions. When the epistaxis is repeated and
abundant, the patient becomes pale and weak, and is liable to fits of dizziness,
vertigo, and syncope, as is customary after any great loss of blood.
Nasal haemorrhage has a most irregular course ; it may appear daily,
several times in the twenty-four hours, or months and years apart. It
sometimes assumes an intermittent form, or returns at certain seasons of the
year.
etiology. — Epistaxis is very common at the age of puberty, but is
more rare in old age. The abundance and the distribution of the vessels
on the surface of the mucous membrane explain the frequency of these
haemorrhages. Capillary aneurysips have been met with. Epistaxis may
be active or passive. It is active when it is the result of an afflux of blood.
I may quote, among other examples, the epistaxis favoured by the hyper-
trophy of the heart in aortic insufficiency ; the supplementary epistaxis of
the menstrual periods and of piles ; the haemorrhages which supervene after
the suppression of a cutaneous affection, such as erysipelas (Sore) ; and those
which are the result of sunstroke and of sudden changes of temperature or
of atmospheric pressure. Epistaxis is frequent at the onset of typhoid fever
and of measles, and is seen in the course of articular rheumatism (Trousseau)
and of phthisis (Leudet) ; it is sometimes the herald of haemoptysis. Passive
epistaxis is seen in blood stases, when the venous tension is increased (mitral
and tricuspid lesions), or when the return of blood from the head is impeded
(compression of veins by tumours of the neck and the mediastinum).
Epistaxis in icterus simplex and icterus gravis, in the haemorrhagic forms
of the eruptive fevers, in malarial infection, purpura, and Icucocytlurmia
results from changes in the blood. Epistaxis is fre(]uent in diabetes and
in Bright's disease ; indeed, diabetes predisposes to great bleeding. In
the cliapter on Bright's Disease I shall dwell in detail on the epista.xis of
chronic nephritis and on severe epistaxis, wliicii is sometimes one of tlie
first symptoms of Bright's disease. Epidemics of epistaxis, which could only
2—2
20 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
have been a larval fever, have been noted. The epistaxis which follows a
fall upon the head sometimes indicates a fracture of the base of the skull,
involving the upper wall of the nasal fossae.
I must make special mention of epistaxis of local origin in ulcers of the
mucosa, varices, angiomata, polypi, and vascular tumours of the septum.
Epistaxis is rarely the result of haemorrhage from a wide area. Rhino-
scopy shows in most cases that the rupture of the small vessels which gives
rise to epistaxis occurs in certain defined regions — to wit, the antero-inferior
and the central portion of the septum and the inferior turbinate bone, where
erectile tissue exists.
Diagnosis — Prognosis. — It is necessary to trace the cause of the bleed-
ing to ascertain if it depend on some general state or on a purely local lesion
(ulcer, varix, erectile tumour, angioma of the septum), to find out whether
it be symptomatic of some affection of the liver, the heart, or the kidney,
or whether it be supplementary to a suppressed haemorrhage, and to ask if it
may not denote the onset of enteric fever, or if it be not the first sign of a
hsemorrhagic form of some eruptive fever. The prognosis depends on the
quantity of blood lost, the strength of the patient, and the cause of the
bleeding. Each of these factors must be carefully considered. Epistaxis
is sometimes a grave complication in measles and in typhoid fever.
Treatment. — To arrest epistaxis the simplest measures, such as injection
of very hot water (especially oxygenated water) into the nasal fossae or
compression of the nose, sometimes suffice ; but in obstinate cases we must
resort to plugging, which exerts direct pressure upon the seat of the haemor-
rhage. It is first necessary to make out the site of the bleeding by direct
examination. In twenty-five cases of epistaxis Chiarri has shown that the
haemorrhage in twenty-two of them came from the anterior part of the
septum. It is the " seat of election " in epistaxis, a seat easy to recognize,
and we have only to look for it. " Raise the ala nasi, so that the orifice of
the nostril is turned outwards as much as possible, follow an oblique line
upwards and backwards, and at a distance of 1 inch the zone of bleeding
will be found." We then apply a plug of wool at the point in question,
and we can exert efficient pressure by keeping the plug in place •with, a stop-
clamp applied astride the bridge of the nose, or by introducing into each nostril
one jaw of the clamp forceps, previously wrapped with gauze (Range).
If this plugging do not suffice, or if the seat of the bleeding be higher up or
farther back, we introduce into the nostril, by means of forceps, a series of
plugs of absorbent wool soaked in oxygenated water : percliloride of iron
must not be used. After plugging, we survey the posterior orifice of the
nasal fossae, so as to be certain that the blood does not continue to flow back-
Avards into the pharynx. We can also perform plugging by means of a
bladder of gold-beater's skin. For this purpose fix the bladder on a rigid
DISEASES OF THE NASAL FOSS.E 21
urethral sound of small calibre, introduce the empty bladder into the nose,
inject water througli the sound, so as to distend the bladder and plug the
sound. This apparatus is easily kept in place, and has often yielded me the
best results.
If, in spite of these means, the epistaxis continue, posterior plugging
must be employed. To plug the posterior nares use Belloc's sound, or a
flexible uretliral bougie. Introduce the sound, smeared with vaseline, into
the inferior meatus^, push it horizontally till it emerges behind the soft
palate, seize it with forceps, and draw it out of the mouth. By means of a
strong thread of sufficient length, suspend from this end of the sound a plug
of wool smeared vnih boric vaseline, 1 inch long and half as broad. Next
pull back the sound introduced into the nose. The gauze plug may be thus
fixed in the posterior opening of the nose, while the index-finger, introduced
into the mouth, helps the passage of the plug behind the soft palate. The
thread is fixed to the cheek by means of diachylon or collodion ; it is kept
in place by anterior plugging, which is usually combined with posterior
plugging.
The plug, however, soon becomes painful to the patient. The nose
swells, breathing is impeded, and the patient can rarely tolerate the plugs
for more than twenty to thirty hours. To withdraw them, moisten by
injecting tepid water into the nostrils. The anterior plugs come out easily,
while the posterior ones are detached by means of the injection, and are
finally spat out by the patient.
In some cases (erectile tumour, angioma) plugging is not the best treat-
ment, and the bleeding surfaces must be cauterized with nitrate of silver,
or preferably with the galvano-cautery at a dull red heat. By this means
M. Luc was able at one sitting to arrest profuse epistaxis which threatened
the life of one of my patients admitted for an angioma.
Adrenalin must enter into the thera[)eutics of epistaxis. The bleeding
mucosa is touched with a plug soaked in a solution of adrenalin (I in 1, ()()()).
A plug of wool saturated with a weaker solution (say, 1 in r),()()() or I in
10,000) may also be left in situ. The vaso-constriction which results some-
times produces paleness from the decoloration of the mucosa.
When the haemorrhage has been abundant, give iced driidvs, use sub-
cutaneous injections of ergotin, and administer, in tablespoonful doses, the
following hnemostatic draught :
1^ Acid, sulphuric, dil. . . . . , , ll[ x.
Tinct. ferri perchlor. . . . . . . ]]\x.
Tinct. opii . . . . . . . . ii; v.
A(|uam . . . . . . . . . . ad 7,ss.
Employ injections of serum (see Appendix on Therapeutics).
If these means fail to stop tlic blcfMJing, and if the patient's life be in
22 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
danger, transfusion of blood muvst be employed. It is an operation which
has often yielded me excellent results.
Some years ago I performed transfusion upon two patients : the one was
suffering from epistaxis of diabetic origin, the other from bleeding due to
haemophilia. The former was an adult, the latter a child. In both
cases the bleeding was exceedingly serious, on account of its amount
and its persistence. The bleeding was at once arrested by transfusion.
Periodic epistaxis, even though it is not due to a larval fever, is success-
fully treated with sulphate of quinine. Lastly, it is necessary to remember
that certain supplementary or critical bleedings must be respected, especially
in old people, in whom they are often a safety-valve.
CHAPTER II
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX
I. GENERAL SURVEY OF THE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
OF THE LARYNX.
Vocal and respiratory troubles comprise nearly the whole of laryngeal pathology.
As we cannot understand aphonia and dysphonia, with all their shades, and cannot
grasp the mechanism of spasm of the glottis and the genesis of paralyses of the vocal
cords, or diagnose changes in the recurrent and external laryngeal nerves, if we have
not a mental picture of the normal functions of the laryngeal apparatus, I must briefly
indicate the principal points in the physiology of the larynx.
The skeleton of the larynx is formed l)y the cricoid, thyroid, and arytenoid cartilages.
The cricoid is shaped like a ring, and is much broader behind than in front.
The thyroid has been compared ta a sliield : it protects the vocal cords, which are
inserted in the angle of its posterior surface.
The arytenoids, which resemble a funnel in shape, play a most important part.
They swing on their base at the crico-arytenoid articulation, and the opening or closing
of the vocal cords is jiroduced by their different movements.
Function of the Glottis. — The glottis is the space limited by the vocal cords (inter-
ligamentous glottis) and by the arytenoid cartilages (intercartilaginous glottis). The
inferior cords alone merit the name of vocal cords, for sound is produced at their level ;
the superior vocal cords have usurped the term " cords," which must bo replaced by that
of " ventricular bands."
All the parts of the larynx, including its cartilages and joints (passive organs), its
muscles and nerves (active organs), combine for one purpose — i.e., for the movements of
tlio vocal cords and tlie different shapes of the glottis.
The glottis plays two chief parts — the one, which concerns the individual's life, is
the passage of air into the respiratory channels ; and the other, which is an attribute
of species, is the emission of sound, from the simple cry to the modulations of the human
voice.
Respiration, therefore, on the one hand, and emission of sound on the other, are
functions which show clearly the importance and gravity of diseases of the larynx.
Muscles of the Larynx.— The muscles of the larynx may bo classified in several
groups. The posterior crico-arytenoids form the first group. They are inserted into
the i)osterior surface of the cricoid, and into the external and posterior process of the
arytenoid. Their contraction draws the vocal processes outwards, especially if inspira-
tion bo very deep.
The posterior crico-arytenoids, then, are the muscles of respiration ; their r61e is to
open the vocal cords, allow free passage to the air, and keep the glottis open durinij
respir.-vtion. By their contraction they oppose the natural tendcnc^y of the lips of tJwj
glottis to come together, like two valves, during the aspiration of uir iiitt> tlie liuig, an
event which at once happens when they an^ [)aralyzod.
2:3
24 TEXT-BOOX OF MEDICINE
Such is the isolated action of the posterior crico -arytenoid muscles as muscles of
respiration. When they contract synchronously with the arytenoideus, they form a
muscular band, which straightens the two arytenoid cartilages upon the cricoid. They
thus become the antagonists of the thryo -arytenoid muscles, and free the arytenoids
from the traction of the cords which would draw them forwards.
They may also be looked upon as tensors of the vocal cords. This tension is effected
by their means, and without them would be impossible. Furthermore, by acting in
concert with the adductors, the posterior crico-arytenoids fix the arytenoid cartilages
on the cricoid, make their movements firm, and thus allow the vocal cords at their
posterior insertion to follow the movements of the cricoid. They are, therefore, muscles
of inspiration, tension, and fixation.
The second group is formed by the lateral crico -arytenoid muscles, which are the
constrictors of the interligamentous glottis and the single ary-arytenoideus, which
constricts the intercartilaginous and, consecutively, the interligamentous glottis. These
muscles, )jy drawing the vocal cords together, shut the glottis, and place it in the desired
position for the production of vocal efforts.
For this act the glottis is quite shut, while in the production of the voice the cords
do not. come quite in contact, but leave a space of variable shape and size between one
another.
By bringing the vocal cords together the constrictor muscles of the glottis assist
in the production of sound — they jirepare it. Sounds can only be produced if the vocal
cords be sufficiently approximated ; if they be too open, the expired air escapes, and is
wasted without being used in the production of sound. This fact can easily be verified
upon the larynx of a corpse.
The third group comprises the muscles of phonation ; these are the thyro -arytenoid
and crico -thyroid muscles.
The thyro -arytenoid muscles are composed of two chief bundles, the one situated
in the thickness of the vocal cord, the other outside it. This latter bundle, which is
much the larger, is flattened against the thyroid cartilage, terminates at the outer edge
of the arytenoid, and blends with the muscular loop, which the arytenoideus completes
behind. The contraction of this muscular Ioojd shuts the glottis. The thyro-ary-
tenoid is, then, a muscle of effort ; it is an adductor, like the lateral crico-arytenoideus,
and it also plays a part in phonation, by bringing together the vocal cords, which the
column of expired air seeks to open. It regulates the power of the voice by its
opposition to the exjjiratory muscles of the thorax.
The internal bundle of the thyro-arytenoldeus (the muscle of the vocal cord) draws
the arytenoid and the thyi'oid cartilages together. It is not, therefore, a tensor of the
vocal cord, neitlier does it stretch the cord at all ; it shortens the vocal cord and loosens,
instead of stretching it ; but, as other muscles — the distensors of the vocal cords— begir
to contract, it can no longer shorten, and as it cannot thicken or swell, it hardens and
acquires a firmness and resistance which regulates the periodicity of the vibrations.
The more tlie firmness is increased the greater become the vibrations and the higher
the sound. This internal bundle is, then, the muscle of the diapason, as the external
bundle is the muscle of the intensity of the sound. This muscle may thus be looked upon
as a tensor of the cords, the word " tension " signifying the state of varying rigidity
which results both from the passive distension of the cords and from their active
retraction (Bonnier).
The crico-thyroid muscle is the antagonist of the thyro -arytenoid, but it is only so
by acting with the muscles which straighten the arytenoids upon the cricoid. The
combined action of these muscles does not, properly speaking, produce the tension
of the vocal cords, but only their distension. When the elevator muscles of the larynx
draw the thyroid cartilage upwards and forwards, and with it the anterior insertion
of the vocal cords, the latter, in their turn, pull on the arytenoids and the i^ostero-
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 25
cuperior part of the cricoid. The cricoid cartilage would then swing forwards, if
the crico-thyroid muscle, taking the thyroid for its fixed point, did not straighten the
cricoid by carrj'ing the posterior insertions of the cords backwards. In that case the
cords can be stretched. The crico-thyroid muscle is, then, one of the distensors of the
cords ; its paralysis, without producing complete aphonia, affects the voice and necessi-
tates the assistance of the other distensor muscles.
A fourth group forms the extrinsic musculature of the larjnix. Some are elevators
of the larynx (mylo-hyoid, genio-hyoid, digastric, stylo-hyoid), and their action is con-
tinued b}' the thyro-hyoid muscle. The others are depressors of the lar>nax, towards the
sternum (sterno-hyoid and sterno-thyroid) and the shoulder-l)lade (scapulo-hyoid).
Lastly, another muscle draws the lar\nix towards the vertebral column (inferior con-
strictor of the pharynx) ; it is a retractor and completes the musculature of the apparatus
of phonation.
In fact, all these intrinsic and extrinsic muscles are simultaneously l)ut unequally
in play during phonation. In intonation — that is, in the emission of voluntary sound —
the thyroid prominence occupies a fixed level between the sternum and the chin. In
modulation — that is, when the intonation is varied — the prominence rises for high
sounds and descends for low ones ; as the neck and the head keep the same attitude,
or as the chin remains at the same distance from the sternum, the pomum Adami always
occupies tlie same level for the same intonation.
When the head is bent or straightened — that is, when the relations between the
chin and sternum vary — the levels occupied by the thyroid prominence vary equally,
but a fixed height of the tliyroid prominence corresponds for eacli sound to a fixed
attitude of the head. This prominence answers to the anterior insertion of the vocal
cords. The functicm whicli we have just studied is due to tlie oombuied action of all
the extrinsic muscles of the larynx.
Phonation is in harmony with the act of expiration. In expiration the trachea, the
cricoid, and with it the posterior insertion of the vocal cords, are raised, in proportion
as the air escapes and the chest is emptied. It suffices to prolong a sound during the
whole period of expiration to verify the ascent of the larynx. If the cricoid be raised,
the thjToid must also be raised to maintain the same degree of tension of the cords,
and it is only raised by the action of the elevators, which is modified by the depressgrs
and the retractor. All the musculature, therefore, is in play.
Wlien we modulate sounds (high sounds) up the scale, the cords are stretclu-d and
the larynx is raised, while the contrary takes place when our intonation becomes lower.
The elevators of the thyroid, drawing the anterior insertion of the cords upwards
and forwards, are then^fore tensor muscles, just as the muscles which straiglitcn tht>
arytenoids ujion the cricoid, and as the crico-thyroidcus. whicli diaws the posterior
insertion of tlie cords downwards and backwards (Bomiicr).
Nerves. — The muscles of the larynx are supplied by the re(rurn'nt and the external
laryngeal nerves.
The recurrent nerve, foriiicd by the spinal accessory and vagus nerves, supplies all
the muscles except the crico-thyroidei ; tlic fibres from the vagus seem more esi)ecially
reserved for the posterior crico-arytenoid muscles, which open the glottis, while those
from the spinal a(;cessory supply the other muscular groups.
The cricothyroid muscles, or indirect tensors of the vocal cords, are su|)plicd Ity llie
external laryngeal brancdu-s of the superior laryngeal nerve, wlu'rli lakes origin from Ihe
gangliform plexus of the vagus.
The extrinsic musculatun^ is innervated by the motor branch of tin- trigeuiiuil. by
th<' facial, the glosso- pharyngeal, and especially by the hyj)oglo.ssal nerve.
Hcmnier has recorded seven cases of hysterical aj)honia in which the mu.sdes,
inn(;rvated by the laryngeal nerves, were working perfectly. The want of tension in
the cords was due to the inertia of the elevators supplied by the hypoglossal nerve.
26 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The larynx receives its sensory nerves from the vagus by the superior laryngeal
nerve, which makes the upper part of the organ exquisitely sensitive, and by the external
laryngeal nerve, which gives a more obtuse sensibility to the subglottic portion.
Respiration — Voice — Effort. — Respiration goes on freely, thanks to the contraction
of the posterior crico-arytenoid muscles, which dilate the glottis and keep it open during
respiration. The laryngoscope shows that the glottis forms a triangle, with its base
backwards, at the arytenoid cartilages.
The production of the voice is much more complicated. The air in the ohest is
expelled with a variable force, which is regulated by the contraction of the expiratory
muscles on the one hand, and by the muscles of effort on the other, and differs in
speaking or in singing.
When the voice is to be produced, there is first accommodation on the part of the
glottis — that is, the ary-arjrtenoid, lateral crico-arytenoid, and external thyro -arytenoid
muscles draw the vocal cords together to the proper degree, so that they may vibrate
under the pressure of the expired air. At this moment the glottis presents the appear-
ance of a fusiform cleft, which may attain as much as 2 or 3 milUmetres in its greatest
diameter.
The external muscles fix the thyroid at a given level ; the crico-thyroideus carries
the cricoid backwards and downwards ; the posterior crico-arytenoid muscles, assisted
by the ary-arytenoideus, draw the arytenoids backwards ; and the cords would be
extended, without being really stretched, if the internal bundle of the thyro-aryte-
noideus did not struggle against the passive distension of the cords by their active
retraction. The latter thus acquire a physiological aptitude for vibration, which may
be looked upon as a tension peculiar to these organs.
The height of the soimd is, then, produced by the tension of the vocal oords. In
the chest-voice the sound is produced by the rapid periodic variations of pressure of
the air at the glottis : the quicker the vibrations, the higher the sound ; the greater the
resistance to expiration — that is, the greater the difference ,of pressure — the more
intense the sound.
The sound is not produced by the resonance proper of the vocal cords, but by the
variations of tension which their vibrations give to the column of expired air at the
level of the glottis.
The mechanism of the production of the head-voice is still imperfectly known.
According to some (Lermoyez), the mucosa of the cord is said to be the only vibra-
tory part ; according to others (Bonnier), the larynx is said to act like a whistle of variable
shapes, the column of air which comes out of the glottis breaking against the edge of
the ventricular bands. The height of the soimd may be equally produced by the
pressure of the expired air ; greater and greater pressure may thus raise the sound by
a fourth, and even a fifth, the tension of the vocal cords remaining the same. Further-
more, some authors admit that the tension of the vocal cords may be compensated, in
a certain measure, by their approximation — that is to say, almost the same effect is
obtained with the vocal cords when little stretched but close together and with the
cords more open but very tense. Thanks to these different combinations of length,
tension, opening, and pressure, the larynx gives the infinite shades and modulations of
the voice in the acts of singing, lecturing, and conversing.
The shape of the glottis, the vibrations of the cords, and the limits of these vibrations,
can be verified by means of the laryngoscope. During the emission of a high soimd
the anterior part of the vocal cords vibrate, and, in proportion as the sound becomes
deeper, we see the glottis assume the ellipsoid shape, the vibrations being produced in
the posterior parts of the vocal cords, and even in the interarytenoid glottis, which not
only takes part in resjjiration, as was long supposed, but which also contributes to the
production of low notes. These few remarks on the production of the luiman voice
will help us to understand how a simple ulceration, the presence of a false membrane.
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 27
the paralysis of a muscle, the ankylosis of an articulation, or oedema of the arytenoid,
reacts at once on such a delicate organ in different ways.
The timbre of the voice varies in each individual, according to conditions which were
unknown until the researches of Helmholtz. I will briefly recapitulate them. Every
sound is formed of a fundamental note, and certain accessory notes, called harmonics,
which have a fixed relation to the fundamental note. The harmonics are always higher
in the scale than the fundamental note, ^\^len they do not bear a regular ratio to the
fundamental note, the sound is simply a noise. WTien, on the contrary, they are in
regular proportion, a musical note is produced. The timbre of the note, then, depends
upon the grouping and the number of the harmonics. In the human voice the funda-
mental notes and the harmonics are produced at the vocal cords, but other harmonics
are also produced in the pharynx, the nose, and the mouth. Lesions of the mouth, the
nose, and the pharynx, as well as those of the larynx, are therefore able to modify the
timbre of the voice, which becomes throaty or nasal in different cases.
The act of effort is only possible when the framework of the thorax, on which almost
all the muscles of tlie trunk and some of the muscles of the upper Umbs are inserted, is
firmly fixed. The thorax then becomes the fixed insertion -jjoint of the muscles which
are to be brought into play in the effort. This initial fixation of the thorax is
obtained by means of a deep inspiration, but on condition that the firmly closed lips
of the glottis oppose the issue of the previously inspired air. In paralysis of the constrictor
muscles of the glottis the effort is impossible.
II. ACUTE CATARRHAL LARYNGITIS.
Description.— Acute catarrhal laryngitis may occur as a distinct
illness, or be secondary to some other ailment. In both cases it begins
with a feeling of tickling in the larynx, and, as the sensiblity of the mucosa
is increased, the inspired air appears too cold, and its passage into the
respiratory channels is painful. The cough, which is at first dry and slight,
becomes more severe as mucus accumulates on tlie lips of the glottis.
Phonation and respiration soon become difficult ; the emission of sounds
is painful, the high notes are lost, the voice is hoarse, altered in its low
timbre, and almost inaudible, because the inflamed and paretic vocal cords
are no longer in their normal state of tension and vibration. Trifling
laryngitis only provokes hoarseness ; when it is intense, when the paralysis
of the vocal muscles is very marked, and wlien the ventricular bands arc
oedematous and cover the vocal cords, aphonia ])ecomes complete. The
voice, which is deep and raucous, is sometimes interrupted by sliarp sounds,
like those of the falsetto ; this phenomenon can be explained by the vibratory
nodes which are formed on the cords, thickened and covered with mucus.
Respiration is free in the adult. In the child, whose glottis is much
narrower, dyspncea is frequent, and often complicated by suffocative attacks,
which result from spasm of the glottis. The expectoration, insignificant at
first, is compo.sed later of thick greyish sputum, wliich is less the result of
the laryngeal inflamnjation than of the bronchitis and the tracheitis which
are so often present.
With the laryngoscope we sec that tlie mucosa has taken on ;i ilark colour
28 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
at several spots; the epiglottis, the aryteno-epiglottic folds and the ar}i:enoids
are red and swollen ; the vocal cords have lost their pearly, shining aspect,
and are covered with rosy striations, though they escape the swelling which
frequently attacks the ventricular bands. The secretion from the mucous
glands is abundant ; it sometimes has a gummy aspect and coats the different
regions. In the benign form the fever is insignificant. The illness does not
last more than a week or a fortnight, and the different symptoms show rapid
improvement, with the exception of the vocal troubles, which are much
slower in their disappearance.
We also see acute laryngo-traclieitis a frigore, which is more intense ;
the fever is sliarp ; coughing and swallowing cause much pain ; the sputum is
sometimes streaked with blood ; vocal troubles are very marked ; and the
breathing is as much hampered as it is at the onset of oedema of the glottis,
a fact which is explained by the swelling of the inflamed parts. With the
laryngoscope we discover, in addition to the lesions previously described,
ecchymoses, which are most marked on the anterior part and the free edge
of the vocal cords, and which testify to the severity of the inflammation.
etiology — Diagnosis. — Acute laryngitis is provoked by the direct
contact of cold air with the larynx, and by its indirect action upon some other
part of the body (cold to the feet). It is set up by irritant vapours, accom-
panies tracheitis, bronchitis, or coryza, and is one of the chief symptoms of
influenza. In measles it assumes a special type.
The severe form may simulate oedema of the glottis ; the slight form,
which is much more frequent, must not be confounded with nervous
aphonia. Every individual who is seized with dysphonia or hoarseness,
following a chill, has not perforce laryngitis ; he may have vocal paralysis
(nervous aphonia) (Krishaber). In this case the laryngoscope reveals no
trace of phlegmasia, and the vocal cords have kept their whiteness, but are
incompletely stretched, and the paralysis, which is usually unilateral, causes
dysphonia. These vocal troubles are due to paralysis of the external
laryngeal nerve, which supplies the crico-thyroid muscle, by which the vocal
cords are made tense.*
Laryngitis, especially in children (laryngeal cough and hoarseness), is
often the chief symptom of the invasion of measles ; the presence of pharyn-
geal, ocular, and nasal catarrhs will settle the diagnosis.
It must not be forgotten that laryngeal troubles of syphilitic origin,
such as hoarseness and loss of voice, due to erythema and erosive sypliilides
* This paralysis of the external laryngeal nerve is not more astonishing than that
of the facial or radial nerves from the same cause. It is also curious to see that the
same agent — cold — destroys the function of the motor nerves by causing paralysis, and
exaggerates that of the sensory nerves by causing neuralgia (" Aphonic Nerveuse,"
These de Paris, 186.5).
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 29
of the larynx, have the closest resemblance to simple laryngitis. This fact
has an important l^earing upon treatment.
Prognosis — ^Treatment. — Acute catarrhal laryngitis, which is not for-
midable in the adult, is more serious in children, because it produces suffo-
cative attacks. It is subject to relapses, and is a serious misfortune in people
whose larynx is a " professional instrument " (Peter and Krishaber), as in
singers, barristers, or public speakers, who are sometimes obliged to abandon
their profession because the voice is slow to regain its norm.al character, and
is lost afresh under the influence of similar causes.
Sweating, hot drinks, soothing gargles, powders, inhalations, blisters
placed on the front of the neck, topical applications to the larynx, and, lastly,
local blood-letting when the inflammation, is acute, form the general treat-
ment.
III. CHRONIC LARYNGITIS.
I shall describe three varieties of chronic laryngitis — catarrhal, glandular,
and hypertrophic. I would, however, remark that these varieties are not
always distinct clinically ; in fact, they are often associated.
Chronic Catarrhal Laryngitis.— This variety is hardly ever primary ;
it usually succeeds one or several acute attacks, and, like every laryngitis,
is kept up by the efforts of singing, by excess of tobacco, and of drink. Pain
is absent, cough is moderate, and hoarseness is almost uniform, but rarely
goes as far as aphonia. The laryngoscope shows redness and swelling of
the mucosa, with varicose vessels and glandular projections. The inflam-
mation is sometimes localized to certain spots, whicli are, in order of
frequency, the posterior surface of the epiglottis, the aryteno-epiglottic
ligaments, tlie ventricular bands, and the vocal cords.
Gouty Laryngitis. — Gouty persons often suffer a form of chronic
laryngitis with exacerbations, which are accompanied by rliinitis, tracheitis,
and bronchitis. The bronchitis is at times limited to the bases of the lungs ;
if it occupy the apices, the affection may be considered of a tubercular
nature. This laryngitis is chiefly seen in singers during the first years of
study, and is more frequent in summer than in winter. Most often it
disappears spontaneously, when other manifestations of the diathesis appear,
unless vocal strain has provoked definite iiypertrophy of tlie cords (Bonnier).
Glandular Laryngitis.— Glandular or granular laryngitis is generally
chronic from the outsfit, and does not, like the precetliiig form, follow attacks
of acute laryngitis. It is often associated with granular pliaryngitis, which
oj)ens the scene in many cases ; the condition might, therefore, be termed
" graimhir pliaryiigo-laryngitis.'" Ilcrp('ti(; and artlirilic subjocls an* pre-
dis[)()sed to it, but abuse of drink or lobacco, and especially the iinninderatc
use of the voice, are its chief causes, 'i'lic inll,inini;ilit)n is liimictl, as a
30 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
rule, to the clusters of glands on the posterior surface of the epiglottis, in
front of the arytenoid cartilages, where the glands form a vertical ridge,
and to those on the ventricular bands and on the vocal cords, where their
mission is to moisten the papillary region of the vocal cord, and thus prevent
loss of function. The inflammation attacks the glands of the arytenoids,
of the base of the epiglottis, of the vestibule of the larynx, and of the vocal
cords. The hypertrophy of the glands, together with the increased
vascularity of the mucosa, alters the voice ; the singer can no longer sound
the low notes, and soon loses the clear tone of the high notes. The loss
of the high notes, which is one of the first symptoms of glandular laryngitis,
is easily explained.
In the normal state the high notes are produced as follows : The anterior
processes of the arytenoid cartilages, by their approximation, bring the
vocal cords into exact contact, and the lips of the glottis vibrate, especially
in their anterior third, when a sound is emitted. The complete approximation
of the vocal cords can no longer take place if the interarytenoid mucosa be
swollen and thickened. The high sounds, therefore, are defective or sup-
pressed. Later the patient loses the low notes, and the middle notes are
also affected if the lesion reach the vocal cords.
When the lesions are general, the laryngoscope shows the granular
condition and the vascularity of the ventricular bands and of the vocal
cords, in addition to the glandular hypertrophy described above. Erosions
are sometimes seen at different points of the mucosa.
Hypertrophic Laryngitis. — This form is usually associated with the
preceding variety. The hypertrophy may be general or local, and, in the
latter event, involves the epiglottis, the aryteno- epiglottic folds, and the
vocal cords. Tiirck has described a variety of hypertrophy attacking the
vocal cord, chorditis tuberosa. The hypertrophied parts are rigid, often
deformed ; the epiglottis bends backwards, and partly hides the entrance
of the larynx ; the aryteno-epiglottic folds are thickened and shortened ;
the arytenoids resemble an irregularly shaped nipple ; and the vocal cords
are much enlarged.
Besides the various changes in the voice, hypertrophic laryngitis is some-
times accompanied by dyspnoea, due to the swelling of the affected parts,
which may obliterate the orifice of the larynx and gradually lead to asphyxia.
In clu-onic laryngitis both local and general treatment are employed.
The direct application of a 10 per cent., or even 20 per cent., solution of
nitrate of silver, insufflations of bismuth, inhalations of iodine and sulphur
vapour, and preparations of arsenic internally, are the therapeutic agents
most employed. Good results are obtained from the cures of Eaux-Bonnes,
Cauterets, and La Bourboule. Krishaber has successfully applied igni-
puncture to the granulations of the larynx.
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 31
We must also prove that the nasal fossae are clear, and must restore nasal
respiration. Gouty laryngitis often yields to hot local appHcations to the
neck and to nasal douches of hot saline solutions. It is ameliorated by very
warm gargles. The best of these gargles can be made with wine, adding
infusion of cinnamon, which makes the gargle astringent ; the gargle must
be used as hot as the patient can bear it. As a rule, all the symptoms yield
very rapidly (Bonnier).
IV. SYPHILIS OF THE LARYNX (SECONDARY LARYNGOPATHIES
—TERTIARY LARYNGOPATHIES).
The frequence and the importance of syphilitic lesions of the larynx
deserve our careful attention. Lewin says : " Next to the skin and the
throat, syphihs most frequently attacks the larynx." The epiglottis, the
aryteno-epiglottic folds, the ventricular bands, the vocal cords, and the
skeleton of the larynx, may show most diverse changes due to sypliihs.
These changes may be superficial or deep. The superficial lesions, which
comprise laryngeal catarrh, erythema, mucous patches, erosions and ulcers,
with or without oedema, are seen in the secondary stage.
The deep submucous infiltrations, which comprise diffuse or circum-
scribed syphilomata, ulceration, hypertrophy, vegetations, changes in the
cartilages, formation and elimination of sequestra, cicatricial retractions,
progressive laryngo-stenoses, permanent deformities, and perilaryngeal
phlegmon, are found in the tertiary period.
Secondary Laryngopathies.
Description. — The chancre has never been seen in the larynx. Tlie
secondary lesions — erythema, catarrh, erosion, and ulceration — with or
without oedema, first demand notice.
Erythema appears a few weeks after infection, at the same date as the
mucous or cutaneous syphilides, and is a very frequent trouble. Many
people become hoarse within some weeks or months after infection, and
ascribe the trouble to a chill, or speak of " loss of voice," when the mischief
is really sypliilitic. With the laryngoscope the erythema is characterized
by a rosy, ash-coloured, or reddish tint of the mucosa, and often coincides
with erythema of the throat, which of is a vermilion colour, especially on
the velum and the anterior pillars. Tlie voice becomes hoarse, and may be
almost lost. The erythema disappears in a few months, but is prone to
relapse ; slaty coloration of the vocal cords sometimes remains. In some
cases erythema is accompanied by secretion, and laryngeal catarrh is
found.
Secondary syphiiides of the larynx may be erosive or ulcerative. The
32 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
erosions are superficial ulcerations, which are opaline, rounded, or oval, and
surrounded by a red border ; on the vocal cords they are usually elongated
and situated on the free edge. Erosive syphilides sometimes coincide with
erythema and provoke vocal troubles, but are not, as a rule, accompanied
by oedema or dyspnoea. Swallowing is painful when the aryteno- epiglottic
folds are involved. These erosive syphilides form part of the early secondary
troubles, whilst the ulcerative syphilides appear later. The latter (and I
do not allude to the deep ulcerations of the tertiary period) are much broader
and more hollow than the erosive syphilides, their edges are sometimes
prominent and of a vivid red, while the surrounding mucosa is oedematous ;
they occupy the epiglottis, the arytenoid region, the ventricular bands, and
the vocal cords.
It must not be thought that the superficial lesions of the larynx belong
solely to the first year after infection ; catarrh, erythema, erosions, and
superficial ulcerations, with or without oedema, although they be slight and
part of the " secondary troubles," may still appear many years after the
primary infection. Most of these lesions, which may be called " benign,"
only cause vocal troubles.
Pain is absent, and cough, so frequent in other forms of laryngitis, is
often wanting in these cases. The voice is, however, altered and rough-
ened ; this is the most constant symptom. Hoarseness, dysphonia, and
sometimes aphonia, may supervene slowly or rapidly, and may be very
obstinate. Persons suffering from sypliilis of the larynx are certainly
more sensitive to the action of cold, and chills are no doubt to blame for
first attacks, and also relapses, of these secondary troubles. Tliis knowledge
will prevent us considering a laryngitis in which syphilis plays the chief part
as a simple laryngitis a frigore.
Dyspnoea is rare in these cases ; nevertheless, superficial and apparently
benign lesions are sometimes accompanied by oedema of the larynx and
respiratory troubles. This fact is very important ; Krishaber lays great
stress upon it. Although dyspnoea may be exceptional in secondary laryngo-
pathies, the oppression may rapidly increase, and tracheotomy would be
necessary if the dyspnoea did not speedily yield to treatment. I have
.several times proved this statement, and M. Mauriac, like Krishaber, affirms
that " almost insignificant erosions may become a dangerous inflammatory
centre, around which oedema of the glottis suddenly develojDs."
In dealing with a laryngitis apparently due to chill, or with an apparently
simple loss of voice, syphilis must always be thought of, and due investiga-
tions made, to avoid an error in diagnosis. The discovery of the chancre and
its satellite glands, the presence of syphilides of the skin (roseola), and of
the mucosa} (mucous patches), headache, and alopecia, will all help to settle
the pathogenic diagnosis.
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 33
Tertiary Laryngopathies.
Description. — ^Tlie tertiary lesions are much rarer, but much graver,
than the secondary ones. Though they do not appear, as a rule, witliin
two years from the date of infection, they may be very early (during the
first year) or very late (after the twentieth year). The tertiary laryngo-
pathies coincide fairly often with specific lesions of the trachea and the
lungs (" they are, as it were, the root "), while the secondary laryngopatliies
are especially associated with specific lesions of the velum palati and of the
throat. •
1. Ulcerative Syphiloma— Gummata.— The gumma may be super-
ficial or deep, and may attack tlie soft parts or the skeleton of the larynx.
In some cases it forms a small swelling, and is the gumma, properly
speaking ; in others it infiltrates the tissues, and is the diffuse syphiloma
(syphiloma en nappe).
The Gumma is the most typical lesion of tertiary laryngeal syphihs.
It may vary in size from a pin's head to a hazel-nut. Several isolated or
confluent gummata in different stages of growth may be met with. As a
rule, the gumma, seen with the laryngoscope, forms a rounded projection,
which is of sombre hue and surrounded by reddish oedema. As softening
takes place, it becomes yellowish at the centre, and in a few days an ulcer
is formed, wliich shows little tendency to spontaneous lieahng. The edges
of the ulcer are perpendicular, the floor is greyish, the surrounding tissues are
hard and elastic. The area on which the ulcer is situated is oedematous.
Tlie gummatous neoplasm is not always circumscribed ; it may infiltrate
the mucosa and submucous tissue in a diffuse manner, and is then termed
'■ syphiloma en nappe." This sypliiloma is often capricious, like the
phagedaenic lesions, and produces serpiginous ulcers, wliich not only
destroy the mucosa, but also attack the perichondrium, cartilages, and
joints ; they may even reach the extralaryngeal tissues, producing inflam-
mation of the neck (Mauriac). This diffuse syphiloma commences in the
submucosa ; it may, however, start in the skeleton of the larynx.
We see, lastly, other ulcerations which do not result from the necrobiosis
of a gumma. In addition to the gummatous ulcers which I have just
described, we may see tertiary ulcers, which at first look like a simple con-
gestion of the mucosa or superficial erosions. We must not, however, trust
to the " benign appearance," for this lesion, though apparently congestive,
may be the prelude of severe phagedtena.
The gummatous and ulcerative lesions which I have just described
present the most varied pictures with the laryngoscope. The; <^|)i<:l<)ttis,
which is so fre((uently attacked by syphilis, is thickened, hyperjilastic,
oedematous, and deformed; it forms a dull red tumour, which obliterates the
34 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
vestibule of the larynx to a variable extent. In other cases the epiglottis
is indented, loopholed, or covered by ulcerations " from the slight erosion
of its surface and of its edges to the serpiginous and gangrenous ulcers which
reduce it to shreds " ; it is sometimes converted into an irregular stump.
Phagedgena of the epiglottis is also frequent.
The arytenoid region and the aryteno-epiglottic folds are deformed,
cedematous, and hypertropliied by the gummatous tissue ; they block up
the vestibule and hide the vocal cords. Vegetations are not rare. The
folds are the seat of ulcerations with greyish floor and dark perpendicular
edges.
The vocal cords undergo the most varied changes : they are red, hyper-
trophied, and ulcerated. The ulceration begins in the free border, eats into
the cord, making it look like a saw ; the cord may be reduced to shreds, or
the ulcer may end in vicious scars and adhesions.
2. Non-Ulcerating Syphiloma. — The diffuse infiltration does not
always go on to ulceration ; it may run a very slow course, and may cause
in the lar}mx (as in the lips and the prepuce) fibrous thickening which has
no tendency to ulcerate. This thickening, which is rarely general, narrows
the cavity of the larynx ; it affects the subglottic part of the organ, the
epiglottis, the ventricular bands, and may be confined to one of these parts.
The laryngoscope shows the affected part to be deformed and of a dull red ;
its surface is granular, mammillated, and sometimes covered by vegetations.
In an old syphilitic patient whom I have just seen hypertrophy of the left
ventricular band and two vegetations in the arytenoid region were present.
3. Vegetations. — The neoplasm often takes the form of a vegetation.
The vegetations are rarely solitary ; they may be isolated or confluent,
sessile or pedmiculated, and may vary in size from a millet-seed to a pea.
Their " seat of election " is the vocal cords and the ventricular bands.
They develop on the surface, on the edges, and at the angle of the junction,
but rarely invade the epiglottis, in distinction to ulcerations which have
a marked preference for it. These vegetations, as a rule, develop in mucous
membrane which is already diseased, and may, by reason of their number
or of their size, narrow or block the glottis and the cavity of the larynx.
4. Lesions of the Skeleton. — The syphiloma may primarily attack
the cartilages, or only invade them after the soft parts. The affected
cartilages are, in order of frequency, the arytenoids and the cricoid. The
thyroid is usually respected. The first result is calcification of the cartilage ;
the calcified tissue then necroses, and the separation of the sequestrum is
accompanied by suppuration, fistulas, and oedema. The necrobiotic process,
which begins on the inner wall of the cartilage, may invade its whole thick-
ness, and, after eating through it, set up inflammation in the front of the
neck.
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 35
Dislocations and ankyloses of the joints result from the syphilomatous
process. In some cases a fragment of cartilage, or an entire arytenoid,
may be cast off through a fistula, be rejected by the mouth, or fall into the
air- passages and provoke asphyxia.
The changes in the cartilages of Wrisberg and of Santorini are perfectly
visible \vith the laryngoscope. Crico- arytenoid ankylosis is almost always
unilateral, and fixes the vocal cord on the affected side.
5. (Edema. — CEdema of variable colour often accompanies tertiary
laryngopathies. Laryngeal oedema plays a considerable part in these
cases ; it may be more or less extensive, and invades, in order of frequency,
the epiglottis, the ventricular bands, the aryteno-epiglottic folds, the vocal
cords, the parts below the cords, and the trachea. The symptoms present
are stridor, sucking-in, and dyspncBa which borders on asphyxia. The
laryngoscope reveals the deformity and the swelling of the cederaatous
parts ; the epiglottis " is rolled up like a paper-twist, and swollen so as to
resemble a chestnut or the cervix uteri," while the arytenoids form large
pads, which obliterate the supraglottic region.
Syphilitic oedema of the larynx will be studied in detail in Section 8.
6. Tracheo-Laryngeal Adenopathy.— The numerous glands which are
present in the trachea and tlie larynx are sometimes attacked by syphilis,
and we therefore find the symptoms which accompany lesions of the recurrent
nerves (spasm of the glottis, or paralysis of the vocal cords).
7. Cicatrices — Laryngo-Stenosis.— Ulcerous lesions of the larynx some-
times leave deformities, adhesions, and retractions, which affect both the
voice and the breathing. The epiglottis may be displaced or deformed by
the cicatricial bands, wliich draw it towards the aryteno-epiglottic folds
or towards the lateral wall of the pharynx ; the result is complete deformity
of the aperture of the larynx. The vocal cords may be converted into
fibrous bands, which dislocate the vocal process ; the axis and the calibre of
the laryngeal cavity are altered, and gradual laryngo-stenosis results. In
some cases the stenosis arises from the welding of the ulcerated vocal cords,
which then form a kind of diaphragm, and partially obhterate the glottis.
8. Paralysis. —The existence of syphilitic paralysis of the laryngeal
muscles can only be recognized with the laryngo.scope. The paralysis is
often unilateral, and chiefly affects tlie left cord. Paralysis of the posterior
crico-arytenoid muscles is characterized by immobility of the vocal cords
at the moment of inspiration ; the glottis, instead of being open during
inspiration, tends to close, and asphyxia becomes imminent. When one
lateral crico-arytenoid muscle is paralyzed, the cord on the corresponding
side does not approach the other cord during phonation. Syi)l)ilitic para-
lysis of the arv-arytenoidcus is very rare ; the laryngoscope shows that the
intercartilaginous glottis remains open during the emission of sounds.
36 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Laryngoplegias are very often isolated. Their pathology is still imperfectly
known : they may be due either to lesions of the glands adjoining the re-
current nerves, or to an intracranial lesion, though it is far more likely that
these partial paralyses have a peripheral origin. They may be compared
with the paralysis of the oculo- motor nerves and with the various forms
of facial paralysis which are seen in all stages of syphilis.
Symptoms. — Vocal troubles are often the first to appear, and may vary
from hoarseness to complete and persistent aphonia. Cough is rare and not
important. Respiratory troubles, from shortness of breath to the most
violent dyspnoea, are practically constant. Many patients suffer from
breathlessness, to which they become accustomed by avoiding violent
efforts. In some the attacks of dyspnoea are very severe ; in others the
dyspnoea may improve for a while, only to return in a worse form ; lastly,
in some cases, especially when oedema is present, the dyspnoea is so rapid
in its onset that asphyxia becomes imminent, and intervention is imperative.
Stridor and sucking-in accompany almost every case of severe laryngeal
dyspnoea.
This dj^spnoea is due to the stenosis of the larynx ; the narrowing may
be rapid (acute laryngo-stenosis) or slow (progressive laryngo-stenosis).
(Edema and abscesses are the commonest causes of acute laryngo-stenosis.
Progressive laryngo-stenosis is due to many causes, such as develop-
ment of gummata, diffuse hypertrophic syphiloma, presence of vegetations,
oedema, abscesses, cicatrices, deformity of the aryteno-epiglottic region,
dislocations of the arytenoids, and adhesions of the vocal cords. This
enumeration explains sufficiently the diversity, the continuous or inter-
mittent character, and the intensity of the respiratory troubles.
I may remind the reader that asphyxia may follow the fall of a necrosed
cartilage into the trachea.
Swallowing is very painful, or almost impossible, in some patients,
especially when the edges of the epiglottis and the arytenoids are inflamed
and ulcerated. Sharp pains in the ear may accompany the dysphagia.
Foetor of the breath is not so common as in cancer.
Diagnosis. — There is often difficulty in diagnosis, because so many
lesions of the larynx (hypertrophic laryngitis, syphilitic, tubercular, and
cancerous disease, and oedema in Bright's disease) may cause the same vocal
and respiratory troubles. Another difficulty in diagnosis results from the
fact that such lesions as hypertrophic infiltrations, polypoid excrescences,
ulcerations, and oedema may show an identical appearance with the laryngo-
scope. The signs and symptoms which may help us in diagnosis demand
mention.
1. Chronic Hypertrophic Laryngitis. — General health excellent, no
loss of flesh, appetite good, dys^moea absent or trifling, obstinate cough,
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 37
and dryness of the throat ; for a long time past gradual change of the voice,
loss of high sounds, hoarseness, and muffling of the voice.
With the laryngoscope : Hypertrophy and granulations on the ventricular
bands ; redness and granulations on the vocal cords, especially on their
free border ; hypertrophy of the glands of the larvnx, chiefly in the arvtenoid
region. Result : incomplete approach of the arytenoids ; insignificant
erosions of the mucosa ; pharyngo-laryngeal catarrh, jvith abundant
secretion.
Gouty laryngitis presents during each acute attack marked erythema
of the larynx, the pharynx, and the trachea. The periodicity of the crises,
however, eliminates syphilitic erythema. The vocal cords have sometimes
a blood-red appearance.
2. Tubercular Laryngopathy. — Wasting, loss of appetite, bronchitic
cough, haemoptysis, or pre\'ious pleurisy, pulmonary lesions in course of
development. In some exceptional cases primary laryngeal tuberculosis ;
vocal troubles of every degree ; d3^spnoea absent or marked, according to
the site and the severity of the lesions ; pain and dysphagia, which may be
very acute.
With the laryngoscope : Unusual pallor of the palate and of the
vestibule of the larynx ; isolated -or combined lesions of the larynx, which
present the following forms :
(a) Tubercular infiltration, without ulceration, confined especially
to the interarytenoid region, tlie epiglottic folds, and the ventricular
bands ; hypertrophy and deformity of these parts, notably conical swelling
of one or both arytenoids ; epiglottis enormous ; great swelling of the ven-
tricular bands ; vocal cords dull and rough ; epiglottis asually healthy ;
enlarged glands ; laryngeal catarrh.
(6) Tubercular vegetations, which may be large, are found in the inter-
arytenoid region. They are dull, livid, covered with purulent mucus, and
often implanted upon an ulcerated base ; surrounding oedema pale.
(r) Tubercular Ulcerations. — Their edges are jagged and Hat ; they are
not deep, and the surrounding oedema is soft and pale. These ulcers in
time destroy the ventricular bands, the vocal cords, and the folds of the
epiglottis. By curetting the ulcers, li<|uid which sometimes contains the
tubercle bacillus may be obtained.
(d) Paralysis, or paresis of a vocal cord, a fairly frequent sign at the
commencement of laryngeal tuberculosis (Libermann).
3. Syphilitic Laryngopathies. Health excellent ; no loss of appetite;
no wasting ; cough absent or IrKling ; previous syphilis; vocal tr()ul)I('.s.
from simple hoarseness to comj)l('te and persistent aphonia ; respiratory
troubles, varying from shortness of breath to dyspnoj^i, with stridor and
sucking-in ; pain on dculiitition and in the ears, according to the lesion.
38 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Examination with the laryngoscope : Pallor of the palate, the pharynx,
and the larynx, so common in tuberculosis, is not seen. The laryngeal
lesions, whether isolated or combined, are :
(a) Rounded, prominent and reddish gumma, situated on the epiglottis,
the folds, or the ventricular bands, projecting into the larynx and causing
deformity.
(b) Diffuse syphiloma of the hypertrophic form, situated in different
regions, and often coinciding with excrescences and ulcerations.
(c) Ulcerations. — Slightly different according as they are consecutive to
gumma, diffuse syphiloma, or tertiary non-gummatous ulcerations. The
syphilitic ulcer has generally thick perpendicular edges, whereas the edges
of the tuberculous ulcer are jagged and flat. The syphilitic ulcer is usually
deeper and more excavated than the tubercular one ; the oedematous tissues
which surround the syphilitic ulcer are usually red and hard (in tubercular
ulceration they are pale and soft). The syphilitic ulceration rapidly hollows
out channels and perforates the tissues (tubercular ulceration is slOW in its
progress). Syphilitic ulceration is found in every part of the larynx, but
has a marked predilection for the epiglottis, and especially invades its
laryngeal surface. Syphilitic ulcers are less numerous than tubercular ones,
and leave scars behind them ; tubercular ulcers do not.
(d) Vegetations. — They are rarer in syphilis than in tuberculosis. In
syphilis vegetations are chiefly found on the base of the epiglottis, on the
ventricular bands and the vocal cords (in tuberculosis they are usually
found in the interarytenoid region). Syphilitic vegetations show a peculiar
tendency to bud out ; they are usually associated with ulceration, tend to
disappear and give place to a cicatrix. Tubercular vegetations continue to
grow.
If tuberculosis complicate syphilis, the diagnosis is exceedingly difficult.
This association is not rare. It is remarkable that tuberculosi.s, if it be asso-
ciated with syphilis, is less severe and less rapid than when it is present alone
in the larynx.
4. Cancerous Laryngopathy. — The diagnosis is extremely difficult,
becsuse cancer of the larynx may be almost latent for a year or two ; it does
not affect the general health, the appetite remains good, the patient does not
waste away, and the glands are not yet infectec'. Vocal troubles alone are
present, but they have no distinctive character. Later, when the cancer has
ulcerated, the nature of the lesion, the ready bleeding, the foetor of the
breath, the acute pains in the throat and the ear, and the bloody expectora-
tion, are signs in favour of cancer. But during the first period — and this
period may be lengthy — how can a diagnosis be made ? In the first place,
if the patient have no syphilitic nor tubercular taint, the question is somewhat
simphfied. Cancer at the outset is always unilateral, and the lesion is clearly
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 39
circumscribed ; the " seat of election " is the ventricular band or the vocal
cord. When the cancer is polypoid, it is distinguished from other vegeta-
tions by the fact that the ulcer deepens in proportion as the tumour grows
(Krishaber). The f ungating mass of cancer resembles a cauliflower ; it is
ulcerated and bleeds easily. We find nothing similar in syphilis or tuber-
culosis.
5. Polypi of the Larynx. — The polypoid growths of syphilis must not
be confounded with the vegetations of tuberculosis and with papillomata.
Tubercular vegetations are colourless, covered ^vith muco-pus, implanted
on an ulcerated surface, and surrounded by more or less oedematous mucosa ;
they are usually situated on the posterior part of the cord, or on the anterior
process of the arytenoid. The papilloma may be as large as a millet-seed
or a hazel-nut ; it may be pedunculated or sessile ; it is pearly, wrinkled, and
sometimes covered by whitish mucus. Its " seat of election " is the anterior
third of the free edge of the vocal cords, because this part is rich in papillfc
and glands. These polypi cause vocal and sometimes respiratory troubles.
G. (Edema of the Larynx. — Oedema of the larynx, due to many other
causes, may simulate that due to syphilis. Dyspnoea, stridor, and sucking-in
exist in both cases, and therefore careful examination should always be
made as to the cause, in order to institute antisyphilitic treatment without
delay if it be required.
Treatment. — The recognition of syphilitic changes in the larynx is most
important, because, except for certaui tertiary lesions and cicatricial
stenoses, syphilitic affections of the larynx yield very readily to specific
treatment. Local treatment is of only secondary importance ; specific
treatment is imperative. Inunctions or solutions of mercury and iodide
of potassium in large doses give very good results. The vocal and respiratory
troubles disappear — sometimes slowly, at other times quickly — and in many
instances specific treatment has averted troubles which seemed to demand
tracheotomy. We must bear these facts clearly in mind. Krishaber has
pul)lished some absolutely remarkable cases.
For some years I have exclusively employed oily or aqueous injections
of biniodide of mercury, and I find this preparation so superior that I treat
syphilis by means of these injections alone, and hardly ever use iodide of
potassium. This treatment will be found in the Appendix on Therapeutics.
In some cases, however, this treatment does not at first succeed. We
must persevere, and severe cases which have resisted treatment for twelve
days or a fortnight begin to yield, provided we keep on. I have seen patients
in a state of asphyxia from syphilis of the larynx. They had already taken
mercury and iodides, but still the lesion had made progress, because the
doses wcro neither sufficiently increased nor continued for a sufficiently
long period. 1 have had the satisfaction of seeing these [Kiticiits recover.
40 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
We must not be too ready to perform tracheotomy. Even when asphyxia
appears imminent, death rarely occurs from syphilis of the larynx, and, if
we push the treatment which I have just indicated, we shall generally
succeed in averting the danger without operation.
When tuberculosis and sypliilis are present together, it seems, according
to the most recent statistics, that it may be advantageous not to treat the
syphilis. Tonic treatment must especially be employed. In addition to
the fact that mercury and iodides weaken a tubercidar patient, tuberculosis
progresses in proportion as syphilis improves ; indeed, it appears to assume
an exceptionally serious character. On the other hand, the two affections
appear to neutralize one another to a certain degree — at least, for a time.
Hereditary Syphilis of the Larynx.
The larynx is no more secure from the lesions of early or late hereditary
syphilis than other organs. " The laryngeal manifestations of hereditary
syphilis are much more common in youth than we usually think. Mackenzie
has met with a great number of cases, some in the first year (early hereditary),
and others up to twelve and fifteen years (late hereditary)." The lesions
attack the epiglottis (perichondritis), which is red, thick, ulcerated, and
adherent to the neighbouring parts (larjnigeal atresia). The arytenoid
regions and ventricular bands are infiltrated and covered with vegetations
(Moure). The vocal cords are sometimes normal, at other times thickened
and ulcerated. Vocal and respiratory troubles are the chief symptoms.
The voice is husky or inaudible, and in the child who cannot talk the cry
presents the same changes (Sevestre). Respiration is embarrassed from
simple breathlessness to the most severe dyspnoea.
I am convinced that many infants with laryngeal troubles which simu-
late inflammation or oedema of the larynx are really suffering from heredi-
tary syphilis. I saw, with Dr. Bonin, a young infant who had been seized
with such severe attacks that tracheotomy was discussed. The attack
yielded after some days, thanks to Van Swieten's liquor. M. Sevestre has
reported several cases of the same kind. We cannot pay too much attention
to the pathogenic diagnosis of laryngeal affections.
V. TUBERCULOSIS OF THE LARYNX— LARYNGEAL
PHTHISIS.
Pathological Anatomy. — Each organ or each tissue reacts, in its own
way, to the invasion of the tubercle bacillus. The large nasal tubercle, which
might almost be taken for a sarcoma, and the small tubercular granulations
scattered over the intestine or the meninges look quite different, and yet the
same micro-organism is the cause in both cases. The larynx, too, has its
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 41
own peculiar kind of tuberculosis, and we find three varieties of lesion, either
alone or in combination : infiltration, ulceration, and vegetations, are
the usual lesions in tuberculosis of tlie larynx.
In acute cases, and especially in acute pharyngo-laryngeal tul)ercu-
losis, the miliary granulations are scattered over the surface of the larvnx ;
but in chronic cases, which are much more frequent, the granulations are,
so to say, hidden in the base or aroimd the ulcerations. The chief feature
in tuberculosis of the larynx is infiltration ; ulcerations and vegetations may
be present or absent.
Tuberculous infiltration may attack all the layers of the lar^mx. It
invades the glands, and develops at the expense of the connective tissue
and of the epithelial cells ; it surrounds the vessels like a muff ; the tunica
adventitia is involved, and the lumen of the vessel is obliterated. In the
muscles it produces an interstitial myositis. Lastly, it becomes diffused
throughout the different tissues, and provokes hypertrophic indurations,
which, though bordering on fibrosis, only look like (edema (Doleris).
In the cadaver the tuberculous infiltration appears as a greyisli or
yellowisli swelling, with uniform or uneven surface ; it is firm to the touch,
and fairly hard on cutting. For a long time tliis swelling was mistaken for
oedema (Gougenheim).
The interarytenoid region, the arytenoids — which stand out like sugar-
loaves — the ventricular bands, the aryteno-epiglottic folds, and the epi-
glottis, take part, separately or simultaneously, in the swelling, wliich may be
considcra]>le. The vocal cords are more rarely swollen ; they are reddish,
streaked with vessels, and sometimes resemble cushions in appearance.
In some regions of the larynx, as in the vocal cords, the process is charac-
terized by a fibrous or fibro-caseous condition, which closely resembles lupus.
Laryngeal tuberculosis is often ulcerative. The ulcers begin in the
superficial layer of the mucosa, often in a caseous gland. Small caseous foci
are seen on the interarytenoid mucous membrane, the epiglottis, the folds,
and the vocal cords. The lesion develops in the corium of the mucosa.
First, congestion of the part, and, later, nniltiplication of the connective cells,
are seen. This infiltration, which is primarily submucous, and especially
active in the glandular acini, extends and undergoes caseous degeneration,
followed by ulceration.
These ulcers often become more extensive by the coalescence of
secondary ulcers. The edges are jagged and infiltrated with tubercles ; the
floor is covered with large polypoid vegetations, especially in ulcers of the
interarytenoid region.
The arytenoid region is generally first affected ; the ulceration
may deepen and attack ihe crico-arytenoid articulation and the perichon-
drium. The arytenoid and cricoid cartihiges are frequently attacked, while
42 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
the thyroid cartilage usually remains free. In some cases the lesion starts
in the perichondrium or in the joint, and forms a " tumor albus " con-
taining bacilli. The invasion of the cartilage is preceded by calcareous
infiltration and ossification, and is followed by necrosis, expulsion of the
sequestrum, suppuration, fistula, and oedema. The sequestrum is reddish,
dry, and situated at the bottom of a foul-smelling anfractuous cavity. The
elimination of sequestra provokes migratory abcesses, and the pus finds its
way into the larynx or the pharynx, or outwards through the skin. (Edema
of the larynx, subcutaneous emphysema, and laryngeal fistulae result from
this process.
Tubercular ulcerations also attack the aryteno-epiglottic folds, and may
destroy the ventricular bands, obliterating Morgagni's ventricles. The
epiglottis is more rarely ulcerated. When it is attacked, the base and the
laryngeal surface suffer, whereas syphilis usually affects the lingual surface.
The vocal cords are often ulcerated, toothed like a saw, or completely
destroyed.
The vegetations in laryngeal tuberculosis may show two forms. In the
first form the vegetation develops in an ulcer, and forms a bud, which is
limited to the ulcerating surface and has a papillomatous appearance.
These papillomata, wliich are chiefly found at the arytenoid region and the
posterior part of the vocal cords, may grow to a large size. Sometimes they
look like cauliflowers, partially obstruct the orifice of the glottis, and, as they
are lacking in firmness, are easily detached. If they should fall into the
respiratory passages, they may give rise to the gravest accidents.
In the second form the vegetation does not begin in an ulcer, but develops
on its own account, and is chiefly met with in primary tuberculosis of the
larynx (Mandl).
In tubercular laryngitis the peritracheal and bronchial glands are often
attacked by inflammation, and cause lesions of the recurrent nerves.
Symptoms. — Tuberculous infiltration may exist at certain points in
the larynx without causing any symptoms. As a rule, the lesion is slow
in its progress. At first it invades the arytenoid region, the ventricular
bands, and the vocal cords, and for some time the only symptom is hoarse-
ness and muffling of the voice ; neither respiratory troubles nor pain are
present at this stage.
In some cases, however, even from the first the patient experiences a
tickling in the larynx, which is very disagreeable, and causes incessant jerky
cough. The sufferer firmly believes that a particle of food has been arrested
in the larynx.
In some cases the voice remains almost normal, but the breathing is
rather short and quick, and inspiration is more noisy than in the normal
state, because the inspired air meets with resistance at the swollen glottis.
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 43
If tlie lar}Tix be examined at this stage, which may be of indefinite
duration, we are struck by the unusual pallor of the velum palati, the
pharynx, and the vestibule of the larjmx. We find swelling of the inter-
arytenoid tissues, which are specially affected by tubercular lesions ; the
cartilages of Santorini, the aryteno-epiglottic folds, the ventricular bands,
and the epiglottis are all swollen. In some cases the vocal cords are greyish,
or rosy and enlarged.
At a more advanced stage these lesions are more marked ; the infiltration
causes the arytenoids to stand out like sugar-loaves, and the interarytenoid
space is covered with vegetations, while the ventricular bands are enormous
and cover the subjacent vocal cords, which are no longer visible. The
aryteno-epiglottic ligaments, which are fixed and swollen, narrow the
aperture of the larynx ; the vocal cords are streaked with red, especially on
their posterior third, have a skin-like appearance, and show erosions and
indentations, while one cord is paretic and does not approximate well.
Finally, the larynx as a whole is irregular, funnel-shaped, and covered with
thick mucus. At this time the vocal troubles are very marked, yet aphonia
may not be complete and dyspnoea may not be severe.
The disease may remain for an indefinite period in the stage of tubercular
infiltration without ending in ulceration ; if ulceration ensue, dyspnoea and
acute pain supervene. The voice is almost completely lost ; sometimes
the aphonia is complete, and it cannot well be otherwise, since the vocal cords
are hypertrophied, ulcerated, covered by the enlarged ventricular bands, and
fixed by the ankylosis of the arytenoids.
The cough depends rather upon the changes in the lung than upon the
lesions of the larynx ; it is stifled and belching (Trousseau and Belloc), so
that the patient, when coughing, appears to be making attempts at belching.*
Acute perichondritis is revealed by sharp pains, with respiratory embarrass-
ment. If an abscess forms, the dyspnoea becomes excessive, and the abscess,
which is situated in the arytenoid, opens into the pharynx or the larynx.
Ulcers on the base of the epiglottis and on the aryteno-epiglottic folds
are often associated with similar lesions of the base of the tongue and of the
pharynx ; they render swallowing extremely painful. This dysphagia is
so painful that in some cases the patient feels as though " a live coal had
been swallowed." Not only is the pain made worse by the least attempt
at swallowing, but in .some cases the patient experiences constant hvpor-
sosthe.sia of the back of the throat. The saliva, which is abundant, cannot be
swallowed, and drips from the mouth ; the patient, deprived of rest, sleep,
* Thi.s phonnmcnon is easily oxplaincd. In iho. j)liy.'*i')l()gi<'al condition tin' smidcn
opening of the vocal cords by a jerky (-xpirat ion gives llie coiigii its pciculiar tunc ; but
in la^\^l<:(■al |)litliisis, as tlio wido-opon glottis no longer offers any resistance, tlio oxpinxl
air is belched out.
44 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
and nourishment, becomes marasmic and disheartened if relief be not forth-
coming.
Aural pain, which may be very intense in all laryngopathies, is sometimes
present.
Dyspnoea, which is so often seen in advanced tuberculosis of the larynx,
is due to infiltration, swelling of the tissues, oedema of the larynx, polypoid
vegetations, and to perichondritis, with its resultant abscesses. Every
variety occurs : it may be slow or sudden in its appearance, and is sometimes
accompanied by attacks of suffocation and spasms of the glottis. The
breathing, which is harsh or noisy, sometimes takes a strident character.
Laryngoscopic examination is often difficult by reason of the abnormal
positions of the epiglottis, the swelling, the oedema, and the muco-purulent
secretion which covers the larynx.
The course and duration of the malady are very variable. In some
cases the march of events is rapid, and life is threatened by an abscess
following acute perichondritis, by oedema of the glottis, or by pulmonary
phthisis, which complicates the laryngeal mischief and hastens events. The
patient becomes marasmic, the wasting is extreme, and hectic fever closes
the scene.
Catarrhal Form. — I have just described the most common form of
laryngeal tuoerculosis, which runs a slow course ; in some cases, however,
the disease begins abruptly, like simple catarrhal laryngitis, with cough,
sudden hoarseness, and aphonia, which may be complete and last for several
days. Laryngoscopy reveals nothing but redness, swelling of the mucosa,
and more or less abundant secretion. If the patient already have tubercular
lesions in the lungs, though he have only slight signs, the laryngitis is open
to discussion. Some writers say that it is tubercular, other writers call it
" laryngitis in tubercular subjects." I do not say that tubercular patients
cannot have catarrhal laryngitis, but I think that most cases of so-called
catarrhal laryngitis in phthisical subjects are tubercular. They are more
persistent than cases of simple catarrh, they are subject to relapses, they leave
infiltration of the mucosa behind them, and though they are sometimes
completely cured, yet they may end in infiltration and ulceration. This
laryngitis, therefore, in a patient with haemoptysis, pleurisy, or tubercular
lesions in the lungs, is really tubercular, even though it be apparently benign
and catarrhal. Though it may be cured, and may rarely end in the other
forms of laryngeal phthisis, I consider it as a manifestation of tuberculosis,
just as are those cases of pleurisy or of haemoptysis which sometimes super-
vene during excellent health. They are, nevertheless, the first sign of
tubercular mischief that will be fully developed some months or years later.
So-called catarrhal laryngitis presents in some cases frankly tubercular
lesions, which prove that bacillary infection may occur, not only in the
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 45
depth of the tissues, but also in the superficial layers. Heintze, quoted by
Hering, saw a trifling infiltration of the ventricular band, and found bacilli
in it, between the epithelium, in the glands, and in the cylindrical epithelial
cells of the glands. The bacillus, says M. Hering, may be introduced by
the glands, and thus provoke an infection of superficial origin.
Diagnosis. — Let us first establish the diagnosis at the start of the
malady. The symptoms of laryngeal tuberculosis in its first period —
namely, cough, hoarseness, and dysphonia — are common to every chronic
laryngitis. These symptoms, therefore, cannot give sufficient data either
Lor or against tuberculosis.
Laryngeal tuberculosis may begin with paralysis of a vocal cord, the
appearance of a papillomatous vegetation, or an attack of catarrh. An
affirmative diagnosis, therefore, is difficult at the outset. Certain signs,
however, are of very great importance. One of these signs is the unusual
pallor of the velum palati and of the epiglottis. This pallor is sometimes as
marked as in most characteristic anaamia ; the mucosa of the palate and the
parts of the larynx which are usually pink take on a dull, greyish, and
sometimes opaque tint in tuberculosis. This pallor is not seen in non-
tubercular laryngitis, and is therefore a valuable sign.
Another sign in laryngeal tube^rculosis is the initial localization of the
lesions. The interarytenoid and the arytenoid regions are the seat of
election in tubercular lesions ; swelling, granulations, and vascularization
of the above regions, together with the anjemic appearance just described,
are strongly in favour of tuberculosis.
At a more advanced stage we must distinguish phthisis from syphilis
and from cancer of the larynx. This question is fully discussed under
Syphilis of the Larynx. Syphilis rarely attacks the vocal cords ; it seizes
the parts which adjoin the pharynx — i.e., the epiglottis and the posterior
surface of the arytenoids. Furthermore, syphilitic idceration is usually
limited to one point, and does not invade the rest of the larynx. In tuber-
culosis the ulcerations are multiple, and accompanied by more or less inteuso
laryngitis. Tubercular ulcerations are frecpioiitly covered by p()ly[)()id
growths, which are much rarer in syphilis. Syphilitic ulcerations are quickly
imjiroved by treatment, whilst remedies have practically no effect on
tubercular ulcerations. SyphiUs, like phthisis, may attack the cartilages,
but in eighteen cases out of twenty necrosis of the larynx is of tubercular
origin. By scraping the ulcer we can remove some particles of secretion and
fitid the tubercle bacillus.
Cancer of the larynx, and especially epithelioma, presents the peculi-
arity of being almost indolent, and of having a very much slower course
in the larynx than in other organs ; indeed, a patient with cancer of the
larynx may live for two or three years after tracheotomy (Krishaber). \'ocal
46 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
troubles are for a long while the only symptom, and when other local and
general symptoms supervene, such as haemorrhage, foetor of the breath,
dysphagia, pain, dyspnoea, etc., the laryngoscope generally reveals the
cancerous vegetations.
etiology. — According to Heintze, the larynx of adults who are suffering
from pulmonary tuberculosis is aiTected in 50 per cent, of the cases. In
some cases the laryngeal trouble is primary, and appears as the first mani-
festation of tubercular infection. As a rule, laryngeal tuberculosis is
secondary to pulmonary disease, and the infection of the larynx takes place
either by the deep path of the vessels and lymphatics or by the superficial
path along the surface of the mucosa, or through the excretory ducts of the
glands. Louis supposed that the constant passage of infected sputum from
the lungs infected the larynx. As for the other causes, they closely follow
the aitiology of pulmonary phthisis. Males appear more predisposed than
females, and the malady occurs in the former between twenty- five and
forty years of age.
In the child laryngeal tuberculosis deserves special mention : the younger
the child the rarer the disease. Parrot found tubercular laryngitis in only
3 per cent, of autopsies on infants under two years. In the infant pul-
monary tuberculosis is usually of the miliary form ; the child does not
expectorate, and its larynx is not bathed in pus swarming with bacilli ;
this factor, no doubt, helps to explain the rarity of tubercular laryngitis in
children.
In my experiments with Krishaber we studied the results of inoculation
and contagion in the ape.* We were struck by the fact that animals which
had been inoculated and had died from tuberculosis showed no tubercular
changes in the larynx.
Treatment. — Laryngeal tuberculosis is not incurable. It sometimes
remains stationary, and several cases (Hering) prove that the tubercular
ulcers may be cured. Every effort must be made to relieve the dysphagia
and the hypersesthesia of the back of the throat, which cause such torture
to the patient.
For tliis purpose hypodermic injections of morphia should be given
morning and evening. At meals the painful parts should be touched with
a brush or a sponge, mounted on a curved handle and soaked in the
following solution :
Cocaine hydrochlorate . . . . 1 part.
Water 50 parts.
With a little practice, the patient himself can paint the painful parts with
the solution, but he must avoid swallowing it. Inhalations and sprays of
* Dieulafoy and Krishaber, Arch, de Physioloyie, March, 1881, No. 3.
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 47
water containing a little sulphur (AUevard) may render some service.
Painting the ulcers with a 10 per cent, or 20 per cent, solution of lactic acid,
and later with the pure acid, sometimes yields good results. Ruault employs
phenol and sulphur in castor oil.
The cough may be reUeved by careful intratracheal injections of menthol
in oily solution, but this method demands much judgment. The gargles
of very hot and astringent wine which Bonnier employs for gouty laryngitis
are also of service, by soothing the cough and the pharyngo-laryngeal
irritation.
Bonnier prefers insufflations which the patient can use without the
physician's aid, such as iodol, 1 part ; sodium benzoate, 6 parts ; tolu,
'J parts ; taimin, 1 part ; gum arable, 3 parts ; cinnamon, 020 part, to
sprays of menthol or eucalyptus.
Curetting the ulcers and cauterization has rendered good service in
experienced hands.
The " altitude cure " is not contra-indicated in cases of tubercular
laryngitis. I have seen the larynx, as well as the lung, improve by the cure
at Davos-Platz.
VI. LARYNGEAL DIPHTHERIA- CROUP.*
Definition. — Croup, or pseudo-membranous laryngitis, is charac-
terized by tlie presence of membranes in the larynx and trachea. These
membranes may exceptionally be due to a non- diphtheritic lesion, the
diphtheria bacillus taking no part in the process. CUnical medicine had
created a simple croup, said to be neither contagious nor infectious, and,
indeed, clinical medicine was right. Bacteriology has shown that false
membranes in the larynx and pharynx may be produced by microbes which
have nothing in common with the diphtheria bacillus. A small diplococcus
may give birth to membranes in the larynx or the pharynx, although it has
none of the toxic properties of the diphtheria bacillas. We shall return to
this point later.
We fuid, then, diphtheritic croup, Avhich is the rule, and non-diphtheritic
croup, which is the exception.
History.t — In 1765 Home, a Scotch physician, published an interesting
monograph on croup. He was the first to indicate clearly the characteristics
of tliis malady, and to separate it from certain affections of the pharynx
with which it had been previously confounded ; but he was doubly wrong in
mistaking the identical nature of diphtheritic angina and of croup, which
other observers had previously established, and in giving a single description
for two distinct maladies — i.e., false croup and true croup. Bretonneau,
* To avoid rcpelitions, seo articK'S on Diphtheria and Diplitlieritio Angina.
t To complcto tho history, refer to the cliaptor on Diplithoria.
48 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
in his memorable work on diphtheritis, re-established the identity which
Home had failed to recognize. He applied the term " laryngite stridu-
leuse " to a malady which simulates croup, but which has nothing in common
with it. We know how brilliantly Trousseau completed the teachings of
his master, Bretonneau, on diphtheria and croup, and with what success he
made the operation of tracheotomy popular.
The bacteriological researches of recent years have given valuable
precision to the diagnosis and the prognosis of croup, while serotherapy
has completely modified the treatment.
Division — etiology. — Croup is primary when the diphtheria which
engenders it attacks the patient while in good health. It is secondary when
the diphtheria supervenes as a complication in the course of some other
malady, such as measles, scarlatina, whooping-cough, or typhoid fever.
Croup usually follows diphtheria of the pharynx, and statistics prove
that the larynx is chiefly invaded from the second to the fifth day of the
angina. Croup sometimes follows diphtheritic COryza — that is to say,
the diphtheria begins in the nose and spreads to the larynx. Cases of croup
secondary to diphtheria of the bronchi have been seen, and have been
called " ascending " croup. Diphtheria may also invade the larynx before
other parts, and the di-sease is then called primary. This form, however, is
very rare, and, in order to vouch for this fact, we must be certain that the
throat and the nasal fossae are normal.
In some cases croup appears though false membranes in the throat are
absent, and yet cultures made from the mucus on the tonsils may show
the diphtheria bacillus. We see, therefore, how rare primary croup
must be.
The chief causes of croup are epidemicity and contagion. Contagion
is only too well proved by the numerous examples of physicians who have
contracted the disease from their patients. In certain parts — Paris, for
example — croup is endemic Epidemic croup sometimes rages Avith
terrible severity, as witness the epidemics which ravaged Europe in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries — the enfermedal del garrotillo in
Spain, the morbus strangulatorius in Italy. Croup spares no age, though
it chiefly attacks infants between the age of two and seven years.
Symptoms. —The present description refers to diphtheritic croup in
children. Whether croup at once invade the larynx, or whether it be
preceded by diphtheritic tonsillitis or coryza, the growth of membrane in
the larynx and the trachea is immediately announced by vocal and respira-
tory trouble. The false membrane may be said to sum up almost the
whole history of croup, for its presence on the vocal cords and in the larynx
alters the normal sounds, narrows the glottis, and hinders or prevents the
entry of air into the lungs.
r
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 49
The pathological role of the false membrane, however, is essentially
a mechanical one. In some cases this mechanical role is of secondary
importance, and the gravity of the illness does not arise from the obstruction
of the larynx, but comes from the preceding angina, from the poisoning of
the economy by the diphtheritic toxine, from the concomitant bronchitis
and broncho-pneumonia, from the addition of secondary infections, from
the association of the streptococcus with the diphtheria bacillus, etc.
Cough is the earhest sign of croup. Slight and trifling at first, it returns
in very short fits ; during the next few days it acquires a dull and muffled
quality, and becomes as inaudible as the voice. As the disease progresses
the cough becomes less frequent, and the fits only recur every quarter or
half hour, and even at longer intervals (Trousseau). The voice is at first
hoarse, but after some days it becomes inaudible, and the aphonia is com-
plete. Vox nihil significat, said .\jet3eus.
In the child the respiratory troubles are early and marked, because the
larynx is narrower than in the adult. The dyspnoea, which is at first slight,
begins at night, and is ushered in by shght whistling on inspiration ; it
increases as the aperture of the glottis becomes narrowed by the false
membrane, which forms chiefly on the aryteno-epiglottic ligaments and the
vocal cords, and as the air meets. an obstacle, the inspiration is changed
into a shrill and prolonged whistling. At the same time depression of
the epigastric hollow and of the suprasternal fossse occurs. This " sucking-
in " is due to the tendency each inspiration has to produce a vacuum in
the chest, and to the compensatory ascent of the diaphragm.
As the dyspnoea grows worse, the breathing becomes sawing, like the
noise which a saw makes when it cuts stone (Trousseau). Every two or
three hours at first, then every hour, and at yet more frequent intervals,
we ob-serve terrible attacks of suffocation ; they result from spasms of the
glottis, and resemble those seen in cEdematous or spasmodic laryngitis.
This struggle may last several days, and, if the illness do not take a favourable
turn, asphyxia ends the scene. " The bloated and cyanosed face, the hollow
and shining eyes, express the most painful anxiety, and at length the death
struggle begins, without there being from this time forward any attacks
of suffocation, such as tho.se which have already occurred might lead one
to expect " (Trousseau).
Auscultation of the chest, when there is no pulmonary complication,
reveals nothing but the echo of the laryngeal whistling. The respiratory
rhythm is altered, and expiration becomes longer than inspiration, from
the difliculty which the expiratory mascles experience in driving the air
through the narrowed glottis.
The expectoration is often characteristic, and about the third or the
fourth day tiie patient coughs up shreds of membrane — Hat if they come from
4
50 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
the larynx, tubular and branching if the bronchi be invaded. False
membranes are coughed up in half the cases.
The fever in croup is not, as a rule, high, and the temperature varies
between 101° and 103° F. Albuminuria is frequent (See, Barbosa), and is
due to nephritis, caused by the diphtheritic toxines.
Multiple eruptions have often been noted in croup, as in diphtheritic
angina (See) ; they show different forms and simulate the exanthems of
measles and of scarlet fever.
In adults the symptoms of croup present some differences, becau.se of
the shape and size of the larynx. The modifications of the cough and
voice are the same, but dyspnoea and asphyxia supervene slowly, and are
not, as a rule, accompanied by stridor and attacks of suffocation.
Course — Duration — Prognosis. — The course of croup may be divided
into two periods — the first of dyspnoea, the second of asphyxia — while the
two together may last from three days to a fortnight ; but many exceptions,
especially during an epidemic, are seen in the course and the succession of
symptoms, and the disease may be fatal on the third or even on the second
day. Trousseau's lectures on diphtheria and croup will suffice to warn us
against the surprises of tliis disease, and to show us how suddenly death may
appear. These fulminant forms are chiefly seen in adults, and are due
rather to the virulence of the infection than to the lesions in the larynx.
A terrible attack of suffocation may occur, and be followed by continuous
dyspnoea, or dyspnoea may come on without attacks of suffocation, and the
patient succumb to the infection (malignant diphtheria).
Abortive croup has been described. I have seen such an example in a
little boy who, some days before, had been attacked by nasal diphtheria.
In abortive croup the false membrane remains limited to the vestibule of
the larynx, or, at least, the cords are scarcely affected. The vocal troubles
are absent or insignificant, and the respiratory symptoms are not severe.
The progress of croup varies a httle, according to the virulence of the
infectious element. In general terms, when we see a relative calm between
the attacks of suffocation, it means that the child is not yet threatened by
the infectious element. If the little patient, however, be infected by the
disease (malignant diphtheria), the truce is not complete : no lull is seen
between the attacks, or after the expulsion of false membranes ; permanent
dyspnoea, prostration, thready pulse, and marked albuminuria bear witness
to the virulence of the infection and the gravity of the prognosis.
Cases of prolonged croup must be recognized. M. Cadet de Gassicourt
has cited cases of croup which lasted fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five days,
and recovered ; there was no asphyxial stage, and tracheotomy was not per-
formed.
During the course of the disease remissions are sometimes seen : the
DISEASES OF THE LAKYNX 51
voice regains its tone and the breathing its freedom ; but this improvement,
which is due to expulsion of membrane, is too often transient, and must not
be mistaken for recovery. Croup is an extremely serious malady, which
formerly, even with surgical intervention, often ended in death. Injections
of serum have recently improved the prognosis to a striking extent.
Complications.— Diphtheria of the bronchi may precede or follow the
laryngeal disease. In every case it increases the danger, because it adds a
fresh obstacle to that already present in the larynx. The patient brings up
membranes, which may be tubular, rolled up, or like coagulated mucus.
Broncho-pneumonia is a still worse complication, which appears at all
periods, both before and after tracheotomy, but, as a rule, from the third
to the sixth day of the disease. It is sometimes accompanied by gangrene
of the lung. Its onset is followed by a rise of temperature and violent
dyspnoea, so that in a child the respirations may exceed sixty (Millard).
Diphtheritic broncho- pneumonia is nearly always lobular, and not pseudo-
lobar. Anatomically it is characterized by a large amount of fibrin and
by hajmorrhages into the pulmonary lobules. Klebs' bacilli, and many
other microbes — streptococci, pneumococci, and staphylococci — are found
in the alveoli. In this variety, as in other kinds of broncho-pneumonia,
these secondary infections play a most important part in the production of
broncho- pulmonary lesions.
Pleurisy is sometimes a complication, but is of moderate importance.
Diphtheritic coryza, considered by Trousseau as of evil augury, is often
present in the malignant form of diphtheria.
In children tuberculosis is often associated with diphtheria of the
respiratory tract. " The gravity of tuberculosis is such," says Variot,
" that in fifty-four deaths which occurred in January and February at the
Bretonneau Annexe, we found tubercular lesions in the thoracic organ?
sixteen times."
After croup, as after all the local manifestations of diphtheria, we some-
times see paralysis ; but, as croup is rarely the only manifestation of diph-
theria, these paralyses are chiefly due to the concomitant angina. Lastly,
the eruptive fevers may appear in the course of croup, and give rise to
serious complications.
Diagnosis. — In cases where the diagnosis is difficult the laryngoscope
must be employed, especially in adults. This method has often confirmed
a doubtful diagnosis by revealing the presence of membranes in the larynx.
Acute laryngitis, oedema of the larynx, and spasmodic laryngitis are the
diseases which most resemble croup. In simple acute laryngitis the vocal
and respiratory symptoms are not so severe, and do not gradually get worse,
as they do in croup. In oedema of the glottis, which is very often but a
part of some other disease, the antecedents at once enlighten us. In any
4—2
r,2 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
case, the respiratory symptoms are worse than the vocal ; expiration is easier,
less prolonged than in croup, and sometimes accompanied by a hruit de
drapeau. The supraglottic oedema, which causes the dyspnoea, may also be
visible.
The diagnosis between croup and laryngitis due to hereditary syphilis
demands special notice. The symptoms may simulate those of croap so
closely that errors have been made. In my lectures at the Faculte I
reported the case of a young child who was about to undergo tracheotomy
for asphyxia set down to croup. Van Swieten's solution was given as soon
as hereditary syphilis was diagnosed, and we succeeded in curing the child
in a few days. M. Sevestre has reported several analogous cases. The
possibility of laryngeal syphilis must always be considered in a young child
who, in the absence of previous diphtheritic angina and of glandular en-
largement, presents symptoms analogous to those of croup.
The diagnosis between croup and false croup is somewhat difficult.
The two diseases have a different onset. The invasion of croup is more
insidious, and the respiratory symptoms gradually become intense. The
invasion of false croup is more sudden. A cliild who has gone to bed in good
health wakes suddenly, in the middle of the night, suffering from dyspnoea
that reaches its height at once, and, this attack over, the patient appears
next day to be in good health. In croup the cough and the voice are mufHed ;
the presence of membrane on the vocal cords explains the aphonia. In
false croup the voice and the cough are harsh and noisy, and resemble the
barking of a dog. They are not muffled, as in croup, at any rate, between
the attacks. During the attack of false croup, however, they may be muffled.
Besides the signs peculiar to each disease which I have just enumerated,
careful inquiry should be made into the antecedents of the patient : informa-
tion should be sought as to whether diphtheritic angina have been recently
present, and we must try to discover if some signs of it, such as enlargement
of the submaxillary glands, do not remain ! we must not forget that croup
is the only malady of the larynx which may be accompanied by the rejection
of false membranes.
Bacteriological Diagnosis. — The clinical diagnosis of croup is in many
cases insufficient, and must be completed by the bacteriological examination
of the membranes. Full details are given under Diphtheritic Angina, for
diphtheritic angina and laryngitis are closely associated. I recapitulate here
the points referring to croup. As I have already said, the diphtheria bacillus
is not the only microbe capable of producing false membranes. Just as
there are pseudo-diphtheritic anginoe, so there is a pseudo-diphtheritic
croup. This form of croup is neither contagious nor infectious ; it is not
accompanied by toxic symptoms, and is not marked by malignancy ; it is
due to a small diplococcus (Brisou's coccus).
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 53
Martin records seven cases of croup due to this diplococcus, with mem-
braneous angina of the same nature, and twelve cases of croup due to the
same coccus, without previous angina. Non-diphtheritic croup, due to
the diplococcus in question, is infinitely less serious than diphtheritic croup.
It is not toxic ; recovery usually takes place without secondary infections
and without tracheotomy. In these attenuated forms it may simulate
stridulous laryngitis ; indeed, I am of opinion that certam cases of false
croup are nothing else than a mild laryngitis, due to the diplococcus.
In other cases the bacteriological examination of the membrane in croup
reveals both the diphtheria bacillus and the small coccus. This association
of the diplococcus and the bacillus is not usually grave, and M. Martin's
monograph shows that these cases recover without secondary infections.
On the other hand, when examination reveals the association of the
diphtheria bacillus wdth the staphylococcus or the streptococcus, the prog-
no.sis is bad. The same remark applies in the case of diphtheritic angina.
The presence of the streptococcus in croup, as in angina, should make us
fear grave results. In such a case the symptoms comprise marked glandular
enlargement ("the proconsul's neck," Saint Germain), nasal discharge,
diarrhoea, and albuminuria, which lead us to fear the death of the child as
much from the general poisoning as from the croup.
These few data, with which every physician must to-day be familiar,
sufficiently indicate, in my opinion, the importance of bacteriology in
the present question. If we cannot make a direct examination of the
membranes from the larynx, the membranes and the mucus in the throat
must be examined, and, even in the absence of membrane in the throat, the
culture from a piece of mucus removed from the tonsil or from the pharynx
may often allow accurate diagnosis and prognosis to be made.
Secondary Croup, — This variety supervenes in the course of some
other disease, such as measles, scarlatina, whooping-cough, or typhoid
fever. The details will be found under these different diseases. In general
terms, the secondary forms are less characteristic in their ways than primary
croup and moro readily take on an infectious character.
Croup in Measles.— Diphtheria has a liking for measles. Orouj) in
measles is sometimes primary, and may appear about the same time as
the rash. The disease is often mild, and the laryngeal symptoms are slight :
yet the prognosis is extremely grave, because of the broncho-pneumonia
which accompanies it, and of the double infection of meades and diphtheria.
The membranes in the larynx are softer and more diffluent, and the lesions
are more of the ulcerative type.
Croup in Scarlatina. — Croup is much rarer in scarlatina than in measles ;
it rarely occuirs alone, and more often coincides with diphtheria of the
pharynx and the nasal fossae.
54 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Croup in Whooping-Cough. — Secondary croup in whooping-cough
comes next to that of measles in frequency.
Croup in Typhoid Fever. — Croup is excessively rare in the course of
typhoid fever.
Pathological Anatomy. — In croup the catarrhal inflammation of the
mucosa, the congestion and the oedema of the submucosa, are of secondary
moment ; the false membrane is the chief lesion. It covers the different
parts of the larynx, and especially the aryteno-epiglottic ligaments and the
vocal cords, either as a continuous membrane or in isolated patches. In
colour it is a yellowish-white, sometimes tinted with minute haemorrhages.
In some cases it is very thin, but in other cases its thickness may be as much
as 2 millimetres, owing to the stratified layers which grow on its deep
surface. The younger these layers are the greater their resistance, while
the older layers, which are pushed towards the surface, have become
friable. The false membranes are composed, not only of fibrin, but also of
pus corpuscles and epithelial cells from the mucosa, which undergo a colloid
infiltration, taken by Wagner for an albuminoid substance. These epi-
thelial cells, converted into refractile blocks, are deformed and branched like
a stag's horn (Wagner). Each stratum of the false membrane develops at
the expense of the corresponding epithelial layer, and becomes more super-
ficial as a fresh subjacent layer is produced. " It has been debated whether
the false membrane is above or below the epithelium ; from what has been
stated above, we see that it is formed exactly in the superficial layer of the
epithelium, and partly at its expense. Its structure, too, seems to differ
according to its age ; at the outset the epithelial network appears to be
prominent, but a little later the fibrinous and purulent elements are in
excess " (Leloir).
The mucosa beneath the false membrane is usually intact, and rarely
ulcerated. The diphtheria bacilh, the poison which they elaborate, and
their association with other bacteria, are described in detail under Diph-
theritic Angina.
The diphtheria bacillus undoubtedly gives rise to the membranes, and to
the poison which provokes intoxication and paralysis.
Treatment. — I cannot here enter into all the details of serotherapy, and
the reader is requested to consult the chapter on Diphtheritic Angina
for further details. I shall here describe the application of serotherapy to
croup.
The results of treatment largely depend upon the previous performance
of tracheotomy. The results are likewise very different, if the croup be due
to the diphtheria bacillus alone, or if it be due to the bacillus associated with
the staphylococcus or the streptococcus.
Let us consider these results.
DISEASES OF THE LAEYNX 55
1. A child who is suffering from croup has not yet been tracheoto-
mized. The cough is raucous, the voice is inaudible, the breathing difficult,
and the sucking-in well marked. Severe attacks of suffocation occur at brief
intervals. At first sight tracheotomy seems unavoidable, but an injection
of 20 centimetres of serum is given. Twelve hours later a second injection
is given, and in the great majority of cases the injections of serum arrest
the formation of fresh membranes, favour the r-.pid disappearance of those
already formed, and recovery is rapid. " In 169 cliildreu admitted for
diphtheritic angina, fifty-six showed lar}Tigeal trouble, and in twenty-five
tracheotomy appeared unavoidable. Under the influence of injections of
serum every twelve hours, the sucking-in decreased, and afterwards only
returned in fits. The child brought up the false membrane, and after
two or three days the breathing was natural, to the great astonishment
of the house-physicians and attendants in the diphtheria pavilion, who,
from their large acquaintance with children suffering from croup, quite
thought the operation could not be avoided " (Roux and Martin).
2. In children suffering from croup who have undergone tracheotomy
the success of serotherapy diminishes, according to the nature of the asso-
ciated microbes. These associations are the same in croup as in angina,
(a) The association of diphtheria with Brisou's small COCCUS is favour-
able both in croup and in angina. In the statistics of Roux and Martin,
the mortality was only one in ten cases, and this was due to broncho-
pneumonia following tracheotomy. The quantity of serum injected amounted
to 50 c.c. in divided doses.
(6) The association of diphtheria with the staphylococcus is to be
feared. It is not deadly in the case of angina, but is very fatal in cases of
croup after tracheotomy, because it gives rise to pulmonary comphcations,
such as broncho-pneumonia, which often follow the operation, and against
which injections of serum are often impotent. In eleven cases Roux and
Martin recorded seven deaths, a mortality of 63 per cent. The mean quantity
of serum employed in divided doses amounted to 60 c.c. In these patients
the membranes are pultaceoiLS and very extensive ; the temperature was
always above 103° F., and the breathing was much quickened.
(c) The association of the diplitheria bacillus with the streptoCOCCUS is
most formidable, both in croup and in angina. In spite of serotherapy, the
mortality in cases of croup which have been operated upon has b(^en
63 per cent., according to Roux and Martin. Broncho-pneumonia and
pseudo- membraneous bronchitis are responsible for most of the deaths.
Since many cases of secondary infection can be set down to tracheotomy,
this operation must in future be replaced, when possible, by intubation.
Intubation of the larynx was extolled by Bouchut, but his instrument
rendered the results of intervention .so hazardous that physicians followed
56 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Trousseau's advice, and abandoned intubation, tracheotomy being infinitely
superior. Great progress, however, has been made in the apparatus for
intubation. The method has been so perfected, thanks to Collin's instru-
ments and to Bayeux's technique, that hesitation is no longer possible. In
the very great majority of cases intubation will replace tracheotomy.
The -writings of Variot and Bayeux and of Martin give us the most com-
plete information on this subject. As Bayeux says : " We run the risks of
grave results — nay, even of the death of children — by delay. We risk
nothing by intubation when carried out betimes."
VII. STRIDULOUS LARYNGITIS— FALSE CROUP.
JEtiology. — Stridulous laryngitis (Bretonneau), or false croup
(Guersant), is simply an acute catarrhal laryngitis of infancy, which derives
its spasmodic character from the tender age of its victims. In small children
the intercartilaginous glottis is rudimentary, and the aperture of the glottis
is short and narrow. Changes in the larynx are, therefore, readily accom-
panied by dyspnoea, wliich in children takes the form of fits. This laryn-
gitis is most frequent from two to six years, is often seen during the invasion
of measles, and may be the forerunner of broncho-pneumonia.
Description. — Trousseau has given so complete an account of this
malady that I cannot do better than quote it in extenso ." " A child between
the age of two and five years is seized in the middle of the night— about
eleven, twelve, or one o'clock — with an attack of dyspnoea. He wakes out
of his sleep in a very uneasy and feverish state. His cough is harsh and
very frequent, but strong and noisy ; his breatliing is jerky, panting, and
accompanied by inspiratory stridor. His voice, which is modified in its
timbre, is inaudible during the fits, but rough and hoarse in the intervals.
There is, however, one capital fact — it is never extinguished, as in true
croup."
Oppression and anxiety are sometimes excessive ; the face is congested,
and the eyes express profound terror. This alarming crisis may last from
half an hour to about three hours, but the attack then ends. The child
becomes quiet, sleep returns, and the pulse-rate falls. The skin is slightly
moist. Then the patient wakes up. The cough is still croupy, though
looser. During the day it is still more catarrhal, the breatliing is less whist-
ling, and the voice has almost regained its natural tone. As a rule, the
attacks recur several nights in succession, but they always decrease in
violence, while the days are good, the patient having but little fever or
malaise, and suffering from a loose and less croupy cough. On questioning
the parents we learn that the child went to bed quite well and fell into a
peaceful sleep. Sometimes, on the contrary, we are informed that he had
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 57
been out of sorts for some days, that he had taken cold, but had retained his
u^ual spirits. Lastly, if the throat be examined, the most careful examina-
tion shows that false membranes and glandular enlargement are absent.
This sudden onset, with symptoms wliich are more alarming in appearance
than those at the commencement of croup, is in most cases characteristic
of false croup. This malady results in cure, fatal cases being very rare.
Diagnosis — Treatment. — The diagnosis of stridulous laryngitis is given
under Croup. It is always necessary to think of hereditary syphilis of the
larjTix, wliich simulates both croup and false croup.
If the reader ^vill refer to Croup, he will see, under Bacteriological
Diagnosis, that in some children the laryngeal troubles are due to the presence
of a small diplococcus, and may resemble both true and false croup. I
think that, even in a condition which has every appearance of false croup,
we should not neglect bacteriological examination of the mucus or of the
pharyngo-larpigeal secretions. A case which is taken for a false croup
may be really laryngitis, or pharyngo -laryngitis, due to the diplococcus ;
membranes may be present or absent. False croup recovers without active
treatment. It is sufficient to apply blisters, or a sponge soaked in very hot
water, to the child's neck (Graves). A moist atmosphere from a steam-
kettle should be maintained around the patient's bed and emollient drinks
given. Tracheotomy is only required in exceptional cases. False croup,
however, has proved fatal.
VIII. (EDEMA OF THE LARYNX— (EDEMA IN BRIGHT'S
DISEASE.
Syphilitic (Edema.
Definition. — The terms "(Edematous laryngitis," '" oedematous
laryngeal angina " (Trousseau), " laryngeal infiltration " (Jaccoud), and
"oedema of the glottis," have been used to describe infiltrations of the
larynx, which differ shglitly in nature, but present almost identical symptoms.
Bayle, who first described oedematous laryngitis (1808), considered it, with
good reason, to be dropsy of the larynx, analogous to dropsy of tlie celhilar
tissue. Bouillaud and Cruveilhier, on the contrary, endeavoured to show
that it had nothing to do with dropsy, but was really an inflammatory
lesion, causing the formation of purulent fluid. Both opinions are true.
In some cases it is a question of oedema in the true sense of the word, the
inflltration being purely serous (nephritis, scarlatina, oedema from cold),
but at other times the infiltration is sero-purulent (ulcerative laryngitis,
laryngeal infections, erysipelas of the pharynx, tumours of the pliaryux and
of tlie tongue, laryngo-typhus, etc.).
In this chapter, however, I shall not consider purulent infiltrations of
58 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
the larynx, or, at least, only in an incidental way. I have only in view
oedema properly so-called — that is, infiltration of the larynx comparable to
oedema of the cellular tissue. I have, therefore, headed this chapter
" (Edema of the Larynx." I shall first give a general survey of the question
and then discuss oedema as seen in Bright's disease and in syphilis.
Site of the (Edema. — The laryngeal mucosa is not everywhere ad-
herent to the subjacent fibro-elastic tissue. The adhesion is lax at the
glosso- and aryteno-epiglottic folds ; in the arytenoid region it is quite slight,
and it is not close on the vocal cords. Certain of these parts are rich in
cellular tisssue, and therefore oedema readily forms there.
According to its site, the infiltration may be supraglottic, glottic, or
subglottic. The term " CBdema of the glottis " is therefore improper,
and comprises but a small part of the question, because, in most cases,
oedema affects parts other than the glottis. Supraglottic infiltration is the
most frequent, because of the situation of the lesions which produce oedema,
and especially because the submucous connective tissue is abundant in this
region. The aryteno-epiglottic and glosso-epiglottic folds, the epiglottis,
the ventricles of Morgagni, the interarytenoid tissue, and the pharynx
itself, participate in the trouble, and the cushions of oedema can be felt by
the finger. The oedema is said to be glottic when it occupies the vocal
cords. When the infiltration is subglottic, the laryngoscope reveals a
reddish swelling on the side of the trachea.
Pathological Anatomy. — The mucosa which covers the oedematous
parts is sometimes pale and anaemic, at other times red and injected. The
vestibule is much infiltrated ; the aryteno-epiglottic folds, which, from
the abundance and laxity of their connective tissue, present the chief
lesion, are oedematous, and may be enormously swollen.* The epiglottis
has lost its shape, and may be three times as thick as normal. These
lesions readily explain the almost complete obliteration of the orifice of the
larynx. The oedematous parts, on incision, are found to be infiltrated with
serous fluid ; oedema sums up the whole lesion. When the infiltration of
the larynx is secondary to deep ulcerations — perichondritis, necrosis of
cartilages, or sequestra — we find, in addition to the serous or sero-purulent
infiltration, the lesions described under Syphilis, Tuberculosis, and Cancer
of the Larynx.
etiology — Pathogenesis. — (Edema of the larynx may be primary,
accidental, or secondary. Primary oedema exists as a distinct disease, and
may be produced by a chill. Trousseau reports a remarkable case : " A
* Sestier, by injecting water into the carotids of a cadaver, has produced artificial
oedema of the larynx, studied its distribution and compared the size of each of the
affected parts. Experimental research, in connection with pathology, shows that the
aryteno-epiglottic folds are chiefly affected.
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 59
drunken man, who slept in the street one cold night, was seized by acute
oedema of the larynx." The condition here was " true oedema " ; the
swelling of the laryngeal mucosa is comparable to that of the nasal mucosa in
coryza. I think, however, that laryngeal oedema a frigqre is very rare, and,
on closer inspection, some other factor, such as Bright's disease or syphilis,
is often found.
Accidental oedema follows wounds and burns. Sestier has collected
sixty-nine cases. Oedema secondary to some lesion of the lar5mx, or of a
neighbouring part, is quite common. " Every inflammatory process,"
says Trousseau, " determines in its neighbourhood oedema which varies
in direct ratio with the amount of loose connective tissue. In the eyelids,
for example, and on the prepuce, where the connective tissue is abundant
and loose, a pustule of variola, or a patch of erysipelas, may cause enormous
swelling. This oedema, which Virchow called collateral, and which is some-
times sero- purulent, finds a most favourable soil in the abundant lax cellular
tissue of the supraglottic region.
Laryngeal tuberculosis may cause oedema of the larynx. The condi-
tion in some cases is a false oedema, and is really a tubercular infiltration
which invades the folds, the ventricular bands, and the epiglottis ; these
parts are hypertrophied and indurated by infiltration of tubercular tissue,
and the condition is certainly not oedema. Nevertheless, true oedema
may appear in the course of laryngeal tuberculosis ; it is provoked by
ulceration, and especially by tubercular perichondritis and by lesions of the
cartilages. The oedema in tuberculosis of the larynx chiefly occupies the
arytenoid region ; it is asually soft and pale, because of the ana^niia of the
mucous membrane.
Cancer of the larynx causes oedema, which nearly always begins on one
of the ventricular bands. It remains unilateral, reaches the arytenoid and
the corresponding aryteno-epiglottic fold ; it rarely attacks the epiglottis,
docs not spread far, and develops side by side with the cancer.
LaryngO-typhus may determine severe oedema. In the decline of typhoid
fever infiltration, due to the necrosis of the cartilages, appears; its onset
may be slow or rapid. Scarlatina, especially during defervescence, may set
up oedema of the larynx. Trousseau has reported several examples. Acute
or chronic nephritis (including saturnine nephritis) may bring on oedema of
the larynx. (Edema of the edge of the vocal cords is extremely frequent
in young girls who are learning to sing.
60 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
CEdema of the Larynx in Bright's Disease.
The following example will give an exact idea of this condition :* A man was ad-
mitted into my wards with symptoms of asphyxia. His chief complaint was noisy,
laboured breathing, with stridor audible from one end of the ward to the other. Ex-
piration little affected ; each inspiration required much effort. The inspired air finally
entered the limgs, but caused a sa-nnng noise. Inspection showed considerable sucking-
in, with depression of the suprasternal and epigastric hollows ; the diaphragm was
apparently ch'awn upwards. The voice was tUghtly hoarse, a proof that the vocal
cords were but httle affected.
The man stated that he had been sick for the past month. The dyspnoea was not
the first symptom, and the illness began with dysphagia, which gradually became so
severe that the passage of food and drink was almost impossible. Ten or twelve days
later the patient experienced a feeling of strangulation, which he compared to a foreign
body blocking the entrance of the air-passages. The dyspnoBa was at first uniform,
but later interrupted by paroxysms. These symptoms finally made life almost unbear-
able. He was worn out, and could not take food. Breathing required the greatest
efl'ort ; each inspiration was a struggle for life, and the prognosis was most alarming.
Fig. 1. — CEdema of the Larynx.
e, Epiglottis — very cedematous, irregular, and red. It forms an enormous eyebrow
above the vestibule of the larynx, and is continuous with the aryteno-epiglottic folds,
which are very cedematous.
a, Arytenoid region — also swollen, deformed and retracted towards the oesophagus.
h. Ventricular bands, which are very cedematous, and mask the vocal cords for the
greater part of their extent. The anterior extremity of the vocal cords is visible.
The obstruction was evidently in the larynx, but we had to ascertain its nature.
M. Bonnier examined with the mirror. On opening the mouth, we at once
noted a reddish oedema of the uvula, of the pillars, and of the velum palati. The
uvula was bulky and tremulous, the pillars were cedematous, and the isthmus of the
gullet was narrowed. Red oedema was visible at the base of the tongue and in the
vestibule of the larynx. The epiglottis was bulky and much deformed, the aryteno-
epiglottic folds were enormous, and the cedematous ventricular bands blocked the
orifice of the glottis. The anterior part of the vocal cords could be seen momentarily,
and their free edge was slightly cedematous. The illustration above represents the
condition.
It is now easy to follow the march of events. The dysphagia was caused by the
oedema of the palate, the pharynx, and the epiglottis. The dyspnoea was due to
oedema of the vestibule and of the ventricular bands ; these parts, by opposing the
* " (Edeme Brightique du Larynx " {Climque Mtdicale de VHotel-Dieu, 1897,
Sme Le9on, p. 49).
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 61
passage of the inspired air, made tlie breatliing difficult and stertorous. Spa-sms of
the glottis, which are almost inseparable from such lesions, caused the fits of suffoca-
tion.
The diagnosis of oedema of the larpix was therefore established. The patient had
neither tumour, laryngeal polj-pus, cicatricial stenosis, nor paralysis of the posterior
cricoarytenoid muscles, which may all cause suffocation, stertor, and sucking-in, but
was suffering from progressive oedema, which had started in the velum pahiti and the
isthmus of the fauces, and had reached the larynx.
The diagnosis, however, was not complete, for larjTigeal oedema, whether it be
wliite or red, and local or diffuse, may be due to many causes. Cancer, tuberculosis,
and, above all, sypliilis, may give rise to oedema of the larynx, while the existing lesion
may be almost liidden. The oedema in this case was due to none of these causes ; it
was not the result of cold, but of Bright's disease.
The case was one of Bright's disease. It was riot a case in which oedema was severe
and uriemic symptoms marked ; it was one of those cases of latent Bright's disease. In
this patient we found all the minor troubles of " Brightism " — i.e., frequent micturition,
cfamp in the calves, dead fingers, cryiesthesia, and itching. The arterial tension was
exaggerated, the urine contained albumin, and the depuration was incomplete, as
examination of the toxicity of the urine showed lowering of the toxic coefficient. We
Fig 2. — Laryngeal (Edema.
c. Epiglottis — still cedematous, but regaining its normal shape somewhat.
a. Arytenoid regions still remain edematous and deformed.
h. Ventricular bands. The swelling has diminished, the glottis is more patent, the
vocal cords can be better seen, but their free edge is still irregular and swollen.
had, then, to deal with redcma of the larynx, due to Blight's disease, and producing
increasing asphyxia, which might well end fatally.
His condition was so grave that I discussed the question of tracheotomy, or, belter
still, of intubation. I was prepared, therefore, for any eventuality, but I began by
applying several leeches to the front of the neck. The result was not long delayed.
On the next day the improvement was manifest : the oedema of the palate had
diminished, the dysphagia was less, the stertor was not so noisy, the breathing was
easier, and the oed'ma of ihv larynx was on the road to recover, as may be seen from
Fig. 2.
.Milk diet was ordered from th(^ first, and two days later the improvement was
still more marked. The annexed illustration (Fig. .3) gives a good idea of the im-
provement which rapidly followed in the o-dematous parts. Six days later the
patient was cured.
(Edema may HujMirvene in the course of acute or of chronic nepliritis.
When nephritis is very acute (as in scarlatinal and early syphilitic nephritis),
ft produces oedema, which tends to become general, and the anasarca is often
62 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
considerable. The serous cavities — notably the pleurae — contain effusions,
and serous exudate may be present in the brain, the lungs, or o'ther organs.
(Edema of the larynx is then associated with these various exudations.
In chronic nephritis, on the contrary, the oedema has much less tendency
to become diffuse ; it is more isolated and more localized to one region,
such as the face, the lower limbs, or a single organ, and we see patients
suffering from slowly progressive nephritis in whom pleural effusion or acute
oedema of the lung supervenes, while oedema of the extremities is absent or
slight. The same remark applies to oedema of the larynx in chronic
nephritis. GEdema of the larynx may occur in the course of insidious
Bright' s disease, while other parts of the body are free. This patient had
never shown oedema in any other part before oedema of the palate and of
the larynx appeared. In a patient of Fauvel's no trace of oedema had been
seen, and the oedema of the eyelids only appeared after that of the larynx.
Fig. 3. — Laryngeal (Edema.
e, The epiglottis has lost all trace of ojdema.
a, The arytenoid region has regained its normal aspect.
h. The ventricular bands still hide the glottis to a slight extent, but they meet
only during effort and phonation. The vocal cords are a little irregular along their
free border, and the anterior half alone is visible during inspiration, but the air enters
the larynx freely.
In Jones's patient slight oedema of the lower limbs was present, when
oedema of the larynx supervened. A patient of Fraenkel's had never had
any oedema, so that in his case the oedema of the larynx was considered
to be the first sign of nephritis. Hanot's patient had never shown the least
trace of oedema, when oedema of the palate and of the larynx appeared.
We see, therefore, that in the course of slowly progressive and more or
less insidious chronic neplu-itis oedema of the larynx- (like that of the lung)
may appear suddenly, without being preceded by peripheral oedema.
Accordingly, several authors (Fauvel, Fraenkel) have stated that oedema of
the larynx may appear unexpectedly as the first sign of Bright's disease.
I do not hold this view. I admit that oedema of the larynx may appear
as the first manifestation of oedema in a " Bright " case, but I cannot
accept the statement that it may be the first symptom of Bright's disease.
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX G3
In fact, at the present day we no longer look upon Briglit's disease as our
ancestors did, and we do not wait for the appearance of oedema to make
our diagnosis. We hunt out " Brightism," wliich may not be evident at
first sight. We know that there is a mild form of uraemia which is insidious
in its course, but yet perfectly recognizable. The study of the minor troubles
of " Brightism," the estimation of the arterial tension, and the examination
of the toxicity of the urine, reveal latent Bright's disease. We are thus
able to affirm that, although an attack of epileptiform fits, of coma, of super-
acute oedema of the lung, or of oedema of the larynx, may appear to be the
first symptom of nephritis, it is in reality only the first apparent, and not
the first real, symptom, and the nephritis has been already shown by signs
which would not have passed unnoticed had trouble been taken to look for
them.*
I must insist on the fact that oedema of the larynx in Bright's disease is
almost always preceded by oedema of the velum palati. It might truly be
said that oedema commences in the throat and tlie uvula, and afterwards
spreads downwards to the base of the tongue, the epiglottis, and the larynx.
As a result, troubles in swallowing very often open the scene. At first the
patient seems to have only a painful angina, but respiratory troubles soon
appear. The oedema spreads downwards, causing a succession of com-
plications which I have found in most of my cases. In a patient at the
Hotel-Dieu dysphagia and cedema of the throat preceded oedema of the
larynx and dyspnoea by ten or twelve days. In a patient at the Necker
Hospital oedema of the throat and dysphagia occurred twenty-four hours
before attacks of suffocation. In the cases reported by Abate and Jones
cedema of the larynx and oedema of the palate, with dysphagia and suffoca-
tion, appeared almost simultaneously. In M. Fauvel's patient the cedema
of the palate preceded that of the larynx, and deglutition was impaired
before respiration. In M. Hanot's patient the succession and tlie delimita-
tion of tlie oedema was even more marked. In the first phase the cedema
remained localized to the isthmus of the fauces and to the uvula, as an
(edematous angina, causing acute dysphagia, which was cured by milk diet.
Two months later, however, oedema of the palate reappeared, and also
oedema of the larynx, causing acute attacks of suffocation. Hanot, in his
notes on this case, has been careful to add : " Albuminuric oedema, limited
to the uvula, may be the starting-point of oedema of the glottis."
In a patient with painful angina the throat must be carefully examined,
and if red or white (jedema of the uvula, of the pillars, or of the velum palati
be present, nephritis must be suspected, the urine examined, the patient
carefully questioned, search made for symptoms of " Brightism," and the
* Diciiliifoy : " l^lude sur Ic Brightismc," Bulletin dc r Academic dc Medecinc, sdanco
dcs G et 2U Juin, 1893.
64 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
diagnosis of oedema of the throat due to Bright' s disease be made. TJiis
oedema then becomes an important element in diagnosis, prognosis, and
treatment. It is an element in diagnosis, because it helps us to trace
Bright' s disease which at first might not be suspected ; it is an element in
prognosis, for it leads us to foresee the probable extension of the oedema to
the larynx ; it is an element in treatment, for it invites prompt action in
order to check the disease and to avoid oedema of the larynx.
CEdema of the larynx is one of the most formidable complications of
Bright's disease. In some cases, it is true, it may remain limited, and for
several days and weeks betray itself only by a trifling stridor during inspira-
tion ; or, again, it may invade the larynx but slowly, so that complications
may be averted. In other cases, however, the oedema may already be
most acute, and the patient may rapidly succumb before help can be given.
The situation is aggravated by the fact that oedema in Bright's disease does
not always remain confined to the larynx, but invades the pleura and the
lung. A patient of mine in the Charite had very extensive oedema of the
lung, and succumbed some hours after tracheotomy — not so much from the
laryngeal lesions as from the pulmonary oedema. Hanot's patient, who
had both csdema of the larynx and of the lung, with 2 pints of fluid in the
pleural cavity, died some hours after tracheotomy — not so much from the
lesions in the larynx as Irom the pleuro-pulmonary mischief. It is often
difficult, I grant, to gauge correctly the state of the lung in a case of oedema
of the -larynx, because the extreme dyspnoea, and the echo of the " sawing
sound "in the larynx do not always allow perfect auscultation of the lung.
What treatment should we employ in this condition of oedema ? If
death appear imminent, tracheotomy may give some chance of recovery.
So many failures have been noted that I would rather advise intubation,
which has been tried and proved. Scarification of the oedematous swelhngs
does good. Bleeding is an excellent means of treatment. A dozen leeches
are applied to the front of the neck, so as to produce copious bleeding. Hot
compresses, warm gargles, and sprays are sometimes of use.
If asphyxia be imminent, we can facilitate the entrance of air into the
larynx by firm traction on the tongue. Do not forget that oedema of tlie
lung or urajmia may also be present. Tracheotomy was unsuccessful in
the three cases which I have reported, because two patients succumbed to
pulmonary oedema, and the third to ursemic convulsions. If pulmonary
oedema or ujsemia be present, both general and local bleeding are necessary.
The nephritis must also be treated, and absolute milk diet is therefore
prescribed. In place of milk by the mouth, we may give injections of
lactose (150 grammes of water and 20 grammes of lactose). No chlorides
should be taken, and injections of serum must not be given.
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 65
Syphilitic (Edema of the Larynx.
(Edema is fairly rare in the course of secondary lesions of the larynx.
Although they are superficial, and apparently benign, they are sometimes
accompanied by oedema of the larynx and respiratory troubles. This fact
is most important, and has been emphasized by Krishaber. Although
dyspnoea may be exceptional in secondary lesions of the larynx (or, at
least, it is very shght), yet in some cases the distress becomes suddenly
acute, and tracheotomy would become necessary if the condition did not
yield rapidly to appropriate treatment. I have often verified this fact, and
Mauriac, like Krishaber, affirms that " quite trifling erosions may become
a dangerous centre of congestion, around which oedema of the glottis rapidly
develops."
(Edema of different colours, with pallor or redness of the mucosa, often
accompanies tertiary lesions. A red tint is sometimes the sign of sero-
purulent infiltration. Laryngeal oedema plays a considerable part in the
history of tertiary lesions, and is one of the commonest causes of dyspnoea
and of threatening asphyxia. It may be more or less extensive, and may
invade the aryteno-epiglottic folds, the epiglottis, the ventricular bands,
the vocal cords, the space below the cords, and the trachea. The laryngo-
scope shows the deformity and the swelling of the parts invaded. The
epiglottis is twisted up and swollen fike a chestnut or the cervix uteri.
The arytenoids form large cusliions, which obliterate the superglottic
region.
All tertiary lesions, etc., may at any moment cause oedema of the larynx,
which may be Hmited, and not serious, or quite general. In the latter
event, it may be slow or rapid in its progress, Krishaber and Mauriac have
studied syphiUtic oedema of the larynx, and have shown that its intensity
is not always in proportion to the severity of the exciting lesion. As a
matter of fact, we meet with shallow lesions which, though scarcely appreci-
able with the laryngoscope, may yet cause alarming oedema of the larynx.
I have several times verified the correctness of these assertions.
Iji my ward at the Necker Hospital, I had two patients with Laryngeal oedema.
One of them had stridor and sucking-in, and was almost in a state of asphyxia. The
danger was averted by energetic specific treatment. The other patient also had stridor,
sucking-in, and feeling of strangulation, and with orthopncca, which left no doubt as
to a laryngeal lesion. It wa.s of several weeks' duration, and had previously caused
only vocal trouble. Bonnier found oedema of the larynx. The oedema had, in the
case of one vocal cord, the polypoid appearance which can be seen in the subjoined
figures. No suspicion of syphilis existed until I discovered on the right wrist a pustulo-
crustaceous syphilide, which gave me the key to the case. I ordered active specific
treatment, and in three weeks, as the Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 indicate, the oedema of the
larynx disappeared, and with it all the troubles.
5
66 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Syphilis may produce oedema of the larynx in yet another way-— not by
lesions limited to the larynx, but by setting up early nephritis, which is
rapidly followed by peripheral oedema, anasarca, effusion into the serous
membranes, and oedema of the lung and of the larynx.
This sketch of the importance of syphilitic oedema of the larynx proves
how carefully syphilis must be looked for, in order to give injections of
biniodide of mercury without delay.
Fig. 4. — CEdema of the Lakynx.
December 21. — Day of patient's admission. Appearance of the glottis during forced
inspiration.
e. Swollen and turgescent epiglottis.
a, (Edematous arytenoid region.
h. Ventricular bands, which are markedly cedematous. A small portion of the
vocal cords can be seen in front.
Fig. 5. — (Edema of the Larynx.
January 12.— e, Epiglottis, still swollen, but less flabby.
a. Arytenoid region, which is less prominent.
h, The ventricular bands have diminished in size, allowing the vocal cords and an
cedematous polypoid mass to be seen.
General Description. — I have given the special characters of certain
varieties of oedema of the larynx, and will therefore recapitulate the general
description. I would call attention to the fact that the march of events is
sudden or slow, according to the cause. The palato -laryngeal infiltration,
which is secondary to nephritis, sypliilis, scarlatina, or a cliill, may rapidly
become general, and asphyxia soon appears, while the progress is much
slower when the oedema is secondary to certain lesions of the larynx. In
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 67
the case of generalized cedema, respiration is rapidly compromised. The
patient has the sensation of a foreign body wliich is strangling liim, and
makes desperate efforts to get rid of it. During the com'se of the increasing
dyspnoea attacks of suffocation supervene, " in which," says Trousseau,
" the patient, with livid face, open mouth, gaping nostrils, eyes starting
from the sockets, and skin running with sweat," grasps any support for his
inspiratory muscles. These attacks last from ten to fifteen minutes, and
are repeated in fatal cases at shorter intervals till death occurs. They are
Fig. 6. — (Edema of the Larynx.
January 16. — e, Epiglottis normal.
a. Arytenoid region normal.
b. Ventricular bands, which are still cedematous, though they allow the whole of
the glottis to be seen. The polypoid swelling is implanted on the right vocal cord ; it
is notably smaller.
Fig. 7. — CEdema of the Larynx.
January 18. — The larynx has resumed its normal appearance, with the exception
of the right vocal cord, on which a remnant of the polypoid excrescence is seen. It
may well have originated in a syphilitic papule.
the result of spasm of the glottis, and are only seen in 60 per cent, of cases.
Inspiration, wliich is noisy and accompanied ])y Stridor, is usually nuicli
more painful than expiration, because the aryteno-e[)iglottic cusliions at the
moment of inspiration are said to act as a valve wliich blocks the upper
orifice of the larynx. These cushions, pushed back like floating bodies
by expiration, produce a characteristic hruil dc drapeau (Sestier) in some
cases.
5—2
68 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
DyspncBa is not so rapid and so severe in many cases. In persons with
syphilitic, tubercular, or cancerous lesions of the larynx, oedema supervenes
as a complication, and increases gradually and slowly before compromising
life. In some cases, however, dyspnoea due to oedema may be rapid and
terrible.
The voice and the cough are not greatly altered, as in croup, but still
may be raucous or muffled if the vocal cords are involved, or if the oedematous
parts come in contact.
Deglutition is painful, because of the swelling of the laryngeal folds
and epiglottis, and also because of the palato-pharyngeal oedema. The
oedema of the pharynx and of the vestibule may be recognized both by
sight and touch.
OEdema, when consecutive to syphilitic, tubercular, or cancerous lesions,
usually remains limited to the larynx, but oedema due to nephritis is often
palato-pharyngo-laryngeal : the uvula looks like a lump of jelly, the mucosa
of the throat is oedematous, and dysphagia precedes dyspnoea.
Laryngoscopy is sometimes dangerous, for it may produce a severe fit
of choking.
The symptoms which I have' just enumerated readily explain the gravity
of oedema of the larynx. Death often occurs unless we employ active inter-
vention. QSdema of the larynx in nephritis is very dangerous. In ten
cases of oedema appearing at the OUtset of nephritis, five died, two before and
three after tracheotomy ; and in ten cases of oedenia supervening in the
course of nepliritis, nine died, four before and five after tracheotomy (Amero).
Diagnosis. — Foreign bodies and polypi in the larynx, spasms of the
glottis caused by aneurysm of the aortic arch, croup and stridulous laryn-
gitis, abscess of the pharynx, paralysis of the posterior crico- arytenoid
muscles, and tumours of the mediastinum, may simulate oedema of the
larynx, for all these conditions give rise to stridor and sucking-in. They
have, however, the distinctive signs which I shall now enumerate. Polypi
are easily recognized with the laryngoscope. The same remark appHes to
paralysis of the posterior crico-arytenoid muscles. Aneurysm of the aortic
arch shows dullness, blowing murmurs, and expansile pulsation if the tumour
is large. With the laryngoscope, lesions of the larynx are absent, or
limited to the paralysis of a vocal cord, from the compression of the recurrent
nerve by the tumour. In croup we may note the presence or the remains
of the diphtheritic angina which nearly always precedes it, the false mem-
branes wliich are so often coughed up, the early and gradual alteration of
the voice, the slow and difficult expiration, and often the glandular enlarge-
ment in the neck. Stridulous laryngitis chooses early life, and appears
suddenly. The dyspnoea at once reaches its limit, and after the suffocative
attack, the relief is complete, and the voice and the breathing recover their
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 69
normal character. Retro-pharyngeal abscess is \asible on the posterior wall
of the pharynx, and if the base of the tongue be well depressed, a swelling
which may fluctuate and is of a deeper colour than the surrounding tissues
is discovered. (Edema of the larynx being recognized, its cause must be
diagnosed. The oedema may be primary, but before we admit the existence
of primary oedema, or of oedema a frvjore, careful search must be made for
any causes or the lesions which may, sooner or later, give rise to laryngeal
oedema. It is important to exclude Bright's disease and syphilis, which
are the two chief causes of oedema of the larynx.
I shall not go into the treatment, which has already been studied in each
special case.
IX. SPASM OF THE GLOTTIS.
Definition — etiology. — Spasm of the glottis results from tonic contrac-
tion of the constrictor and tensor muscles of the vocal cords. It lasts some
seconds, and causes suffocative attacks, which may result in death. The
spasm is either symptomatic or idiopathic.
The symptomatic spasm arises from stimulation of the recurrent nerves
by a neighbouring tumour — e.g., aneurysm of the arch of the aorta, tuber-
cular or cancerous glands, etc. How can excitation of one recurrent nerve
alone provoke spasm of the glottis ? Krishaber has shown experimentally
that stimulation of one recurrent nerve acts upon both lips of the glottis,
just as stimulation of one vagus arrests or slows the heart-beat. Sympto-
matic spasm is also seen in certain diseases of the larynx, such as croup,
false croup, or oedema of the glottis, and it is remarkable that the spasm is
intermittent, although the exciting cause is continvious. This intermittence
is met witli in other spasmodic or painful actions of the nervous system
(hepatic and renal calculi, neuralgia in cancer), though it is not easy to give
the reason.
Spasm of the glottis may appear alone, or be associated with other
laryngeal troubles, as at the outset or during the course of locomotor ataxia.
Idiopathic spasm of the glottis is not, like the preceding form, a symptom
appearing in the course of another disease, but a real morbid entity which
occurs in children from four to eighteen months old, and it is this form
that cliiefly merits description here. This disease has been improperly called
thymic asthma, because it was thought to be connected ^vith hypertrophy
of the thymus. It is really a neurosis, which may be independent or related
to dentition or to digestive troubles. Heredity may play some part, as
several infants in the same family may be affected (Romberg).
Description. — Tlie idiopathic spasm of infancy, whicli may or may not
be preceded by prodromata, such as pains in the back and hands, or convul-
70 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
sions, begins suddenly in the middle of the night, hke false croup. The
glottis closes convulsively ; the breathing becomes more and more difficult,
and is soon completely suspended, so that asphyxia is imminent. The
distress is extreme ; the chest is immobile, and the vesicular murmur can
no longer be heard. The face is cyanotic and bathed in sweat, the heart-
beats are tumultuous, and we ask ourselves if the scene is not about to end
in death. After fifteen or twenty seconds of complete apnoea, " the child
takes a quiet breath again, and the attack ends by a high, sonorous inspira-
tion that is quite characteristic, and does not resemble the croupy cough
or the whoop in pertussis " (Tardieu). It is more like a shrill and very
sharp hiccough (Herard),
The attacks are not always complete, and the asphyxial period may be
wanting. The usual duration is from a few seconds to two minutes, but in
some cases they recur at very short intervals, and are prolonged for an
hour or more (Gaspari). At first these attacks are only repeated once or
twice a week ; later, they reappear daily, and as many as twenty- live to
fifty have been counted in a day (Herard). Between the attacks the child's
health is good ; fever, cough, and loss of appetite do not occur, and cachexia
does not appear till late. The total duration of the malady is very variable,
but its limits He between a few weeks and several months (Herard). The
prognosis is most gloomy, and recovery is the exception.
The symptomatic spasm in the adult presents some differences. The
shape of the larynx and the resistance of the interarytenoid glottis explain
why the spasms are less formidable than in the infant, and also why the
inspiration is wheezing, some air being able to pass through the glottis.
Diagnosis. — Stridulous laryngitis, wliich also results from a spasmodic
contraction, resembles spasm of the glottis ; but the former attacks children
from one to six years old, while the latter is seen between the ages of tliree
and twenty months. The former is preceded or accompanied by catarrh,
hoarseness, cough, and coryza ; the latter comes on so suddenly that asphyxia
threatens in a few seconds.
Hereditary syphilis often produces in young children laryngeal troubles
which are so like spasm of the glottis that I am convinced that in many
cases (treatment proves the point) syphilis is the cause.
Treatment. — In the attack the face should be sprinkled with cold water
and friction to the body should be employed. The spasm often yields when
the child is forced to breathe through the nose. Antispasmodics are indi-
cated. Change of air and a stay in the country are advisable. The possi-
bihty of hereditary or acquired syphiHs must be thought of, and mercury
and iodides employed.
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 71
X. PARALYSIS OF THE MUSCLES OF THE LARYNX.
Laryngeal paralysis may be classed as of peripheral, bulbar, or cerebral
origin, according to the seat of the lesion.
Peripheral Lesions. — The laryngeal nerves may be directly injured by
traumatism (Neumann), by surgical intervention, and by compression.
Compression is more frequent in men than in women, and afEects the left
recurrent nerve more often than the right (AvelUs). It may be due to
tumours of the thyroid body or of glands, abscess, cancer of the oesophagus,
aneurysms of the great vessels of the mediastinum and the root of the neck,
pericarditis, and pleural effusions. Tumours of the base of the skull and
fractures may compress or injure the vagus and the spinal accessory nerves.
Tabes and diphtheria are accompanied by lesions of the laryngeal nerves,
and the same holds good in certain intoxications and infections (alcoholism,
saturnism, morphinism, syphilis, and diabetes). Finally, more or less lasting
paralysis of the muscles of the larynx may be set down to extra- or intra-
cervical action of cold.
Bulbar Lesions. — The nuclei of the spinal accessory nerves may be
affected by the following lesions : Syphilitic growths, tumours, caries,
softening, hemorrhage, acute or chronic inflammation of the bulb, pachy-
meningitis, disseminated sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, labio-
glosso-laryngeal paralysis, and tabes.
Cerebral Lesions. — The foot of the third frontal convolution (Garel), the
subjacent white matter (Dejerine), the external part of the internal capsule
(Garel and Dor), the caudate nucleus, and the claustrum (Picot and Hobbs),
have been found diseased in cases of laryngeal palsies. The same troubles
may be due to hysteria, or may be provoked by suggestion.
The palsies may attack several groups, a single group, or a single muscle.*
Paralysis of the Dilators. — Isolated paralysis of the posterior crico-
arytenoid muscles is very rare (Ziemssen), though it has recently been noted
in laryngeal phthisis (Gougenheim). When both muscles are paralyzed, the
vocal cords no longer open, but fall together during inspiration from the
action of the constrictor muscles, and, since very little air enters through
the glottis, intense dyspnoea results. Vocal effort is possible, and tlie
voice is slightly altered through imperfect fixation of the arytenoids. If the
paralysis is unilateral, the immobihty of the vocal cord at the moment of
inspiration may be seen with the mirror.
Paralysis of the Constrictors. — Paralysis of the constrictors is much more
common tlian the preceding form. It may be bilateral (hysteria and diph-
theria), but is more often unilateral, and almost always consecutive to a
* To complete this study, sco p. 23 et seq.
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TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
direct lesion of the recurrent or of the spinal accessory nerves. The length
of the course and the relations of the recurrent nerves explain the relative
frequency of tliis palsy. The causes of the lesion include aneurysm of the
carotid artery (Mackenzie), double paralysis from a cancerous tumour at the
posterior lacerated foramina (Tiirck), cancer of the recurrent nerve (Heller),
double paralysis by aneurysm of the subclavian and innominate vessels
(Ziemssen), aneurysm of the arch of the aorta (numerous cases), cancer of the
t
Pig. 8. — Normal Larynx : Appearance of the Glottis dttring Deep
Inspiration.
E, Epiglottis ; L, base of the tongue ; B, ventricular bands ; V, ventricle of Mor-
gagni ; R, aryteno-epiglottic fold ; A, interarytenoid region (distended) ; S, cartilage
of Santorini ; W, cartilage of Wrisberg ; C, vocal cords, opened to their maximum ;
F, hyoid fossa ; T, trachea, with superposed rings ; D, bifurcation of the bronchi.
Fjg. 9. — Normal Larynx : Appearance of the Glottis during Phonation.
The vocal cords are tense, and nearly touching in their anterior two-thirds. The
cartilages of Wrisberg and of Santorini are approximated, and the interarytenoid region
is partially effaced. The epiglottis is straightened, and the larjmx is elongated in the
anteroposterior direction.
oesophagus (Braune), chronic pleurisy of the right apex (Gerhardt), chronic
'pericardial effusions (Baiimler), and mediastinal tumours (Gueneau de Mussy).
In paralysis of the constrictor muscles the glottis is constantly open, so
that respiration is easy; but the voice is lost, and effort is incomplete.
These symptoms are less marked when the paralysis is unilateral. The
laryngoscope shows that both cords (or one of them, according to the case)
remain immobile, and do not come together.
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX
73
Paralysis of the Crico-Thyroidei. — These muscles are supplied by the
external lar\nigeal nerve. The paralysis induces no respiratory trouble,
because the dilator muscles are intact. Effort is complete, because the
constrictors are healthy, and the voice is not completely lost, because the
other muscles of phonation are intact ; but the voice is altered, and dysphonia
is present, because the tension of the vocal cords is insufficient, and thei'
Fig. 10.-
-Paralysis of the Adductors dttring an Effort op
Phoxation.
The lateral cricoarytenoid muscles and the ary-arytenoid muscles are paralyzed.
The vocal cords are relatively tense, but they cannot approximate to the middle line.
The orifice of the glottis is triangular.
Fig. 11. — Paralysis of the Tensors: Appearance of the Glottis dxtrinq an
Effort of Phonation.
The vocal cords appear curved, and sometimes beaded at their free edge, and the
glottis gapes slightly. This appearance corresponds to paralysis of the cricothyroid
muscle, or to paralysis of the elevator muscles of the larynx.
vibration is incomplete during the emission of sound. This paralysis occurs
in hysteria. It comes on after great vocal effort, and often follows a chill,
like paralysis of the facial or of the radial nerve.
Paralysis of the Elevators. — In order that the crico-thyroid muscles may
produce the tension of the vocal cords necessary for phonation, the tiiyroid
cartilage must be fixed above and in front by the elevators of the larynx —
i.e., genio-hyoid, mylo-hyoid, digastric, stylo-hyoid, and thvro-hvoid muscles.
If these muscles, wliich are chieHy ititiervated by the hypoglossal nerve, are
paralyzed, the larynx remains depressed, the tension is incomplete, and the
74
TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
aphonia is almost absolute. The voice has a low, monotonous tone,
due to the passive tension of the vocal cords under the strain of the
expired air.
Diagnosis — Prognosis — Treatment. — Laryngoscopic examination sim-
plifies the diagnosis of paralysis of the larynx, and the discovery of the
paralysis may give a clue to its cause. Mediastinal tumours may at first give
no symptoms save vocal troubles due to paralysis of one vocal cord (compres-
sion of the recurrent nerve). We are not liable, thanks to direct examina-
tion, to mistake paralysis of the dilators for spasm of the constrictors,
Fig. 12. — Paralysis of the Left Recttbrent Nerve: Appearance of the
Glottis during an Effort of Inspiration.
The left cord reaches beyond the middle line, being pulled over by the overaction
of the muscles supphed by the right recurrent nerve.
Fig. 13. — ^Paralysis of the Left Recurrent Nerve : Appearance of the
Glottis during an Effort of Phonation,
The left vocal cord remains in the cadaveric position. The right vocal cord passes
slightly beyond the middle line, and is alone tense.
although in both cases the respiratory troubles are almost similar. Again,
paralysis of the muscles of phonation will not be confounded with atrophy
of the vocal cords, or ankylosis of the arytenoid articulations, though the
vocal troubles present great analogy. For similar reasons, laryngeal
phthisis, cancer, and polypi of the larynx can be excluded. The diagnosis
between paralysis of the crico-thyroid muscles and catarrhal laryngitis has
been given in the description of the latter malady.
DISEASES OF THE LARYNX 75
The prognosis is only grave in paralysis of the dilator muscles (pos-
terior crico-arytenoidei), when dyspnoea may be so acute as to necessitate
tracheotomy.
Treatment varies with the cause of the paralyses. When they are
primary, electricity is the best curative agent, especially in paralysis of the
crico-th}Toid muscles. The voice often reappears at the first sitting. Cure
is obtained by applying the electrodes over the region of the larynx, or even
at any two parts of the body (Kjishaber).
CHAPTER III
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI
I. ACUTE BRONCHITIS
Acute bronchitis is a catarrhal inflammation of the large and medium-sized
bronclii. It is often associated with inflammation of the trachea, and,
indeed, in some cases tracheitis is the chief trouble. Tracheo-bronchitis is
often preceded by laryngitis, and " The cold has settled on the chest " is
quite a common saying.
Inflammation of the bronchioles will be studied later, under capillary
bronchitis.
Description. — Acute bronchitis shows different degrees of severity.
Thus, the slight form, commonly called a cold on the chest, is almost apyretic,
and is only accompanied by slight malaise and headache. The cough at
first is painful, dry, and spasmodic, and the expectoration is serous and
greyish ; but later the cough becomes loose, the sputum is thick, and in a
week the illness is at an end.
In the severe form bronchitis begins with general malaise, shivering,
and fever, which rises at night. The patient complains of headache and
loss of appetite. The breathing is wheezing and painful. The cough,
which is at first dry, causes acute pain in the intercostal muscles and
the diaphragm, and is often followed by the vomiting of mucus or of
food.
On percussion, the resonance of the chest is normal ; on auscultation,
snoring and sibilant rhonchi are heard during inspiration and expiration on
both sides of the chest (because bronchitis is always double), and are trans-
mitted in different directions.
These initiatory symptoms last from three to five days, and coincide
with the immature stage. When secretion from the bronchial mucosa
(called the mature stage) replaces the dry swelling of the immature stage,
the fever falls, the breathing becomes easier, the cough is loose, the sputum
thick and yellowish-green, and the column of air, instead of being broken
up against the rough, dry mucosa, meets the liquid bronchial secretion.
76
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 77
As a result, the rhonchi change to rales, which acquire the timbre of bubbles
bursting in a liquid, and are known as bubbling, mucous, or SUbcrepitant.
Mucous rales in a large bronchus may simulate the gurgling of a cavity ;
subcrepitant rales are finer, and have their origin in the smaller bronchi.
Unlike rhonchi, the moist rales may disappear at certain spots after a fit of
coughing has freed the bronchi from the obstructing mucus.
The second stage lasts about a week, during which improvement gradually
supervenes, and resolution is complete in about a fortnight. The urine now
becomes abundant, and contains much sediment. Slight diarrhoea often
completes the crisis. The disease may become chronic, or change to capillary
bronchitis. In old people who cannot cough up the secretion bronchiti-;
may turn to suffocative catarrh.
^Etiology. — Acute bronchitis is a disease of cold and damp weather, and
in certain predisposed persons it appears on the least chill, or at the approach
of winter. It is one of the chief elements in measles and influenza. It is
less frank in whooping-cough, asthma, and hay-fever, where the nervous
element is so much in evidence that the inflammatory element is much less
marked. The broncliitis present at the commencement of typhoid fever is
rather hypergemic than inflammatory, though it may turn to true catarrh,
and become a troublesome complication.
Bronchitis in Bright's disease is not a genuine one, and its special char-
acters depend on pulmonary oedema or urajmic dyspnoea. The same remark
applies to pseudo-bronchitis, which is associated with heart disease, and is
especially characterized by signs of congestion and stasis in the lungs.
Dust and irritating vapours may produce an inflammation of the bronchi,
usually associated with lesions in the lungs.
I make special mention of syphilitic bronchitis. The erythema and the
catarrh, so frequent in the larynx during the first years of infection, also
affect the trachea and the large bronchi. This subacute tracheo-bronchitis
is Hable to relapse from exposure to cold. Many syphilitics, formerly
immune to chills, complain that they take cold easily, and suffer from
laryngitis and bronchitis. They are always liable to erythema and specific
catarrhs of the larynx, the trachea, and the bronchi — catarrhs which are
readily excited by chills.
Bronchitis in young children deserves special mention. It seems some-
times to be associated with teething and digestive troubles, and in this
connection the Barillm coli has been said to play a prominent part. Even
the most trifling forms of bronchitis in young children may be compUcated by
congestion of the lung. The temperature rises, and we hear at the bases
of the lungs fine rales, which lead us to fear the onset of capillary bronchitis.
All symptoms subside, however, after one or two days (Cadet de Gassi-
court).
78 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Diagnosis. — It is not enough to diagnose bronchitis, for that is quite
simple ; but it must be distinguished from conditions which may simulate
it ; above all, its cause must be made out, as the different forms require
absolutely different treatment. SyphiUtic bronchitis, to wit, demands
treatment with mercury and iodides ; bronchitis in Bright' s disease only
improves with milk diet ; bronchitis in cardiac cases yields to the treatment
suitable for heart diseases. Bronchitis in tuberculous patients cannot
always be diagnosed by a study of the symptoms alone. Its tubercular
origin is in some cases doubtful until bacilli are found in the sputum.
Speaking broadly, apparent broncliitis which does not begin in a regular
manner must be suspected ; a bronchitis which begins with fever is often
spurious. On the other hand, we must be equally suspicious of so-called
bronchitis in which cough is the cliief symptom, to the exclusion of fever
and of expectoration. Because an individual coughs much, we must not
at once suppose that he is suffering from tracheo-bronchitis. Hysterical
persons suffer from frequent and incessant cough mthout having bron-
chitis. We find people in whom the taenia and other worms provoke a
cough that is quite wrongly styled bronchitis. After expulsion of the tsenia
the cough disappears.
Bacteriology. — Bacteriology cannot help us in classifying bronchitis.
The microbes which inhabit the healthy air-passages, and include the
Staphylococcus alhus and aureus, the Streptococcus pyogenes, the pneumo-
coccus and the pneumobacillus, may all be found iii bronchitic sputa, and
are in no way specific. Besides these microbes, the sputum in bronchitis
often contains a bacillus identical with the Bacillus coli, a fungus of the
genus O'idium, and microbes which give the sputum its yellowish or greenish
colour.
Treatment. — In sHght cases we should induce sweating by diaphoretic
drinks. We must give soothing inhalations, and quiet the pain and the
fits of cough by the following draught :
R Orange-flower water , . . . . . . . . . iv.
Syrup of chloral 1 oo -«•
a c I,- " • • • • • • • • • . aa qV.
feyrup or morphia j
Cherry-laurel water . . . . . . • . . . §u.
Dose : For an adult, a tablespoonful every two hours.
In the severe form we should employ stimulating apphcations (mustard-
plasters and bUsters) and dry-cupping to the chest. If the bronchi is
much choked, especially in old people, emetics must be given.
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 79
II. CAPILLARY BRONCHITIS— BRONCHO-PNEUMONIA—
LOBULAR PNEUMONIA
Discussion. — Should the temperature rise, the respiration become
panting, and auscultation show fine subcrepitant rales on both sides of the
chest, on the sixth, seventh, or eighth day, in a child sufiering from measles
complicated by ordinary bronchitis, capillary bronchitis has set in. The
thermometer soon registers 104° F., the dyspnoea becomes acute, and the
respiration rate rises to 60, while dullness and tubular breathing are found
over one lung or at both bases. Broncho-pneumonia has supervened.
Another child has reached the stationary stage of whooping-COUgh
without accident. In spite of the convulsive cough, fever is shght or
absent, and but few bronchitic rales are heard in the intervals of the fits.
Fever then appears ; the temperature rises ; the character of the cough
changes, being more continuous and less convulsive ; the breathing becomes
panting, and on auscultation fine scattered rfdes are audible on both sides
of the chest. Capillary bronchitis has begun. The thermometer now
registers 104*^ F., the cough becomes incessant, the dyspnoea is extreme,
percussion and auscidtation show one or several pneumonic patches.
Broncho-pneumonia has developed.
In another cliild suffering from croup, who has or has not been operated
upon, the situation appears quite favourable. The fever is very moderate,
no toxic symptoms are present, and the prognosis is good ; but suddenly
the temperature rises, the dyspnoea grows worse, and is no longer of laryngeal
but of bronchial origin. Auscultation, although difficult, because of the
laryngeal sounds, reveals fine rales in the chest. This condition means
capillary bronchitis. Then the thermometer rises, and the dyspnoea
becomes excessive. The dreaded broncho-pneumonia of diphtheria has
set m.
In an infant suffering from teething or from gastro-intestinal troubles
a broncliitis, which may or may not be due to chill, begins. On auscultation,
large broncliitic rales are heard, yet so far there is little fever or dyspnoea.
The fever suddenly increases, the dyspnoea grows, the rales become fine and
scattered. Capillary bronchitis is beginning. The temperature reaches
104° F. ; the intensity of the dyspnoea becomes acute ; auscultation shows
tubular breathing at both bases. Broncho-pneumonia has supervened.
In an adult who has had an apparently normal influenza, with moderate
fever, broncliitis, and catarrhal expectoration, the temperature rises, the
dyspiKjea grows worse, the expectoration becomes muco-purulent, and on
auscultation rAles of all kinds are audible. These symptoms indicate
influenzal capillary bronchitis. A step further, and bronchial breathing is
80 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
perceptible in different spots — or at both bases. Broncho-pneumonia is
present.
These different examples prove that we find not a " single broncho-
pneumonia," but " broncho-pneumonias," which, strictly speaking, may
all follow bronchitis from cold, though they most often supervene in the
specific infections of measles, whooping-cough, diphtheria, influenza, tuber-
culosis, typhoid fever, erysipelas, etc.
In some cases the capillary bronchitis is the trouble, especially in adults
and the lobular pneumonia is of less importance. In other cases, on the
contrary, the capillary bronchitis is not important, but has joined hands
with broncho-pneumonia, which is then the chief lesion.
Bacteriological research in broncho- pneumonia permits in some cases
the isolation of such specific bacilli as those of diphtheria, typhoid fever, or
tuberculosis, but these specific microbes alone are not sufficient to cause
broncho-pneumonia. They are not always found in the foci of broncho-
pneumonia, while other microbes normally present in the mouth or the air-
passages are always found. These microbes, which are the true cause of
broncho-pneumonia, are the Staphylococcus alhus and aureus, the Strepto-
coccus, the Pneumococcus , the Pneumobacillus , and sometimes the Bac-
terium coli. They increase the danger and make the prognosis worse.
We can now begin the detailed study of capillary bronchitis and of
broncho-pneumonia.
Definition — History. — When inflammation affects the bronchioles, the
bronchitis is said to be capillary. In ordinary bronchitis the larger bronchi
are alone attacked, and therefore the air can circulate freely, in spite of the
lesions present. In capillary bronchitis, on the contrary, where the small
bronchi are inflamed, the narrowness of the tubes, the tliickening of their
mucosa, and the obstruction by morbid products prevent the free passage
of air, and produce dyspnoea, which too often ends in asphyxia. This
dyspnoea is such a marked symptom that it gained for the malady the name
of suffocative catarrh at a time when neither the seat nor the nature of the
lesion was known Avith certainty. Under the terms " suffocative catarrh,"
" peripneumonia notha," and " false inflammation of the chest," Sydenham
had confused bronchitis, asthma, and emphysema. His successors followed
the same track, and Home, all through his work on membranous exudates,
found the explanation of every kind of suffocative bronchitis in the false
membranes. Laennec put an end to the confusion, and showed that suffoca-
tive catarrh is a phlegmasia of the bronchi, but he attributed its extreme
gravity only to the extent of the lesions. Andral substituted the more
correct idea of the seat of the phlegmasia, and localized the lesions of
capillary bronchitis in the bronchioles. The works of Gendrin, RilHet
and Bathez, Fauvel, Legendre, and Barrier then appeared, and it may be
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 81
said that capillary bronchitis, as now established, was the work of the
French school.
Capillary bronchitis, however, rarely exists in a pure form. More often
in children — we might say always — the pulmonary lobules participate in the
inflammation, and the disease takes the name of broncho-pneumonia
(Seiffert), or of lobular pneumonia. This disease often follows measles,
whooping-cough, and diphtheria.
Pathological Anatomy. — In a child who has died of capillary bronchitis
and broncho-j^neumoma we see, after opening the thorax, that the lungs do
not collapse. The edges and the apices are emphysematous. The posterior
and lower part of the lungs is bluish or brownish, and in these regions, which
are dark and violet-coloured, isolated or confluent nodules of lobular pneu-
monia are perceptible both to sight and to touch.
Whether capillary bronchitis exist alone, which is rare, or be associated
with inflammation of the pulmonary lobules, which is the usual condition,
the inflammation of the small bronchi determines two kinds of lesions.
The former affects the bronchi, the latter the corresponding pulmonary
lobules. The mucosa of the bronchioles is swollen and smooth, instead of
being folded longitudinally, as in the normal state. The vessels are engorged
with blood, and allow the white corpuscles to pass out. The epitheUal cells
lose their cilia, and become vesiculated ; they desquamate or become seg-
mented, and give birth to new elements. The glands increase in size, and
allow epitheUal cells and muco-pus to escape by their ducts. The sub-
epitheUal connective tissue is infiltrated with leucocytes, and in the bron-
chioles near the lobule the muscular fibres disappear, owing to the invasion
of embryonic tissue.
The inflamed bronchioles are enlarged in calibre. These acute dilata-
tions cliiefly invade the smaller bronchi, and we see broncliioles which
measure a centimetre instead of 1 to 2 millimetres in diameter. The dilata-
tions are usually cylindrical, sometimes ampullary, and appear, when the
lung is cut, as cavities which are filled with pus. They may be isolated or
may communicate with one another. These dilatations are due partly to
the mechanical action of secretions driven back by the inspired air, but
chiefly to the diminished resistance of the inflamed tissue, which is deprived
of its muscular elements. They exist in the broncho-pneumonia of young
children, but may disappear with the cure of the disease. The inflammatory
products, including cells, leucocytes, and fibrinous exudate, accumulate in
the bronchi, which are " filled or almost obhterated from the branches of
the second size to the smallest ramiflcations by a yellowish-white sub-
stance " (Hardy and Behier).
'J'his obliteration of tli(! small bronchi induces changes in the corre-
sponding pulmonary lobules. These changes have been explained as follows:
G
82 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The inspired air cannot reach the lobules, because the small bronchi are
choked with inflammatory products. During expiration, however, by the
help of coughing, the air previously contained in the lobules can overcome
the resistance of the plugs which act as valves, and close the lumen of the
bronchi. As a result, the infundibula empty themselves of the contained
air, and, as this air is not renewed, the lobules collapse, and cause the col-
lapsed parts to look hke the lung of a foetus which has never breathed,
whence the name of foetal state appUed to this lesion (Legendre). There is
no proof of the absolute truth of this theory, and it may be asked if the air
in the alveoli is not simply absorbed there. This fact would explain the
production of the foetal state.
The foetal state, also called atelectasis, or pulmonary collapse, is chiefly
met with at the edges and the base of the lungs in young subjects with
broncho-pneumonia. The collapsed parts are bluish, brownish, or violet-
coloured, and do not crepitate on pressure. The cut section is smooth and
miiform. They do not float in water, and although they may have this
character in common with lobar pneumonia, they differ totally in that they
can be blown out. Under the microscope, the alveoh are seen to be intact,
but the vessels are gorged with blood. This stasis causes oedema, and
atelectasis is often the first stage of splenization. So far, having in view only
the changes proper to capillary bronchitis, I have described two lesions :
the first active — that of the bronchus ; the second partly mechanical — the
fcBtal state of the lung. Let us study the lesions of broncho-pneumonia.
The diversity of the lesions complicates the description. There is not
one lesion, as in pneumonia, and the morbid process is not homogeneous,
but comprises bronchitis, congestion, hepatization, splenization, atelectasis,
emphysema, etc. Sometimes splenization, at other times hepatization, is
the chief factor, and as these expressions will often recur, it will be well to
explain their meaning. We already know the signification of atelectasis,
or the foetal condition. Hepatization, so called because of its coarse resem-
blance to liver tissue, is the result of the inflammatory process which affects
certain parts of the lung. Splenization, so called because of its coarse resem-
blance to spleen tissue, results from lesions which are rather congestive than
inflammatory, and is a kind of epithehal pneumonia. Carnlfication, so
called because of its rough likeness to muscular tissue, is a condition of the
pulmonary lobide described under Chronic Broncho-Pneumonia.
More exact knowledge as to the structure of the lung has led us to
abandon the idea that, as regards structure and circulation, the bronchiole
was quite independent of the pulmonary lobule. Extension of inflam-
mation from the one to the other, which was formerly supposed to be the
exception, is really the rule, so that any lobular pneumonia may be pre-
ceded or accompanied by capillary bronchitis. The bronchus, so to say,
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 83
carries the inflammation to the lobule. Inflammation of the small bronchi
sometimes precedes the outbreak of the lobular pneumonia ; at other times
their appearance is almost simultaneous. Lobular pneumonia, or broncho-
pneumonia, was called catarrhal when it was supposed to comprise only
surface lesions. This designation is insufficient, for the lesions of lobular
pneumonia are in some cases deep and parenchymatous.
The lesions affect both lungs, and by choice the lower lobes and their
posterior part. The islets of broncho -pneumonia may be diffuse or con-
fluent. In the former event, they vary in size from a pea to a walnut, and
contain one or several inflamed pulmonary lobules. They are scattered
here and there in the middle of lung tissue, which may be healthy, con-
gested, bluish, violet- coloured, collapsed, or emphysematous. This form is
called disseminated lobular pneumonia. In the latter event, the lesion
involves a large number of lobules, and may even affect an entire lobe.
The disease then takes the name of confluent, or pseudo-lobar, pneumonia.
Besides the principal lesion, some scattered islets are also found.
In the disseminated form the nodules, which are of variable size, and
often lozenge-shaped, are prominent, hard, and red in the congestive period ;
they are greyish in the next stage, because of the pus cells in the alveoli,
and finaUy become yellowish and caseous.
The pseudo-lobar form differs from the preceding in the confluence of
the nodules, which present various changes. Near a nodule in which pus
is forming nodules which are simply congested or splenized may be seen ;
consequently, the bulk of the lung presents diversity of colour and of
consistence.
The inflamed lobules are often superficial, and infundibula, fiiUed
with beads of pus, which have been termed purulent graulations
(Fauvel) and vacuoles (Barrier), are sometimes seen on their surface.
These granulations are yellowish, rounded, as large as a pin's head, and
most common on the surface of the lung. The vacuoles, which have the
same origin, also contain pus, but are larger, because the alveolar septa are
destroyed.
On section, the cut surface presents a less granular appearance than in
lobar pneumonia. As regards the minute structure, if we choose a well-
inflamed lobule, and make the section at right angles to the intralobular
bronchus, we see under the microscope — ■
1. In the centre the bronchus is dilated and choked with cells and pus.
The walls are in part infiltrated with embryonic cells, and have lost almost
all their muscular tissue. These points are best seen in very young chiidi-en,
but the lesion is curable. The bronchial dilatation, however, does not
always disappear, and broncho-pneumonia may lead to chronic bronchi-
ectasis.
6—2
84 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
2. Around the intralobular bronchus and its artery a zone of inflamed
alveoli and ducts is found. This is the zone of hepatization, also called
the peribronchial nodule (Charcot).
In this nodule the phases of engorgement, and of red and grey hepatiza-
tion, can be seen. The lesions of engorgement are as follows : Cut surface
smooth, tissue spongy, red, and uniform ; crepitation has disappeared ;
tissue sinks in water ; mider the microscope, the intralobular bronchus is
seen surrounded by distended vessels, which are crammed with red cor-
puscles ; the alveoH contain red corpuscles and fibrino-albuminous fluid.
The lesions of red hepatization are as follows : On section, mottled surface ;
around the bronchus, granulations hke those of lobar pneumonia ; under
the microscope, alveoli filled with leucocytes and fibrino- purulent exudate ;
walls of the alveoh infiltrated with leucocytes. The lesions of grey hepatiza-
tion are : Nodule is less firm on section, dry, and mottled with red ; fibrinous
exudate is replaced by pus ; intralobular connective tissue infiltrated with
leucocytes ; tissue of the bronchus and the peribronchial nodule often
blended in a puriform sheet, in the midst of which the pulmonary artery
appears as a landmark. The peribronchial abscess, which is never peri-
lobular, is formed in this way.
3. Around the peribronchial nodule is the zone of splenization, which
is smooth on section. Splenization is characterized by lesions wliich are
less inflammatory than those of hepatization. The alveoh contain a fibrinous
exudate, with leucocytes and epithehal cells, derived from the alveolar walls,
wliich have proliferated. This is the zone of epithelial pneumonia (Charcot).
The walls of the alveoh at first undergo no change of structure. The peri-
lobular spaces are well marked by the inflammation, but the suppuration
does not affect them.
I have just described splenization in its relations to hepatization of the
pulmonary lobule, but splenization is sometimes the chief lesion in broncho-
pneumonia, especially in the pseudo-lobar form, nodules of hepatization
being absent. The splenized lung is red, cedematous, heavy, resistant,
smooth on section, and filled with muco-pus, wliich comes from the bronchi.
" This splenization, wliich is a kind of epithelial pneumonia, might well be
consecutive to the obliteration of the bronchi " (Charcot). The epithehal
cells of the alveoh swell and desquamate, the congestion is intense, albu-
minous exudate occurs both inside and outside the alveoli, and if the lesion
persists for some time the alveolar epithelium tends to become cubical, and
the peri-alveolar connective tissue is thickened. Certain parts of the lung
are affected by inflammation and congestion, independent of any pneumonic
process.
The peribronchial nodule, or zone of hepatization, is associated with
phlegmonous inflammation of the intralobular bronchus, while the lesions
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 85
of splenization are associated with obliteration of the bronchi in the splenized
areas.
Whatever be the form of the broncho-pneumonia, the congestion in
generally intense in both sets of vessels, though it is most marked in the
bronchial vessels. Hsemorrhage also occurs in the interior of the pneu-
monic nodules. The entire lymphatic system may be involved, the bronchial
glands are enlarged and congested, the intralobular spaces are thickened,
and the lymphatic spaces are filled with white corpuscles.
Visceral pleurisy is frequently met with over the superficial nodules of
lobular pneumonia, and subpleural haemorrhages have often been observed
by Parrot.
Lastly, in those who have died from broncho-pneumonia emphysema is
often seen, especially at the upper lobes and the anterior borders of the
lungs. This lesion, joined with the congestion, explains why, post mortem,
the lungs appear cramped in the thorax. Such, then, are the many lesions
of broncho-pneumonia. Changes in the small bronchi, atelectasis, spleniza-
tion, hepatization, haemorrhage, emphysema, combine in different degrees
to produce the various anatomical types which I have just described.
Experimental Broncho-Pneumonia. — While lobar pneumonia is difficult
to reproduce in animals, broncho- pneumonia may be readily caused in
them.
The introduction of ammonia, essence of turpentine, and perchloride of
iron through an opening in the trachea produces capillary bronchitis and
broncho-pneumonia in animals. The same result is obtained by section of
the vagi in the dog, an operation which favours the entrance of foreign
bodies into the bronclii (Traube), and also that of pathogenic microbes.
When the experiment has been quite successful, the lungs of the animal
present all the lesions previously described : obstruction of the inflamed
bronchioles, atelectasis, splenization, nodules of lobular pneumonia, and
emphysema.
Bacteriology. — Microbes are the active agents in broncho-pneumonia.
It has been found possible to produce broncho-pneumonia in animals by
injecting into the trachea cultures of different microbes. Several species
of microbes may give rise to broncho-pneumonia in man.
table gives their relative frequency in adults (Netter) :
Pneumococcus
Streptococcus
Encapsuled bacillus
Staphylococcus pyogenes . .
These various microbes are often associated. The pneumococcus is most
important in adults, the streptococcus in children.
The following
Per Cent.
38-47
30-77
2308
7-68
86 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Mosny believes that the anatomical varieties of broncho-pneumonia
correspond to the particular microbe — streptococcus in the lobular, pneumo-
coccus in the pseudo-lobar form. Netter does not hold this opinion.
These different microbes are often found in the mouths, the nasal fossae,
and the bronchi of healthy persons. Why do they become virulent at
certain times ? I do not know, and I refrain from theories.
In broncho-pneumonia, which supervenes in the course of diphtheria
and of typhoid fever, the specific bacillus of these maladies may be found
in the diseased lung, or may be absent, while the broncho-pneumonic focus
always contains the other microbes previously quoted. The specific bacillus
of diphtheria, of typhoid fever, and the as yet unknown microbes of other
diseases, do not therefore appear to be capable 'per se of causing broncho-
pneumonia. Their associates must be present, and these, the real cause of
broncho-pneumonia, are the microbes of which I have spoken above. It
has been asked if bacteriological examination of the sputum would not
throw light upon the prognosis of broncho-pneumonia by establishing a
scale of gravity according as the chief pathogenic agent be the pneumo-
coccus, the pneumobacillus, or the streptococcus ; but the researches under-
taken on this subject have as yet given no positive resu.lt.
Symptoms — (a) Capillary Bronchitis. — The symptoms of invasion — i.e.,
the fever and the elevation of temperature — are more marked than in
simple bronchitis. The fits of coughing are more painful, and are often
followed by vomiting of mucus or of food. Dyspnoea, which is rapid in its
appearance, is the chief symptom ; indeed, it is not seen with such severity
in any other acute inflammation of the bronchi or of the lung. The dyspnoea
is as severe as the suffocation produced by the false membrane of croup or
by oedema of the glottis, and, indeed, the mechanism is much the same,
for in both cases it is a question of foreign bodies which prevent the free
passage of air : only in disease of the larynx " the obstacle occupies the
common trunk of the air- passages ; in capillary bronchitis it is diffused in
the terminal ramifications of the tree " (Jaccoud). The dyspnoea is con-
tinuous and progressive. It is not interrupted by suffocative attacks and
by remissions, as in the diseases of the larynx to which I have alluded, and
soon reaches its acme, so that the respiration rate may be 50 in an adult
and 80 in a child. The extreme distress, the small irregular pulse, the
jerky voice, the working of all the inspiratory muscles, the violet tint
of the Ups, the pallor of the face, and the coldness of the extremities, bear
witness to the increasing asphyxia.
During the asphyxial period the scene is heartrending. The patient
sits up in bed ; his face is pale and covered with cold sweat ; his body is bent
forward and propped up by his arms behind ; he tries instinctively to help
his respiratory muscles, but yet, in spite of all Ids efforts, hsematosis is
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 87
imperfect, and the blood is loaded with carbonic acid (anoxaemic poisoning).
This toxic stage is characterized by cardiac weakness. The pulse is small
and intermittent, the face becomes livid, the urine is scanty, and delirium
appears.
When capillary bronchitis ends favourably, recovery is announced by
the ease in expectoration ; the sputum becomes more abundant, yellowish,
and viscid ; the fever falls, and the dyspnoea gradually diminishes. Remis-
sions, however, must be mistrusted, for they sue sometimes temporary, and
may be followed by fresh inflammation.
The physical signs are as follows :
Percussion of the chest yields normal resonance. Auscultation, both
during inspiration and expiration, gives fine subcrepitant rales scattered
in front and behind over both sides of the chest. The large rales of ordinary
bronchitis are often heard. Recamier gave the name bruit de tempSte to
these sounds, which form a perfect tumult. The sputum is composed of
the tliick purulent exudate from the small bronchi, and of a frothy secretion
from the larger bronchi. In children there is no sputum. In some cases
the secretion is so abundant that the patient repeatedly fills his spittoon
with pus, as though he vomited it.
It has been asked if capillary -bronchitis can be quite independent of
broncho-pneumonia. It may be, especially in an epidemic. Whether the
cause be cold, influenza, or measles, capillary bronchitis may be unaccom-
panied by broncho-pneumonia. It is, however, always accompanied by
emphysema of the antero-superior parts of the lung and by splenization of
the postero-inferior parts. We may also find yellow granules, subpleural
ecchymoses, and congestive foci which would have ended in broncho-
pneumonia if death had not been so prompt.
(6) Broncho-Pneumonia. — This malady behaves so differently, according
to age, that it must be studied separately in adults and in children. Broncho-
pneumonia in the adult presents some of the symptoms which have just
been mentioned under capillary bronchitis. To this description the follow-
ing symptoms must be added: The temperature rises to 104:° F., and the
sputum may be streaked with blood, but is not rusty. If the inflammation
only attack isolated lobules, the signs on auscultation are but little changed.
If, however, tlio lesion occupy a large surface, and especially if it assume
the form of pseudo-Iobar pneumonia, dullness, tubular breathing, and
bronchophony appear simultaneously at the seat of the lesions, although
these signs are not so severe as in lobar pneumonia.
As the pneumonic lesions vary in intensity, rough bronchial breathing
may be heard at one point and faint tubular breathing at another. These
lesions are usually multiple, and invade in succession several regions in one,
or both lungs, but es[)ecially the posterior and inferior parts. The sibilant
88 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
and the mucous rales are more or less fine, numerous, and scattered, accord-
ing to the concomitant changes in the bronchi. In children broncho-
pneumonia is frequent, and is usually a very serious disease. As we shall
see under ^Etiology, it is rarely primary, and usually supervenes in the course
of simple bronchitis, or appears as a complication of measles, whooping-
cough, diphtheria, or influenza. In infants it is very often tubercular.
As a rule, high temperature, quick pulse, and severe dyspnoea indicate
the invasion of broncho -pneumonia. Dullness and more or less harsh,
tubular breathing indicate the part of the lung invaded. If the lesion is
inflammatory, it takes some days to run its course ; if, however, it is
congestive, it may disappear by the next day, and reappear at another
point, which fact gives to broncho-pneumonia an appearance of mobility.
Moreover, as the inflammatory and hypersemic lesions of the lung are
differently combined, numerous clinical varieties may be observed.
Broncho-pneumonia usually matures by successive outbreaks. Some-
times one part of the lung is attacked before another part has cleared up ;
at other times the new outbreak supervenes after two or three days of im-
provement, which made recovery appear probable. On auscultation, the
tubular breathing is in part masked by subcrepitant rales. It is not rare
to find several foci of broncho-pneumonia. They are usually present on
both sides, and more often at the base or the middle of the lung. The
existence of a rub or of aegophony indicates concomitant pleurisy. The
little patient, who is breathless and excited, utters plaintive cries, and the
continual working of the alae nasi indicate the violence of the dyspnoea.
The respiration rate may reach 50, 60, or even 80 a minute. The cough
is constant and overpowering, the face is pale, the lips are blue. When
broncho-pneumonia is of moderate intensity, it lasts from a fortnight to
three weeks, and ends in recovery. We see, however, cases in which it
carries children off in less than a week, and also fulminant forms wliich are
fatal in two or three days.
In the aged, broncho-pneumonia affects different forms. In the acute
form, which much resembles the variety in an adult, we find violent cough,
progressive dyspnoea, muco- purulent or muco-sanguinolent expectoration,
with multiple rales and tubular breathing. In the suffocating form (suffoca-
tive catarrh) the dyspnoea rapidly becomes alarming ; the expectoration is
scanty, viscid, and sometimes quite airless ; the pulse is small and irregular ;
the vital forces quickly fail ; the extremities become cold, a clammy sweat
appears, and the patient dies in delirium or coma.
Course — Duration — Prognosis. — The course of capillary bronchitis and
of broncho -pneumonia has been divided into two periods — the one dyspnoeic,
the other asphyxial — while the two together may last from one to three
weeks. This division, however, is artificial. The prognosis is most grave.
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 89
Death is common in children and old people, especially when the disease
occurs in an epidemic form, and when it breaks out in a children's hospital
as a sequel to whooping-cough, measles, and diphtheria. I have twice
remarked that in children suffering from capillary bronchitis with measles
the bronchitic symptoms improved on the appearance of pneumonia, as if
under the influence of a natural revulsive. The fine scattered rales partly
disappeared, as if the inflammatory process were about to concentrate itself
at certain points. It seems at first sight as though the localized lesions
could be easily controlled, but new foci of lobular pneumonia develop, and
after several alternations in the course of events the termination is too often
fatal.
In favourable cases the dyspnoea mends, the fine rales disappear, and
improvement is gradually established. Sometimes broncho-pneumonia
shows a subacute course, and may finally become chronic. This course,
although it be rare, is especially seen in the pseudo-lobar form, where
splenLzation is the chief lesion, I shall refer to it under Clu-onic Pneu-
monia.
Diagnosis. — The diagnosis between capillary bronchitis and acute
tuberculosis in the adult is given later,* Let us at present differentiate
capillary bronchitis from simple bronchitis, pseudo-membranous bronchitis,
pulmonary oedema, and congestion of the lung.
The sonorous rhonchi and the mucous rales of simple bronchitis
show no resemblance to the sharp, fine rales of capillary bronchitis ;
the slight distress in the former is quite unlike the terrible dyspnoea of
the latter. The appearance of these signs, however, in the course of a
simple catarrh indicates the change from ordinary to capillary bronchitis.
Pseudo-membranous l)ronchitis may occur without membranes in the
larynx and the pharynx. The membranes which line the ramifications of
the bronchi cause fits of dyspnoea, similar to those of capillary bronchitis ;
but as the patient i)rings up long, branched membranes, tlie diagnosis is
obvious. (Edema of the lung alone, or associated with passive congestion,
is seen in Bright's disease, in mitral and tricuspid lesions, and in all cases
where the pulmonary circulation is impeded. Auscultation reveals fine
subcrepitant rales, which are most abundant at both bases ; fever is absent,
the dyspn(JDa is intense, and the expectoration is frothy, albuminous, and
rosy, when the case is one of superacute oedema of the lung.
The diagnosis of broncho-pneumonia from lobar pneumonia is easy.
Lobar pneumonia, as a rule, appears suddenly in healthy persons, and
begins with stitch in the side and shivering ; while broncho-pneumonia most
often develops in those wjio are already ill (measles, whooj>ing-r<»ugli,
diphtheria, influenza). Lobar pneumonia is nearly always unilateral and
* Vide Chapter IV., Section Hi.
90 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
characterized by crepitant rales and tubular breathing, while broncho-
pneumonia affects both sides of the chest at multiple centres, which are
more or less extensive, and characterized by blowing breathing and multiple
rales. In lobar pneumonia the cough is dry, and the sputum in adults is
rusty ; in broncho-pneumonia it is loose, incessant, overpowering, and the
sputum is muco-purulent. Genuine pneumonia usually ends from the
fifth to the ninth day, and its termination is almost always favourable in
children ; broncho-pneumonia is much more formidable, and lasts week»
or even months.
If the reader will turn to the chapter on Asthma, he will see that certain
febrile forms of asthma, especially in children, may at first sight simulate
capillary bronchitis.
The diagnosis of broncho-pneumonia from acute tuberculosis is often
very difficult. Both may supervene in the course of another disease
(measles, whooping-cough) ; in both we find extreme dyspnoea, high tem-
perature, early cyanosis of the face, with subcrepitant rales and blowing
breathing. The predominance of the lesions at the apices and the presence
of blood in the sputum are . presumptive signs in favour of tuberculosis,
and the presence of bacilli is a certain sign. Sero-diagnosis gives valuable
information.
iffitiology. — Capillary bronchitis alone is hardly ever seen except in
adults ; broncho- pneumonia is especially a disease of infancy and old age.
Measles, whooping-cough, influenza, diphtheria, typhoid fever, erysipelas,
cholera, and tuberculosis in infancy, are the affections in which broncho-
pneumonia usually appears. I refer to these different diseases for the
study of the special characters which broncho -pneumonia assumes in each.
It often occurs after tracheotomy. It is more frequent in cold weather,
and sometimes assumes an epidemic form.
Suppurative and infectious lesions of the nasal fossae and of the tlu'oat
may cause broncho-pneumonia by descending infection. The pathogenic
agents pass through the larynx and the bronchi to the lungs ; in some cases
the lung is affected, although the intermediary air-passages appear free.
Simjile bronchitis may in some circumstances be followed by capillary
bronchitis and broncho-pneumonia.
Epidemics of broncho-pneumonia have been noted in workmen employed
in crushing slag diu*ing the manufacture of steel. The dust and the
microbes which are present both take their share in the pathogenesis.
Let us also note the broncho-pulmonary lesions secondary to such con-
ditions of the nervous system, as cerebral hsemorrhage, softening, general
paralysis, mental affections, etc.
Treatment. — In capillary bronchitis and broncho-pneumonia the indi-
cations are identical. We must reduce the broncho-pulmonary inflamma-
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 9J
tion and favour the expulsion of the secretions which block the bronchi.
The first indication will be attained by means of revulsives, blood-letting,
dry- and wet-cupping, and application of leeches. Kermes, repeated emetics,
ipecacuanha alone, or with tartar emetic, fulfil the second indication.
For a child :
I^t Syrup of ipecacuanha . . . . . . . . ^ii.
Powdered ipecacuanha . . . . . . . . gr. xv.
Give a teaspoonful or a dessertspoonful every five minutes till
vomiting occurs.
For an adult :
I^ Ipecacuanha . . . . . , . . . . gr. xx.
Tartar emetic . . . . , . . . . . gr. i.
Divide into two doses, give at five-minute intervals, and make the
patient drink tepid water to assist vomiting.
For the fits of coughing and the pain the following draught will be useful :
For an adult :
J^ Orange -flower water . . . . . . . . 5iii-
Syrup of chloral 1
byrup oi morphiaj
Cherry-laurel water . . . . . . . . 3ii.
A tablespoonful to be taken every three hours.
Inhalations of oxygen are of some use in asphyxia. Lastly, the strength
of the patient must be carefully supported by broths, tonics, and alcohol.
A child two years old can take during the day a draught containing
25 grammes of sherry and 15 centigrammes of acetate of ammonia.
Baths, both cold and hot, have been extolled (Renaut). This treatment
cannot, and ought not, to be systematic. In a case with marked fever,
very high temperature, and an ataxic tendency, baths at 75° F. are to be
used. In a case with great broncliial embarrassment, much dyspnoea, and
an adynamic tendency, hot baths are preferable.
Injections of serum, in amount appro]iriate to the age of the patient,
may be used with advantage {vide appendix on Therapeutics).
Prophylactic treatment must not bo neglected, and children who are
predisposed to colds and bronchitis must not be allowed to come near those
suffering from broncho-pneumonia.
III. CHRONIC BRONCHITIS.
etiology — Description.— Altliough chronic bronchitis may be primary,
it is often associated with constitutional maladies. In lymphatic and
scrofulous subjects, in gouty persons, and those affected with skin Icsioas,
92 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
and in old people, bronchitis may be chronic from the first, or follow upon
more or less acute attacks. Clironic bronchitis is most prevalent during
cold, damp weather, and chills provoke acute attacks, which have a very-
bad effect upon the disease.
Chronic bronchitis is characterized by long and painful fits of coughing,
which are frequently repeated, especially in the morning and the evening.
Animated conversation or a quick walk may bring on a fit which is often
followed by abundant expectoration. The sputum is thick, greenish-
yellow, and often mixed with froth. More rarely the expectoration is
scanty, and the balls of sputum have the consistence of starch (dry catarrh).
The breathing is wheezing and difficult. On auscultation, snoring and sibi-
lant rhonchi and large bubbling rales are heard over both sides of the chest ;
they may be so abundant as to simulate the gurgling of a cavity. There is
no fever, the appetite is scarcely affected, and the dyspnoea is slight, apart
from the fits of coughing. Chronic bronchitis has no fixed course ; it lasts
several months, improves in fine weather, but reappears with the first
cold.
In artlu-itics subject to skin lesions, such as eczema or lichen, it is not
rare to see a certain alternation between the cutaneous and the bronchitic
troubles.
Chronic bronchitis usually leaves behind it pulmonary emphysema, but
the patient may live indefinitely till complications change the situation.
These complications are of various kinds. Some, sudden in their appear-
ance, comprise pulmonary congestions, which cause attacks of dyspnoea and
acute broncho-pulmonary inflammations, which create immediate danger ;
others, slow in their development, are pulmonary emphysema and lesions
of the right heart, which give rise to increasing difficulty in breathing,
cyanosis, and general oedema.
Dilatation of the bronchi is also one of the consequences of chronic
bronchitis. In feeble subjects, especially elderly ones, who have no longer
strength to expel the secretion in the bronchi, clu-onic catarrh may change
into a suffocative one.
In the course of bronchitis the breath and the expectoration may some-
times become foetid. This foetor, which may last weeks and months, is
due to decomposition of the bronchial secretions, to the presence of butyric
acid (Laycock), or to gangrene of the mucosa, which, however, is not so
serious as gangrene of the lung.
Certain persons suffering from chronic bronchitis may bring up for
months and years branched, and often cylindrical, membranes. These may
measure from 4 to 6 inches in length, are whitish, elastic, and chiefly com-
posed of mucine. They must not be confused with diphtheria of the
bronchi.
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 93
Diagnosis. — Chronic catarrh of the bronchi must not be confounded
with spurious bronchial inflammation, which is only an episode in the
course of some other disease. In people suffering from cardiac disease
(mitral lesions), the broncho-pulmonary circulation is easily impeded, and
congestion and oedema of the respiratory passage are the result. Multiple rales
are heard on auscultation, and the distress sometimes takes the form of fits.
If the cardiac lesion is not recognized, these different troubles are set down
to chronic bronchitis until other symptoms call attention to the true cause.
The same remark applies to bronchitis in patients with Bright's disease.
A patient complains of distress and suft'ocation, accompanied by cough and
expectoration. On listening, we find mucous rales on both sides of the
shest, usually most abundant at the bases. A superficial examination
would readil} lead to the idea of subacute or chronic catarrh, but a minute
interrogation reveals other important signs. The patient has frequent
micturition, his eyelids are puffy, the heart is hypertrophied, and we find
a gallop rhythm (Potain) ; the urine is albuminous ; and, in short, the
so-called bronchitis is only an episode in Bright's disease.
We shall see later that chronic bronchitis is often associated with asthma,
dilatation of the bronchi, and emphysema. It precedes or follows them,
and may, especially in asthmatics, become the chief trouble, so as to
mask the real nature of the disease.
Pathological Anatomy. — The diseased bronchi are thickened, and the
connective tissue of the mucosa is mvaded by fibrous tissue, which some-
times forms prominent vegetations. It is not rare to meet with superficial
ulcerations at the glandular openings. Emphysema Ls often seen as a
complication.
Treatment. — The end in view is to dry up the secretion and modify
the secreting parts. CVeosote (Bouchard), iodoform (See), aijd essence of
turpentine give good results. These different medicaments may be ad-
ministered by the respiratory passages as vapours (inhalation-rooms), and
sprays (atomizers), or by the digestive tract.
The following formulae relate to the adminLstration of these remedies :
Capsules of creosote, each containing 1 minim. Dose, 4 to 8 with each
meal.
Perles of essence of turpentine, each containing 4 minims. Dose, 4 to G
with each meal.
Pills of iodoform, each containing 1 grain. One pill to be taken with
each meal.
Capsules, containing 4 minims of copaiba and 4 minims of tar. Dose,
J to 8 with each meal.
Terpenc may be employed, givhig daily G to 13 pills, each containing
] ^ minims, amounting to from 10 to 15 minims in twenty-four hours.
94 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Good results may be obtained with eucalyptol, given in doses of from 4 to
10 capsules daily.
Arsenic and sulphur should be used with these different remedies. The
sulphur cures of Saint-Sauveur, Luchon, and Cauterets, and the arsenical ones
of Mont-Dore and La Bourboule, will be of much service. I often prescribe
Labassere water, taken in the morning, fasting. The dose is 4 table-
spoonfuls in hot milk. In old people especially the blocking of the bronchi
by secretion must be carefully watched, and combated by means of repeated
emetics.
The patient who suffers from chronic bronchitis should avoid chills and
pass the winter in a temperate cUmate.
IV. DILATATION OF THE BRONCHI— BRONCHIECTASIS.
Pathological Anatomy. — When we read the chapter which Laennec
devoted to dilatation of the bronchi, and consider that this subject was
previously untouched, we are astonished at his great accuracy.
The lesions fomid post mortem are usually multiple, because dilatation
of the bronchi is accompanied by chronic broncho-pneumonia, fibrosis of
the lung, chronic pleurisy, with adhesions and pulmonary emphysema —
lesions which are more or less marked according to the case. On openmg
the chest, the lungs do not collapse ; in certain parts they are indurated,
carnified, and hepati^ed, and their surface is mottled and cyanotic. In
some cases a lobe is atrophied and cirrhotic. The lesions of recent acute
broncho-pneumonia are not rare. In some cases the dilatations appear on
the surface of the Imigs ; in others they are only seen on section in the depth
of the organ. The large bronclii are rarely dUated ; bronchiectasis occurs
chiefly in the third and fourth order of bronchi, which are 2 to 3 millimetres
in diameter.
The pathological anatomy of the dilated bronchi comprises their shape,
structure, and situation.
The shape is variable. Uniform dilatation, the rarest form, affects
the whole length of the bronchus, the calibre alone being altered. Monili-
form dilatation (Cruveilhier), by its successive swellings, gives the bronchus
the appearance of a string of beads. Ampullary dilatation is the commonest
form, and is made up of cavities which may be isolated, like a cyst, or
commmiicate with neighbouring dilatations. In the latter case, the invaded
area resembles the auricle of the heart, or an alveolar mass in which the
septa are formed by the atrophied and fibrous lung tissue.
Ampullary dilatation has different forms, accordmg as the enlargement
invades the lateral parts of the bronchus, or an entire segment. These
enlargements, or bronchial aneurysms, have been compared to aortic
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 95
aneurysms — a comparison which is the more justified as it is the change
in the bronchial wall which is chiefly responsible for the swelling. The
dilatations vary in size from a pea to a pigeon's egg ; the peripheral portion
of the bronchus, which is usually atrophied, terminates in a cul-de-sac, but it
may in exceptional cases be dilated into a kind of cyst on the surface of the
lung (Gombault). The different forms which I have described may be
found combined in the specimen.
The structure of the dilated bronchus varies according to the stage of
the lesion. Where the lesion is but little advanced, the mucosa of the
cavity is almost healthy, and is continuous with that of the bronchus ;
the cylindrical epithelium remains ; the glands are atrophied ; the submucous
connective tissue has lost some of its elastic folds ; and the muscular fibres
are much separated, but rarely destroyed.
When the lesion is very advanced, the bronchi have quite lost their
normal structure ; the mucosa is no longer wrinkled, because the elastic
fibres have disappeared ; the cylindrical epithelium (jjropulsive) is replaced
by pavement (protective) epithelium ; the mucosa is covered with villi,
wliich are composed of embryonic tissue and vessels. The muscular layer
is converted into embryonic tissue with new vessels ; the cartilages also
return to the embryonic state, and are infiltrated with calcareous salts.
The elastic fibres of the connective tissue are broken up, and no longer form
a complete ring around the bronchus. The connective tissue forms, so to
speak, the skeleton of the diseased bronchi. The capillary vessels are number-
less, tortuous, and dilated ; they present swellings of every shape, and project
into the cavity of the bronchus. This capillary network is especially de-
veloped in the villi and in the layers adjoining the lumen of the bronchus.
The vessels anastomose in every direction and form a cavernous tissue.
In the lesions of bronchiectasis there are, then, two kinds : the one —
neo-formative — ends in the development of embryonic and vascular tissue ;
the other — destructive — causes a loss of normal tissue (Hanot).
In certain cases ulceration occurs, and the surface of the cavity may be
attacked with " a superficial curable gangrene, which is analogous to the
death of connective tissue in phlegmon." The liquid in the dilated bronchi
is composed of mucus and pus in variable proportions ; it contains crystals
of margarine and of cholesterine, and its mawkish odour becomes foetid in
cases of gangrene. When a dilatation has lost its connections with the parent
bronchus, it becomes filled with a caseous mass, and looks like an isolated cyst.
Bronchiectasis chiefly affects the apex of the lung wlien the dilatation
is nioniliform, while it more often occurs at the periphery when the swelling
is anipullary. The dilatations are more frequent on the left side than on
the right, and affect one lung only in the proportion of 20 to 4 (Bjirth).
Bronchiectasis is always accompanied by clu'onic inflammation of the
96 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
tissues — i.e., peribronchitis, fibrosis of the lung, and chronic pleurisy — but
the origin of these tissues of new formation has not been completely eluci-
dated. According to recent researches, the tissue of the chronic pneumonia
which accompanies bronchiectasis is said to arise solely in the fibro-
vascular framework of the lung, while the epithelium of the parenchyma
takes no part, and the pulmonary tissue itself disappears by reason of the
marked diapedesis which gives rise to the new fibrous tissue. " The
parenchyma of the lung is transformed into granulation tissue, which finally
forms adult connective tissue, more or less studded with vascular neoplasms,
according to the age of the lesions. According to their more or less advanced
organization into fibrous tissue, we may see the splenization, the carnification,
and the areolar state of the parts of the lung which surround the dilated
bronchus." Emphysema often accompanies bronchiectasis. Hypertrophy of
the bronchial glands is sometimes seen, and tuberculosis, which was regarded
as rare (Barth), appears to be fairly often associated with bronchiectasis
(Grancher).
etiology. — Bronchiectasis is a disease of middle and advanced age. It
may result from acute bronchitis or broncho-pneumonia, but more often it
follows clironic bronchitis, or broncho-pneumonia which has not cleared up,
and is consecutive to measles, whooping-cough, mfluenza, or typhoid fever.
In some cases the aetiology completely escapes our grasp.
The chief theories of the pathogenesis of bronchiectasis are :
Laennec : Accumulation of secretion in the bronchi, and consequent
enlargement of these channels.
Andral : Alteration in nutrition and diminished elasticity of the walls
of the bronchi.
Corrigan : Fibrosis of the lung, the retractile tissue of which puUs upon
the walls of the bronchi.
Stokes : Paralysis of the muscular fibres and diminution in the resistance
of the bronchi.
Mendelssohn: Pressure exerted by the air upon the diseased bronchi
during fits of coughing.
Gonbault admits the union of these different processes.
Barth adds chronic pleurisy, acting, like pulmonary fibrosis, by its
retractile tissue.
Which of these theories are we to adopt ? Any morbid state capable of
producing faulty nutrition of the bronchi (acute and chronic bronchitis),
and any formation of extrabronchial fibrous tissue, might favour or produce
bronchiectasis.* I admit the fact, but we must assign the proper value to
each of these factors.
* Paludism appears to act in this way in developing interstitial pneumonia. The
cases of Frerichs, Lanceieaux, and Grasset, are quite conclusive (These de Grasset,
MontpeUier, ISTi).
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 97
It seems to me that we have exaggerated the role of chronic pneumonia
and of pleurisy — in short, of fibrous tissues — when we look on them as
retractile, and capable of producing bronchiectasis by mechanical action.
There are cases, it is true, in which the action of the extrabronchial fibrous
tissue appears evident ; perhaps, too, the bronchial and extrabronchial
lesions develop on parallel lines, but the present tendency is to admit that
the pulmonary lesion which accompanies the bronchial dilatation is most
often the consequence, and not the cause, of the lesions in the bronchus.
The phlegmasia begins in the bronchus ; it then extends around the
bronchus, reaches the neighbouring pulmonary tissue, and thus gives rise
to a systematic fibrosis. The proof that events mast follow this course is
that chronic lobar pneumonia is not accompanied by bronchial dilatation,
because the bronchus does not take part in the morbid process (Charcot),
while bronchial dilatations are found in lobular or broncho- pneumonia,
because the bronchus is always much altered. Therefore, whether there
may or may not be pulmonary or pleural fibrosis, the lesion of the bronchus
is the necessary fact that is indispensable to the production of bronchi-
ectasis. By reason of the bronchial lesion the bronchus loses its normal
elements, the elastic and muscular fibres give place to embryonic and
vascular tissue which have no resisting power, and the bronchus dilates at
its weak spot like an artery, the altered wall of which permits the formation
of an aneurysm.
It has been asked if there might not be some special condition capable of
preparing the way for enlargement of the diseased bronchus, and arterio-
sclerosis of the bronchial arteries has been suggested. In a case recently
reported by Hanot arterio-sclerosis of the bronchial arteries was very
marked.
Symptoms. — Bronchiectasis shows itself by the following symptoms :
The cough is fretjuent and spasmodic, as in chronic bronchitis, which often
precedes dilatation. The expectoration becomes abundant, so that patients
brmg up daily 4 to 12 ounces of muco-purulent fluid, with a mawkish and
sometimes fcetid smell (bronchorrhoea). If the sputum is examined in the
spittoon when its superficial layer alone is visible, it is frothy and aerated ;
but if it is put in a measure-glass, it will be seen to have an opaque lower
layer, which contains pus corpuscles, epithelial cells, and crystals of chole-
sterine or oi margarine. The expectoration may be uniformly divided
through the course of the day. Some patients, however, empty their
dilated bronchi three or four times daily ; they are seized by fits of coughing
or straining, like a fit of vomiting, and bring up each time 2 or 3 ounces of
muco-purulent liquid. This fluid, which smells like fresh plaster, may
become hxitid from decomposition of the fluid or from gangrene of the cavity.
The breath then acquires such a stench that a whole ward may be tainted.
98 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
This foetor, which is very tenacious, may exist, witli or without remissions,
for months and years, and the unhapjjy sufferer avoids all company, and
dare not show himself in public.
HaBmoptysis is frequent m bronchiectasis. In some cases it can be set
down to tuberculosis, which may be associated with bronchiectasis, but m a
large immber of cases there is no question of tuberculosis. The haemoptysis
depends solely on the bronchiectasis, and the bleeding is due to rupture of
the tortuous, dilated capillaries (angiomata) which are present in the newly-
formed bronchial and extrabronchial tissue. These forms of haemoptysis
are a fresh source of difficulty in diagnosis. In some cases they have been
the cause of death.
In most cases dilatation of the bronchi exists on one side only, and
affects the apex of the lung as often as the base. We find, on examination
of the chest, a depression, which corresponds to the site of the dilatation,
and is especially marked when bronchiectasis is associated with chronic
pleurisy. This depression is frequently found at the middle and back part
of the thorax. Percussion shows dullness, correspondmg to the diseased
region. On auscultation the signs of a cavity are fomid, but the signs
vary accordmg to the size and number of the cavities, and according as
they are empty or full. They are sometimes masked by pleurisy, or by
chronic pneumonia. Thus, m some patients the breathmg is blowing,
cavernous, and even amphoric, and may or may npt be accompanied by
gurglmg ; while bronchophony or pectoriloquy may be heard.
Course — Duration — Termination. — When bronchiectasis is not asso-
ciated with tuberculosis, the general symptoms are benign for a long while.
There is no fever ; many patients ret am their appetite, and contmue to attend
to their busmess, and m those who are not attacked by foetid bronchitis life
is fairly comfortable, save that expectoration is abundant and dyspnoea
may cause an mcreasing distress. In short, we are surprised, says Trousseau
— and this is also Laennec's opinion — by the apparent innocence of the
disease up to almost its final stage.
In some cases death is the result of such complications as acute pneu-
monia, acute broncho -pneumonia, gangrene of the lung, haemoptysis, cerebral
abscess, purulent pleurisy, pneumothorax, tuberculosis, or pyaemia with
articular and visceral abscesses. In other cases death comes more slowly,
from the progress of the disease and from concomitant pulmonary troubles,
which, after many years, are complicated by lesions of the right heart, or by
consumption. The absorption of microbic products from the surface of
the bronchial cavities produces a true septicaemia. The wasting, the hectic
fever, the diarrhoea, the cachectic oedema, and the clubbed fingers, recall the
picture of pulmonary phthisis.
Bacteriology. — The fluid from the cavities contams numerous microbes,
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 99
including the Streptococcus pyogenes,ihePneumococcus, and the Staphylococcus
aureus, as well as saprogenic microbes, such as the Bacillus pyogenes fcctidus.
These microbes perhaps play some part in the destruction of the
bronchial tissues which favour dilatation, but they certainly play an im-
portant one in most of the complications. These complications are not due
solely to the toxines elaborated by the microbes, but also to the direct
passage -of certain microbes into the blood and the organs. The acute
septicaemia which sometimes supervenes m bronchiectasis, the suppurative
artln-itis, the infarcts, and the cerebral abscesses are due to different strepto
cocci {Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus septic us liquefaciens) which have
their original focus in bronchiectasis.
Infective endocarditis with abscess in the liver and the kidney has been
seen. It was consecutive to infection by the Staphylococcus aureus, from
an infected bronchial dilatation.
Diagnosis. — Pulmonary phthisis, foetid bronchitis, and pleural vomica
have many signs in common with bronchiectasis. Let us first distinguish
bronchial dilatation from tuberculous cavities in the lung, and let us take
a well-marked case, in which bronchiectasis is not associated with tuber-
culosis. The site of the lesion furnishes no distinctive sign, since bronchi-
ectasis is as often unilateral as bilateral (twenty-six times m forty-three cases),
and as frequent at the apex as at the base (Barth). Haemoptysis, cough,
and clubbed fingers are also seen in both diseases. Lastly, cavernous breath-
ing, gurgling, and pectoriloquy show in both cases the existence of cavities,
but give no information as to their nature. Upon what points, then, can
an affirmative diagnosis be based ? The expectoration in bronchiectasis is,
it is true, more diffluent, more aerated and abundant than in phthisis ; but
this distinction is not sufficient, and the true distinction lies in the different
course of the two diseases. The patient affected only with bronchiectasis
has for five, eight, or ten years suffered neither fever nor marked wastmg,
but has simply coughed up abundant and sometimes foetid sputum, with or
without dyspnoea. Such is not the course of tuberculosis. Fever, wastuig,
dyspepsia, loss of strength, sweats, diarrhoea, are symptoms which coincide
with the formation of cavities, and gradually increase with the spread of
the lesion. Lastly, all doubts can be removed by examination of the
sputum ; the presence of bacilli therein being a sure sign of tuberculosis.
In foetid bronchitis, which is characterized by sloughing of the mucosa
in the bronchioles (Lasegue), we find foctor of the breath and of the sputum,
whi(;h is profuse, as in bronchiectasis ; l)ut the signs of a cavity are wanting.
Between dilatation of the bronchi and vomica* of the pleui-a diagnosis is
difficult. I am not referrbig to a vomica of the great pleural cavity occurring
in piurulent pleurisy, the evolution of which we have followed out. It is
♦ Vide Chapter V., Section 15.
7—2
100 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
evident that in such a case the abundance of fluid, its sudden appearance
by way of the bronchi, and the signs of a large cavity replacing those of
effusion, leave no doubt as to the diagnosis. I allude to those interlobar
varieties (pleuro-pulmonary cysts) which differ from effusions of the great
pleural cavity, in that the symptoms are obscure and the fluid is scanty.
A patient coughs up for some time 10 to 15 ounces of foetid muco-purulent
fluid daily. On inspection, the thorax is found to be flattened in the sub-
scapular region. At the same level impaired resonance exists. On auscul-
tation, the signs of the cavity may be recognized. The condition is just
like dilatation of the bronchi. How, then, can we diagnose between this
condition and a vomica ? We must investigate the course of events.
Peter and I followed this course in a case similar to one described by Trous-
seau.* The signs in bronchiectasis appear gradually, while the course of
events is more sudden in interlobar pleurisy followed by vomica. The
pleuritic phase is succeeded quite suddenly by the vomica, and the evacuated
fluid is at first abundant, but diminishes during the next few days.
Treatment. — The remedies employed to dry up the secretion from the
dilated bronchi are practically those used in chronic bronchitis. Terpene
may be prescribed, 6 to 10 pills daUy. Good results may be obtained with
eucalyptol, given in doses of from 4 to 10 capsules daily. Turpentine,
iodoform, and creosote will also find their indications. Inhalations and sprays
of sulphurous and arsenical waters sometimes give go,od results. Revulsives,
blisters, and the cautery must not be neglected. For the foetor of the
breath and of the sputum, Paquelin's thermo-cautery should be employed.
I have several times caused foetor to disappear for several days by multiple
applications over the diseased region.
As medical treatment too often fails, it is recognized that resort must
be made to surgical measures. I am not speaking solely of antiseptic
injections into the diseased bronchi. I allude to pneumotomy. I am well
aware that the published results are not very encouraging, and the pul-
monary haemorrhage which supervenes during the operation is a source of
danger. Boswell Park, in his statistics, had nine deaths in twenty-five cases.
These figures are not as yet very favourable to surgical attempts, but yet,
when we thmk of the almost fatal prognosis of bronchiectasis, we confess
that the hope of rational treatment lies in surgery.
V. PSEUDO-MEMBRANOUS BRONCHITIS.
This disease may have various origins. Sometimes the false membrane
contains Loffler's bacillus, and mcreases the gravity of the prognosis in
diphtheria of the larynx or pharynx ; sometimes the false membrane is
* " Dilatation de Bronches " (" Le9ons de Clinique Medicale," tome i., p. 588).
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHT 101
consecutive to pneumonia, especially massive pneumonia (Grancher), and
the cause is the pneumococcus. Finally, in much rarer cases, we sometimes
see after tuberculosis, measles (Jaeger), heart lesions, and ordinary bron-
chitis, cases of pseudo-membranous bronchitis which are difficult to classify.
Pseudo-membranous bronchitis does not always show a well-defined
course. The bronchitis is only an episode of the disease which it happens
to complicate. It is not so m the case of chronic pseudo-membranous
bronchitis, in which the course and the symptoms are quite characteristic
(Paul-Lucas Championniere).
Chronic Pseudo-Membranous Bronchitis.
etiology. — This form is chiefly seen in adult and elderly persons. It is
more frequent in men than in women. Pulmonary affection and arthritism
in the patient's ancestors appear to predispose to it. It may follow ordinary
bronchitis, or be a complication of pulmonary tuberculosis. It is sometimes
associated with the Aspergillus fmnigatus.
Pathological Anatomy. — Post mortem the bronchial mucosa is seen to
be slightly red and thickened. The false membranes are found in the
trachea, the large bronchi, but especially in the smaller bronchi. The false
membranes are branched like a tree or a piece of coral and form exact casts
of the bronchi. These casts may be coughed up in small fragments, or in
branching pieces 4 or 5 inches in length. The substance which forms them
is white or rosy, and is often disposed in concentric lamina). In the large
bronchi the membranes are hollow, and show a central lumen ; in those of
small calibre the casts are solid. The structure of these membranes varies.
They may be composed of firm mucus, coagulated albumin (Grancher),
fibrin (Caussade), ur fat (Model). Charcot-Leyden crystals and eosinophile
cells are at times found in them. In a case published by Claisse membranous
bronchitis was associated with the streptococcus. In Griffon's case the
pneumococcus was the pathogenic agent.
Symptoms. — The affection generally begins as acute bronchitis, which
may be accompanied by the expectoration of false membranes, and then
gradually becomes chronic. The membranes may not appear till long after
the disappearance of the acute bronchitis. In some subjects the affection
is chronic from the start.
The course is neither continuous nor progressive ; it is characterized by
attacks. At more or less lengthy intervals the patients are seized with intense
dyspncjea, retrosternal pain, and convulsive cough. At first they bring up
abundant shreddy matter, and then false membranes, which may take the
form of isolated fragments, or be rolled up in balls which unfold in water.
In some cases an entire bronchial tree is brought up. Haemoptysis is very
rare. After the expulsion of the membranes the dyspncca ceases. During
102 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
the attacks the vesicular murmur is often diminished. We sometimes find
a focus of crepitant rales which may be long persistent (Hyde Salter), or a
hruit de drapeau, as in croup. The attack is generally apyretic.
At the Necker Hospital I saw, in 1891, a man, fifty years of age, with pseudo-
membranous bronchitis. For twelve months membranes were absent ; then he coughed
them up every week for a month. The attack was preceded by certain symptoms the
day before. He used to feel depressed, and would next day cough up large casts.
He never had haemoptysis, and I found no signs on percussion and auscultation. He
improved rapidly under iodide of potash, although he was not syphilitic.
The duration of the disease is unlimited. A case of twenty-five years'
duration has been quoted (Kirsch). The prognosis, not unlike that of simple
chronic bronchitis, is only grave in a tubercular subject.
Diagnosis. — The diagnosis rests entirely upon the examination of the
sputum. When false membranes are discovered, histological and especially
bacteriological exammations must be made, in order to ascertain if it be a
case of diphtheria, pneumonia, or of chronic bronchitis, with or without
tuberculosis.
Rational treatment consists in the exhibition of iodide of potash, mercury,
terpene, and creosote.
VI. TRACHEO-BRONCHIAL SYPHILIS.
As Mauriac justly remarks, the trachea and bronchi are simple con-
ductors of air, and play a purely passive part, which cannot be compared
with the many functions of the larynx. The symptoms of tracheo-bronchial
syphiKs are therefore respiratory, but are more serious than in the larjmx,
because tracheotomy is not applicable when the lesion is situated in the
trachea or at its bifurcation.
1. Secondary Troubles.
Description. — Erythema, catarrh, and erosions exist as secondary mani-
festations in the trachea and the large bronchi ; but while vocal troubles and
laryngoscopy readily reveal these secondary troubles if they are seated in
the larynx, they can only be suspected when located in the trachea or the
large bronchi. In certain cases, however, laryngoscopy may reveal them,
although they are in the trachea.
The symptoms are those of ordinary tracheo-bronchitis — viz., cough,
slight dyspnoea, and expectoration. Their syphilitic origin may in many
cases be affirmed, because they often coincide with mucous or cutaneous
syphilides, and because they improve rapidly under treatment.
Acute or subacute syphilitic tracheo-bronchitis is more common than
we think. A case of tracheo-bronchitis which has lasted a long time, has
been rebellious to other treatment, or has been set down to tobacco,
artliritism, or chills, yields rapidly to mercury and iodide of potash.
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 103
2. Tertiary Troubles.
Pathological Anatomy. — In the trachea and the large bronchi, as else-
where, the syphiloma may be circumscribed or diffuse. The lesion spreads
either in the thickness of the mucosa or below it. Its action is not limited
to the soft parts, and it invades the cartilages, the fibrous tissue, and the
muscle. The gumma may be of large size, and the thickenings are more
or less extensive.
These tertiary growths usually end in circumscribed ulceration in the
case of gumma, and serpiginous ulceration, which has a phagedaenic tendency,
in the diffuse syphiloma.
The ulceration may occupy a segment or the whole circumference of the
trachea ; the phagedsena may attack the perichondrium and the cartilages,
and perforate the trachea or furrow it from above downwards.
In some cases the perichondritis and the chondritis are primary, the
walls of the trachea bemg indurated and converted into a rigid narrow tube.
Tracheo-stenosis and broncho-stenosis are the result of these lesions.
The narrowing of the trachea may take place slowly or rapidly. The
gummata and the ulcerations, with the resultmg oedema, narrow the trachea
and the bronchi. The fibrous tissue forms longitudinal, oblique, transverse,
or annular bands, and causes most marked constrictions. The fibrous scars
produce two kinds of deformity in the trachea and bronchi, which diminish
both in length and in breadth. The trachea, which is normally about
f inch in diameter, is reduced to a third or a quarter of its size. The con-
striction is rarely circular, like a diaphragm, but takes the form of an
irregular, anfractuous channel, with superposed stages. The length of the
trachea diminishes in proportion to the number of rings destroyed. The
firmness of its framework is destroyed by the substitution of fibrous tissue
for cartilage, and the consequent flattening during inspiration may cause
asphyxia.
The tracheo-bronchial syphiloma is nearly always accompanied or pre-
ceded by pharyngeal or laryngeal syphilis. In sixty-five cases collected by
Mauriac, in six only was the pharynx or larynx unaffected. The lower
fourth of the trachea, with or without the participation of one or both
bronchi, is the most frequent seat of syphiloma. The traclieo - bronchial
glands iiTCi almost always enlarged.
Description. — The cough and slight dyspnoea of the onset make us think
at first of simple bronchitis, but otlier symptoms soon a|)pear ; obstinate
spasmodic cough, the sensation of a foreign body, the feeling of constriction
in the neck, pain behind the sternum, noisy breathing, stridor, continuoas
and paroxysmal dyspnoea, indicate stenosis of the trachea. Respiration is
often quiet when the patient is at rest, but movement brings on aruito
104 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
dyspnoea ; attacks of oppression, due to reflex spasm of the glottis, super-
vene night and day, and cause extreme distress.
These attacks of oppression are one of the most salient characteristics
of tracheal syphilis (Mauriac). I verified the truth of this assertion in a
patient whom I saw with Dr. Poyet.
The expectoration is frothy, but sometimes the patient brings up pieces
of gummatous tissue, and even fragments of cartilage. The larynx, which
normally rises during deglutition, is often fixed by scar-tissue in tracheal
syphilis. Laryngoscopic examination may show the tracheal lesion even
as far down as the bifurcation.
When cure has not been obtained, or treatment has not been carried
out in time, slow asphyxia, syncope, sudden death, perforation of the gullet,
of the vessels, or of the mediastinum, with consecutive abscess, broncho-
pneumonia and gangrene of the lung, are possible terminations. We must
not mistake laryngo-bronchial syphilis for ordinary bronchitis, asthma, or
tracheo-bronchial adenitis, lest we see the patient succumb for want of
active treatment.
Retrosternal pain, feeling of strangulation behind the sternum, tracheal
stridor, immobility or lowering of the trachea during deglutition and
preservation of the voice, together with the dyspnoeic troubles I have de-
scribed, show that the trachea is stenosed.
Several lesions in the larynx, as well as paralysis- of the posterior crico-
arytenoid muscles, may cause similar dyspnoea ; but the stridor is laryngeal,
the voice is generally affected, and the laryngoscope removes all doubts.
The trachea may be compressed by an aortic aneurysm, in which case the
signs of aneurysm are found.
The trachea is sometimes depressed by tumours of the mediastinum,
but other symptoms, such as dysphagia, oedema of the face and neck,
deformity of the sterno-clavicular region, dullness, according to the extent
of the tumour, and swelling of the supraclavicular glands, are usually
present, and indicate the nature of the lesion.
If syphilis of the trachea is recognized, or even suspected, mercury and
iodide of potassium must be given in large doses. I prefer injections of bin-
iodide of mercury. This treatment must be carried out thoroughly. Most
active treatment may cause no improvement for a fortnight.
VII. WHOOPING-COUGH.
Description.— Whooping-cough is a contagious and epidemic disease,
which is probably microbic, attacks the young especially, and confers
almost absolute immunity. It is composed of a double element : the one
inflammatory, catarrh of the bronchi ; the other nervous, the fit of coughing.
It is customary to describe three stages in whooping-cough, but we may
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 105
add the period of incubation, which extends from the moment of contagion
to the outburst of the attack, and varies, according to Roger, from seven
to ten days.
In the first stage the catarrh resembles simple bronchitis. The child has
fever and cough, as in ordinary catarrh ; but yet certain fine distinctions
already indicate the specific nature of the disease : the cough is more
obstinate and frequent, and the fever Ls more stubborn than in a simple cold.
This stage lasts from three days to a fortnight, and passes insensibly into
the stationary stage.
In this stage— that of convulsive cough — the fever falls back, and the
nervous element takes the lead. The cough is less incessant than formerly,
but the expiratory jerks succeed each other so rapidly that the patient makes
at first eight to ten, then fifteen to twenty, expirations without being able
to take breath. The fit is now established, and the crisis shows the symptoms
so graphically described by Trousseau that I cannot do better than repro-
duce his picture :
A child is at play. Some moments before the advent of the crisis he stops ;
his mirth gives place to sadness. If he should be in the company of his playmates, he
stands aside and tries to avoid them. He meditates his crisis, feels it coming, and
experiences that pricking and tickhng in. the larynx which announces it. At first he
tries to avert the paroxysm. Instead of breathing naturally and expanding his lungs
to the full, as he was doing just before, he holds his breath, for it seems to him that the
full current of air, by entering his larynx, •vvill produce the exhausting cough of which
he has had a sad experience ; but, I repeat, whatever he may do, he T^-iU not prevent,
and at most he will only be able to delay, the fit. The fit takes place. You at once
see the patient look around for a support to which he may cling. If he is a child at
the breast, he throws himself into the arms of his mother or of his nurse. If he is
older and standing up, you notice him stamping, in a state of complete distress. If he
is lying down, he sits up quickly and clutches hold of the bed-curtains or of the rails.
The attack leaves him with a swollen face, and this swelling, which at times lasts for
three weeks, may in some cases be quite enough to cause a practised physician to sus-
pect the existence of whooping-cough.
Let us return to the fit. The fit commences with a sudden, noLsy
expiration, followed by a series of short, aphonic, convulsive, and more or
less hurried expirations. At this moment a pause, which may last ten to
fifteen seconds, occurs, and the chest remains motionless in the position of
full expiration. During this phase of the fit the air expelled from the chest
is not renewed , consequently, the patient, whose eyes are injected and
streaming, lips cyanosed and face bloated, is in a state of distress bordering
upon asphyxia. Then comes a long, singing, convulsive inspiration,
whicli ends the fit, and brings a short spell of rest.
A second fit, however, occurs at once, and is followed by several otiiers,
which decrease in severity ; the inspiration, instead of being singing, be-
comes aphonic, showing that the spasm of the glottis is less. The attack
may then be said to be at an end. The series of fits constitutes the attack.
106 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
During the fits the child brings up slireds of glairy mucus, which stick to
the mouth. The end of the attack is often marked by the vomiting of glairy
material or of food-stuffs.
These attacks, which vary in duration from some seconds to ten or
twelve minutes, are more frequent at night than in the day, and occur as
often as sixty times in twenty-four hours. When this number is exceeded,
the child's life is in danger (Trousseau). Between the attacks the patient
has no cough to speak of ; the fit sums up the whole disease. During the
catarrhal period, bronchitic rales are heard in the chest. As soon as the
spasmodic period begins they disappear.
In the third stage all the symptoms improve. The fits are less frequent,
the inspiratory stridor is less marked, and the glairy mucus is replaced,
especially in adults, by the thick sputum of bronchial catarrh.
Herff examined the larynx both in himself and in others, after ansesthe-
tizing the part with cocaine. He has shown that during the whole disease
the mucosa, especially in the interarytenoid and arytenoid regions, is inflamed.
During the attack mucus accumulates in this region. If this mucus is
removed by a probe, the attack can be stopped ; but if the same region is
tickled, the fits can be reproduced. Touching other parts of the larynx does
not produce the same effect. The reflex which provokes the fit originates,
therefore, in the interarytenoid region.
Course — Duration. — Whooping-cough usually shows three stages. The
convulsive cough very rarely appears at first, but is preceded by the
catarrhal period.
In some patients the fits are replaced by attacks of sneezing (Roger),
and I have seen two examples of this in children of asthmatic parents. The
fit, says Trousseau, sometimes ends by sneezing. AVhooping-cough has an
average duration of six to eight weeks. Some patients, however, have fits
of spasmodic cough for months, as though the malady had passed into a
chronic state.
The diagnosis of whooping-cough is indicated, even in the catarrhal stage,
by the obstinacy of the cough and the tenacity of the fever. In the
stationary stage the fit and the whoop are quite characteristic.
Sometimes certain tumours of the mediastinum provoke a cough, termed
" pertussoid " (Gueneau de Mussy), which somewhat resembles the true fit
of whoopmg-cough.
It is important m diagnosis to recognize the different forms of defaced*
whooping-cough. I have already said that the fit may be replaced by
attacks of sneezing.
* The term " fruste " (defaced) was applied by Trousseau to cases of scarlatina,
in which certain symptoms were absent. In archaeology it refers to an inscription,
part of which is missing.
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 107
At Chantilly I saw an olderly latly (her daughter had whooping-cough) who waa
seized with spasms of the glottis and inspiratory stridor which lasted some seconds,
and recurred repeatedly in the form of attacks, day and night. In tliis defaced form
the fit of whooping-cough was reduced to an inspiratory spasm of the glottis, and the
other elements were quite wanting. Similar cases have been published — two by
Trousseau and one by Blache.
Prognosis — Complications. — Whooping-cough per se is not a serious
malady, and the gravity comes from the complications. Thus, the catarrh
of the early period, which usually improves at the beginning of the spasmodic
period, may invade the smaU bronchi. Fever then lights up, the dyspnoea
becomes intense, and the tubular breathing of broncho-pneumonia or the
fine rales of capillary bronchitis are heard in the chest. This serious com-
plication, which may arise in all the stages, is chiefly seen in the stationary
stage. The appearance of the inflammatory process often causes the
nervous element to disappear — sfasmos febris accedens solvit. " When in
a child with whooping-cough you find that the fits, which numbered fifty
or sixty in the twenty-four hours, cease suddenly, although the disease may
be still in the stationary stage, beware, for you will find yourself face to
face with an inflammatory complication " (Trousseau). In an adult these
inflammatory complications may take the form of pleurisy or lobar pneu-
monia.
Whooping-cough predisposes to tubercular disease of the bronchial
glands and to tuberculosis. In some cases we find meningitis or miliary
tuberculosis ; in others, it runs the course of chronic pulmonary tuber-
culosis.
The nervous element is connected with complications of another kind.
Spasm of the glottis is frequent and very serious in children under four
years of age. Convulsions may come on during the attacks or in the
interval, and are very serious in infants. The fits cause a vesicular emphy-
sema which in exceptional cases has become interlobular by rupture of air-
cells in the lung. The repeated congestions excited by the fits induce
epistaxls, haemoptysis, bleeding from the ear (rupture of the membrana
tympani), subconjunctival ecchymosis, and cerebral congestion, with attacks
of eclampsia.
Furthermore, the vomiting of food is due to the fits of coughing, and
leads to malnutrition if often repeated. The exaggerated contraction
of the expiratory muscles causes involuntary evacuations and hemic©, and
the rubbing of the tongue upon the incisor teeth causes ulccnitioit of tlie
fr»num (Bouchut).
etiology. — Whooping-cough is an epidemic and contagious disciisc
which chiefly affects children between the ages of two and seven years. Tiie
contagion is so virulent that an infant may be infected after being a few
minutes in the company of a patient suffering from whooping-cougli. In
108 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
the sporadic state it follows the usual course which we have described, but
it assumes different characters in the epidemic form. Thus, in the epidemic
of Dillingen, in 1811, patients were carried off by eclampsia ; in the Geneva
epidemic, in 1850, capillary bronchitis was the chief complication (Rilliet) ;
in other epidemics the catarrhal stage was very short, and the spasmodic
one appeared almost from the start (Trousseau). Epidemics of whooping-
cough and of measles sometimes follow each other so closely as to indicate
a causal relation between them.
Bacteriology. — Afanassief thought that he had discovered the bacillus
of whooping-cough. This microbe — Bacillus tussis convnlsivcB — is said to
be small, slender, and disposed in groups or colonies.
Quite recently Bordet and Gengou claim to have obtained the specific
organism of whooping-cough in pure cultures. It is a small bacterium
of ovoid form, and presents the same appearance both in the sputum and
in cultures. The presence of haemoglobin is necessary for its growth. It
is specially abmidant in the exudate during the first fits.
The broncho-pneumonia, however, which occurs as a complication is
usually due to the streptococcus, the staphylococcus, the pneumococcns, etc.
Treatment. — The indications must be directed to the inflammatory and
the spasmodic elements. The former is relieved by emetics ; for the latter
we employ opium, aconite, belladonna, and bromide of potash. The use of
alkalies has been advised (Labadie-Lagrave). Revulsives and blisters
should be reserved for the inflammatory complications. Anaesthesia of the
interarytenoid region, induced by means of cocaine, has given good results.
Fumigation with sulphur has been extolled. The patient enters the fumi-
gating chamber, the windows having been opened after the fumigation.
H. de Rothschild has obtained good results with chloroform. It should
not be given in severe cases, where the patient is weakened by vomiting and
insomnia. Acute bronchitis and broncho-pneumonia are, of course, contra-
indications. It may be given till anaesthesia is complete, or may be inhaled
during the fits alone. For inhalation 10 to 20 drops of the following mixture
are sprinkled on lint :
Anaesthetic chloroform . . . . . . . . . . 3iv.
Essence of pine . . . . . . . . . . . . 3ii.
Essence of eucalyptus . . . . . . . . . . 3ii.
This measure has been curative in some cases and has caused great
improvement in others.
Hygiene plays a large part in the treatment of whooping-cough. The
rooms should be as large as possible, and the child should not spend day and
night in the same apartment. At the beginning of defervescence change
of air is most useful in shortening the duration of the disease.
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 109
Prophylactic treatment is essential. The patient should be isolated
from other children. The things he has used and the room he has occupied
should be thoroughly disinfected.
Till. ASTHMA.
The attacks of dyspnoea which constitute asthma are quite charac-
teristic ; they appear suddenly, weeks, months, or even years apart. They
may exist as a pure neurosis, without any inflammation of the bronchi, but
in most cases they are complicated by a catarrhal element of variable
intensity. Catarrh does not usually accompany first attacks of asthma, but
is associated with them later. Sometimes it plays a minor part, and
appears towards the end of the attack ; at other times it begins with the
attack as a true febrile catarrh ; and lastly, in other cases, it is so marked
that the nervous element is of secondary moment.
These two elements, of which the nervous is constant and the catarrhal
is variable, may finally give rise to chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and
form a morbid cycle, which may be complicated by lesions of the right heart.
Description. — The attack of asthma generally begins in the early hours
of the night, without prodromata. ^ A patient who has gone to bed quite
well wakes up suddenly with acute distress. He feels agonizing constriction
in the chest, and his breathing is painful and wheezing. He gets up and
opens the window to get air, putting every respiratory muscle into play.
Hoping to make his breathing easier, he sits on his bed with his body bent,
kneels upon a chair, with his head bent forward, or props himself up by
leaning with his elbows on a piece of furniture. He strives hard, but the
distress increases in spite of his efforts. Inspiration is imperfect ; expira-
tion Ls slow, wheezing, and convulsive. His distress is extreme, and seeing
the patient with face bloated and covered with sweat, with starting eyes and
cyanosed lips, we might think that asphyxia was imminent. We should be
wrong, for after this struggle has lasted for one or more hours the breatliing
becomes easier, the air enters the chest better, the expiration is less con-
vulsive and not so prolonged, and the crisis subsides.
The end of the attack Ls sometimes indicated by a belching, by catarrhal
expectoration, or the emission of dry, crepitant, or gelatinoas sputum,
which takes the shape of vermicelli. The first urine voided is clear and
abundant (nervous urine), and sleep returns. Next day the patient feels
tired, and has a disagreeable sensation of thoracic constriction, with balloon-
nig of the belly, and some tendency to breathlessness.
An attack of asthma is rarely single ; we usually see a series of attacks,
wliich are repeated for several days or weeks ; they often return at the same
hour — usually at night. This series of fits forms an attack of asthma.
110 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The attacks do not always have the intermittent form just described.
In some asthmatics the distress continues throughout the whole attack, and
the paroxysms reappear day and night, or several times in the twenty-four
hours, allowing no rest.
Analysis of the attack of asthma shows that the dyspnoea presents
peculiar characteristics. A respiration rate of 40 or 50 is not seen in
asthma, as in broncho-pulmonary inflammations ; the number of respira-
tions is, on the contrary, less than normal. The painful and wheezing
inspiration only allows an insufficient quantity of air to enter the chest, and
the expiration, which is still more painful, and three or four times as long
as the inspiration, does not drive out the inspired air. Let me add that,
even at the height of suffocation, we do not see sucking-in, as in croup,
because in asthma the chest is always filled to its maximum with air.
During the attack snoring rhonchi and mucous rales, which depend on
the severity of the catarrh, are heard in the chest, or we may find total
absence of the respiratory murmur in places. The chest is bulging and
rounded, the diaplu-agm is depressed, and percussion gives the exaggerated
resonance of acute emphysema.
In the variety of asthma above described the nervous element is almost
alone in play ; but when the catarrhal element is associated with it, the
clinical picture is more or less modified. Some asthmatics during or towards
the end of the attack suffer from fatiguing spasms of coughing, and bring
up catarrhal sputum, which is also present between the attacks. The ex-
pectoration is chiefly composed of gelatmous sputum, which is vermiform,
and resembles fragments of vermicelli, or consists of rounded pellets,
crepitant to the touch, and known as Laennec's paries. The sputum often
contains Curschmann's spirals, octohedral crystals (Charcot-Leyden) and
eosinophile cells (Miiller), which, however, are not characteristic of asthma.
In some asthmatics the fever, the cough, and the nature of the sputum prove
that bronchitis is present ; but the dyspnoea preserves its characteristic type,
and appears in the form of paroxysms. In some persons, however, the
bronchitis becomes clu-onic, emphysema appears, and from that time it
becomes more difficult to estimate the nervous element.
In some persons the attack of asthma is preceded or replaced by fits of
sneezing. These spasmodic fits may occur thirty or forty times in a few
minutes, and reappear night and morning for several consecutive days.
During the attack of sneezing the eyes, which are injected and weeping,
often itch acutely ; the face is congested, and the nose runs freely. Every-
thing then returns to its normal state. This description would do well for
hay-fever, as the reader will no doubt notice. In those affected with these
sneezing fits it has been possible to predict asthma several months or years
in advance.
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 111
Pathological Anatomy. — The theories which hold that asthma is con-
secutive to em^jhysema (Louis and Rostan), catarrh of the small bronchi
(Beau), catarrh (Laennec), or pulmonary congestion (Bretonneau), are
erroneous, as in the main they mistake the effect for the cause. The attack
of asthma ls certainly produced by spasm of the muscles of respiration. A
difficulty beguis when we try to decide which muscles are affected. Some
authors (Biermer and Williams) would place the spasm in the bronchial
muscles ; the contraction of the bronchi is said to prevent the circulation of
the air and the lowering of the diaphragm to be consecutive to the exag-
gerated fullness of the lung. According to others (See and Wintrick), the
bronchi have nothing to do with asthma, and the spasm pervades m turn all
the extrinsic muscles of inspiration, including the diapliragm, mtercostals,
scalenis, trapezius, etc., which re mam convulsed tlirough the attack, keep
the lung in a position of constant dilatation, and only permit a scanty
renewal of the air m the pulmonary vesicles. A third opmion (Trousseau
and Jaccoud) combines the two preceding ones, and admits spasm both of
the extrinsic and of the intrnisic muscles of respiration.
I share the last opinion, and believe that the number and the species of
muscles involved depend on the severity of the attack. In violent attacks
both extrinsic and intrinsic muscles, are involved ; in slight cases the spasm
may well be limited to the muscles of the bronchi, or only encroach on the
diaphragm. In all cases the sphere of nervous excitation does not remain
localized to the muscles of inspiration; it also attacks the muscles of
expiration, and the rhythmic spasm of the expiratory mascles explains the
length and the mteasity of each expiration, which can only overcome part
of the resistance of the inspiratory muscles. The renewal of the air in the
lungs, therefore, is very incomplete, and dyspnoea is the result.
When we see the swelling and secretion of the nasal and ocular mucous
membrane in some asthmatics, we are tempted to admit that like swelling
and secretion exist in the mucosa of the bronchi, and help to narrow their
calibre. This hypothesis is the more probable in that Stark has seen
swelling of the tracheal mucosa with the laryngoscope.
The spasm of the respiratory muscles and the phenomena of vaso-
dilatation and vaso-secretion are tliemselves due to a special condition of
the nerves which govern these functions. This state of irritability Ls some-
times spontaneous, or at least apparently so ; at other times it is due to a
reflex act which starts in the terminals of the sensory nerves which supjily
the bronchi or the nasal passages. Many theories now in .vogue woultl,
indeed, assign the chief part to the nasal mucosa. I shall speak of this later,
under ^Etiology.
Course—Duration — Termination . — First attacks of asthma are generally
benign, and leave no scquelic ; later, if catarrh also is present, and more
112 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
especially if it predominate, the patient, even in the intervals, has a morbid
condition, which is analogous to chronic bronchitis, and is the more tenacious
because emphysema may also be present. The lesions of chronic bronchitis
and of emphysema are especially seen in people who have at first suffered
from asthma alone. Dilatation of the right heart and tricuspid insufficiency
may finally be met with. Fortunately, the disease does not always follow the
same course ; it may improve, without causing such complications, or may
be cured by well-directed treatment. As a matter of fact, persons may have
several attacks of asthma, which finally disappear.
etiology. — Asthma presents all the caprices of a neurosis ; it may be
provoked or reawakened by the most insignificant causes, such as a smell
(Floyer), the fumes of a sulphur match, the dust of oats (Trousseau), or
powdered ipecacuanha (Cullen). A man who suffers from asthma in the
North remains well when he resides in the South. A patient has asthma in
Paris, but not in Versailles. I know a man who is subject to severe attacks
m Egypt ; he recovers as soon as he is at sea. Some asthmatics cannot
enjoy a hearty laugh without being seized with a slight attack. A high
altitude and life in the mountains are often prejudicial to asthmatics.
Asthma is a neurosis, and, further, it is almost always a diathetic and
hereditary neurosis, as Trousseau has clearly shown. " Skin diseases,
rheumatism, gout, haemorrhoids, gravel, and migraine are affections which
asthma may replace, and which, in their turn, may replace asthma. They
are different expressions of the same diathesis." A gouty father begets
children ; while young they have migraine or piles, and later gravel, asthma,
or gout.
The alternation of asthma and urticaria is a well-known fact, and asthma
has been called " bronchial urticaria." The alternation of asthma with such
neuroses as epilepsy, hysteria, hypochondria, and mania has also been
noted. Asthmatics may have relapsmg or cychcal attacks of mania.
Asthma is more frequent hi men than m women. It is a disease of all
ages, and has been seen even in children, especially m the latter part of
childhood. In children, asthma may behave as m adults, but it fairly often
assumes the features of capillary bronchitis, suffocative catarrh, or broncho-
pneumonia. The disease presents a grave appearance, and correct diagnosis
is most important, because proper treatment gives excellent results.
Trousseau and See report strikmg examples of this mfantile asthma, which
must be recognized, so as to avoid serious mistakes.
Diagnosii^. — Hay-fever closely resembles asthma, and belongs to the
same family.
Mediastmal tumours, enlargement of the bronchial glands, and aortic
aneurysm produce attacks of dyspnoea, which must not be confounded with
asthma.
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 113
A form of pulmonary tuberculosis simulates asthma, and is known
as pseudo-asthmatic. I am not speaking of acute miliary tuberculosis,
which Andral compared to asthma because of the continuous or paroxysmal
dyspnoea, but I allude to ordinary chronic tuberculosis. Certam tubercular
patients at the outset, or during the course of their malady, suffer from
attacks of asthma, and the tuberculosis may be overlooked if we forget this
pseudo-asthmatic form.
Diseases of the heart, especially mitral lesions, often provoke dyspnoea.
In addition to this dyspnoea, the patient sometimes experiences attacks of
oppression, which are more frequent at night. The attacks are as severe
as those of asthma, and the dyspnoea has therefore been called *' cardiac
asthma." The term is wrong. Mitral disease does not produce true
asthma, and tiie paroxysmal dyspnoea of cardiac disease has not the char-
acters of the dyspnoea in asthma. In a cardiac case the breathing is rapid
and panting ; both inspiration and expiration are short and jerky ; palpita-
tion is frequent ; the pulse is small ; the face is pale ; and the lips are cyanosed.
Asthma presents quite a different picture. The breathing is not quickened,
inspiration is slow and difficult, and expiration, which is wheezing and
spasmodic, is three or four times as long as inspiration ; palpitation is absent,
and the pulse remains regular. In some cardiac cases attacks of dyspnoea
are the chief symptom, and mitral disease may show itself at first solely by
attacks of cardiac dyspnoea, which are mistaken for asthma, just as in
patients with Bright's disease the renal lesion shows itself by attacks of
dyspnoea, wrongly called asthma. In any case, cardiac asthma and true
asthma must not be confused.
Lesions of the aorta are also accompanied by attacks of oppression, which
bear some slight resemblance to those of asthma. These attacks of aortic
dyspnoea, however, are more or less painful, like angina pectoris. In
nowise have they the character of the true asthmatic attack, and the aortic
lesion quickly decides the diagnosis.
From want of care the dyspnoea of Bright's disease may be taken for
asthma, and many patients with Bright's disease arc treated for asthma.
This dyspnoea presents forms which are slightly different. In the first
variety the patient is " short of breath," especially if he walks upstairs
too quickly. The shortness of breath may be mistaken for asthma, but
examination reveals pulmonary oedema, albumin in the urine, and other
symptoms of Bright's disease.
In the second variety the threatening asphyxia is due to superacute
oedema of the lung. The fcdema rapidly invades the lung, the dyspnoea
becomes acute, fine rales are heard all over the chest, and the patient coughs
up frothy, rose-coloured, albuminous sputum, which is characteristic uf
superacute oedema.
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114 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
In a third variety the dyspnoea is ursemic and toxic ; it may show thft
character of Cheyne-Stokes breathing. This dyspnoea may appear in the
form of attacks, which patients mistake for asthma. The attack comes on
night and day, rapidly becomes acute, and reappears at the slightest move-
ment It may recur several times in the twenty-four hours, or disappear
and return after more or less lengthy intervals.
Dyspnoea comes on at all periods of Bright' s disease, but we must never
forget that it may be the first symptom. In some cases it appears suddenly,
like an attack of asthma ; in others it establishes itself gradually, like a chronic
bronchitis. A knowledge of these facts will prevent our sending patients to
Mont-Dore or to Cauterets for bronchial catarrh, asthma, or emphysema,
when they are really suffering from Bright's disease.
Much attention has lately been paid to asthma following nasal lesions.
Voltolini of Breslau in 1871 published cases of asthma in patients with
nasal polypi. Removal of the polypi cured the attacks. Hack thinks that
the pathological reflex has its origin in inflammation of the erectile tissue of
the nose, and since then the nose has been accused (polypi, hypertrophy
of the mucosa, deviation of the septum) of causing most cases of asthma, and
also dyspnoea, migraine, cough, oedema, incontmence of urine, etc. The
result was attempts to destroy the cause of so many ills by cutting and
burning the nasal fossae.
These statements are much exaggerated. It is quite true that the nasal
mucosa plays a large part in asthma. Attacks sometimes appear after
certain nasal stimuli. Sneezmg, nasal secretion, and swelling of the mucosa,
are present in true asthma, in hay-fever, and in asthma following nasal
polypi. It is therefore necessary to pay attention to the undoubted part
which the nasal mucosa plays in the production of asthmatic attacks. It may
occasionally be necessary to deal with this mucosa, but this is only one side
of the question, and if in some cases the nasal mucosa, by its special excit-
ability, be the origm of the reflex which provokes the asthmatic attack, this
special excitability is often present elsewhere (bronchi, lungs, or centres in
the medulla).
Treatment. — We may first consider the treatment of the attack. The
attack can be checked or much modified by prompt actioii. Inhalation of
the fumes of Datura stramo7iium, nitrate paper, Espic cigarettes, hypodermic
injections of morphia, inhalations of pyridine, and bromide of potash, are
of service. Nitrite of amyl " is as dangerous as it is difficult to handle "
(See).
I constantly prescribe stramonium, smoked in a pipe. The dry leaves
should be finely cut up and some small pieces of nitrate paper added.
Pyridine may be used, either by inhalation of 10 or 12 drops on a hand-
kerchief, or by allowing the drug to evaj)orate slowly near the patient.
DISEASES OF THE BRONCHI 115
These remedies may be repeated two or three times a day, and when em-
ployed for some time and between the attacks may cause marked improvement.
Iodide of potash, however, is the best drug for asthma, both in the attack
and in the intervals (Trousseau). The dose depends on the tolerance of the
patient. We may begin with 10 grains daily, and increase to 30 grains, or
even more (See, Jacc.oud). The drug should be continued for a long while,
care being taken to suspend its use at mtervals. With iodide of potash
Trousseau employed tmcture of lobelia in small doses.
He also advises the use of belladonna and bromide of potassium, replaced,
as the case may be, by preparations of arsenic.
I usually advise the following regime between the attacks. During the
first and third week of each month I prescribe 10 to 15 grams of iodide of
potash daily, with 10 drops of tincture of lobelia.
In the second and fourth weeks of the month I prescribe bromide of potash,
15 to 30 grains a day, and pills of extract of belladoima. This treatment
should be continued for a very long while.
Between the attacks iodide of codeine has been extolled. It is given in
sjTTup (Labadie-Lagrave and Rollin), and the dose is | grain.
The cure at Mont-Dore gives very good results (Tardieu).
The local treatment in the attack consists m painting the nasal mucosa
with a 5 per cent, solution of cocame. The nasal fossae must always be
carefully examined, in order to remove polypi, or cauterize the mucous
membrane, if necessary.
IX. SUMMER ASTHMA— HAY-FEVER.
This disease which in some respects resembles true asthma has been called
hay-fever, summer asthma, or spasmodic rhino-bronchitis.
The term " hay-fever " is not good, for fever is usually absent, and the
disease occurs when there is no hay. The term " summer asthma " is
preferable ; but as the disease is equally prevalent hi the autumn, the
name " annual asthma " is better still.
This disease, which is most common m the Anglo-Saxon race. Is not
rare, and I have seen a good many cases.
Description. — Annual asthma assumes two chief forms : the one is
called oculo-nasal, the other oculo-naso-thoracic.
The disease appears usually about the 15th or 20th of May, and almost
at a fixed date. A person who Is not susceptible at other seasons is seized
with a kind of " cold in the head." Sneezing, obstruction of the no.sc, and
supra-orbital headache are present. The trouble is at first thought to bo a
cold.
The eyes, however, become the scat of pricking and intolerable itcliing,
chiefly at the inner canthus. The patient rubs hia eyelids vigorously. The
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116 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
eyes are red, swollen, and weeping ; the conjunctiva is oedematous : th-Q
tears are so abundant that they hamper vision, and flow over the cheeks ;
the photophobia is intense, so that the patient avoids daylight.
These troubles generally disappear or improve towards evening. In the
nose we find the following symptoms : unbearable itching ; violent sneezing,
repeated ten, twenty, or thirty times in succession ; profuse serous discharge
from the nose, which runs " like a fountain."
The nasal, like the ocular, symptoms are brought on agam or made worse
by sunlight and heat ; they become less severe under the influence of shade
and cold.
Such is the oculo-nasal form of the disease. It persists for weeks, with
alternating improvement and aggravation. The symptoms then improve,
and recovery is complete till the followhig year. In the other variety,
called oculo-naso-thoracic, in addition to the above symptoms, we find
dyspnoea, like that of asthma. The dyspnoea begins about a fortnight after
the ocular and nasal symptoms ; it becomes gradually worse, is marked by
the occurrence of fits, and is complicated by catarrh, in which the patient
coughs and brmgs up bronchitic sputum. Improvement now comes on,
and recovery is complete in six weeks, till the next year.
Patients have usually one annual attack. The prognosis is good, for
this variety of asthma does not lead to chronic bronchitis or cardiac
dilatation.
In my opinion, annual asthma should be included in the family of true
asthma. It forms part of the gouty diathesis, and is often hereditary. It
may recur annually for a great number of years.
This asthma is nothing but the spasmodic exaggeration of the defensive
reflexes of the respiratory mucosa, which include sneezing, cough, and
serous exudation from the mucous membrane. Its starting-point seems to be
irritation of a submucous nerve filament belonging to the ethmoidal branch
of the oplithalmic nerve, which is particularly sensitive in the angle formed
by the nasal septum and the lateral wall at its upper part. Touching this
pomt may provoke cough alone, sneeznig and laclirymation, or the com-
plete crisis. This point must be burnt with the galvano-cautery, without
troubling about the malformations or the various lesions of the nasal fossae.
Partial or total relief is thus obtained. P. Bonnier, under the name of
** rhino -laryngitis sicca," has described an inverse form of hay-fever,
which appears under identical conditions, but is characterized by painful
dryness of the respiratory mucous membrane, producing aphonia.
The various remedies employed are less efiicacious in this variety than
in true asthma. A cool, shady room is a good measure.
CHAPTER rv
DISEASES OF THE LUNG
I. GENERAL SURVEY OF THE ANATOMY OF THE LUNC4
The lung is made up of lobules of a polyhedral form, set one against the other, and
separated by connective tissue. These lobules are well seen in the new-born, because
at this age the network of connective tissue which surrounds them is much thickened.
Later the dehmitation is less apparent, because the connective envelope loses its thick-
ness. The dehmitation of the lobules, however, is readily seen on the surface of the
organ, where the connective sheaths are infiltrated with dark material, and form a kind
of mosaic.
The pulmonary lobule represents the structure of the whole lung. It is a small
and spongy polyhedral or conical mass, of about 1 c.c. in size, and joined to the rest
of the organ by a short pedicle. This pedicle contains a bronchiole, which is given
off at right angles from a large bronchial twig, and a pulmonary arteriole and vein, with
lymphatics and nerves, the whole being ensheathed by connective tissue. The bronchus
and the artery penetrate the interior of the lobule at the hilum, but the vein ramifies
over the lobule, following the perilobular connective sheath.
A transverse section of the lobule therefore presents two connective-tissue regions —
a central one (the intralobular space, which contains the bronchus and the artery), and
a peripheral one (the perilobular space), containing the vein.
When the bronchus enters the lobule, it takes the name of intralobular, and parts
company with the vein, but is accompanied by the artery as far as its farthest ramifica-
tions. The intralobular bronchus traverses the lobule without diminution in size ;
it forms the axis of tht; lobule, and in its passage gives off alternate branches, and ends
by dividing dichotomously. Each branch derived from the intralobular bronchus
passes into an acinus, and takes the name of " acinous bronchus." What is the acinus ?
The lobule is formed by a number of acini, and each acinus, measuring 2 to 3 milli-
metres in each direction, forms within its bronchus a small system, which has the
following arrangement :
On reaching the acinus, the branch, after a short course, spreads out like a funnel,
and forms a kind of vestibule, whence^ arise three, four, or five alveolar ducts, which
widen out to form infundibula. The infundibuluin may be considered as the expanded
end of the alveolar duct. All these parts, except the acinous bronchus, are lined by
the alveoli.
The alveoli are air-cells in which liiiiuatosis goes on. They resemble shallow cups in
the walls,* and in the; dried section of an acinus api)ear as oval or rounded cavities,
separated by partitions, hke a beehive. The interalveolar septa form the skeleton of
the acinus, and, like it, are composed of a connective membrane and elastic fibres.
* Frey, " Traite d'Histologie," p. rA'.i. The opening of the alveolus into the
infunclibulum is narrower than the: fundus of the alveolus.
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118 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
This fibro-elastic skeleton permits the extension and the retraction of the alveoli.
supports the capillary network, and " gives a foundation to the pavement epithelium
of the lung " (Ranvier).
The capillary network of the lobule arises from the artery, and projects into the
interior of the alveoli, when they are not too dilated.
Lymphatic vessels are everywhere present, and surround the alveoli, infundibula,
acini, and lobules (Grancher).
Each disease of the lung alters the infundibulum, the acinus, and the lobule, in a
particular way. In lobar pneumonia the lobule is filled with an exudate rich in
fibrin, and the projection of the acini on the surface of the section explains the granular
appearance of red hepatization. In disseminated or confluent broncho -pneumonia
the inflammation spreads from lobule to lobule. The lobular bronchus is primarily
invaded. Around the bronchus we find the peribronchial inflammatory nodule or
zone of hepatization, and farther out the zone of splenization. The exudate is poor in
fibrin, but rich in pus cells. In emphysema the lobule is distended to its maximum,
and the alveolar septa are often atrophied or perforated. In pulmonary fibrosis the
dense and fibroid interstitial tissue partly blocks the alveoli and the acini. In certain
occupation pneumonias (miners, founders) the walls of the alveolus, the connective
tissue, and the lymphatics are loaded with coloured particles (anthracosis). In tuber-
culosis the walls of the alveoli, of the small vessels, and of the bronchial ramifications
contribute to the formation of the tubercles.
11. PULMONARY CONGESTION.
Congestion of the lungs may be divided into two chief classes — active,
produced by afflux of blood ; passive, resulting from blood-stasis.
1. Active Congestion.
Active congestion of the lung is caused by inhalations of irritant
vapours ; by the sudden passage from a warm to a cold atmosphere, or vice
versa ; by pathological neoplasms, especially tubercle. It accompanies the
eruptive fevers — principally typhoid fever — in which it often makes the
prognosis worse. It may be due to malaria, gout, and rheumatism, and
is provoked by the suppression of normal or accidental haemorrhage (piles,
menstruation). Some forms have a nervous origin (hysteria), arise from
reflex action (large burns), and accompany cerebral lesions (haemorrhage
and softening).
The symptoms are in harmony with the severity and the extent of the
hyperaemia. As a general rule, pulmonary congestion, if pushed to its
extreme limit, may terminate in haemorrhage, with or without haemoptysis,
and, indeed, cases of rapid death have been quoted (Devergie). Dyspnoea,
cough, pain in the side, may be seen in the congestion of malarial, gouty,
or rheumatic origin.
In articular rheumatism this complication arises suddenly : the expec-
toration is streaked with blood, the breathing is uneasy. On auscultation all
the signs of broncho-pulmonary congestion, with oedema, are found, and
death may occur in a few hours.
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 119
2. Passive Congestion.
Passive congestion is due to blood-stasis, caused by cardiac diseases
(mitral and tricuspid lesions), degeneration of the cardiac muscle, and
prolonged decubitus (hypostasis).
Passive congestion is slow in its course, and is always accompanied
by oedema of the lung.
The capillaries allow the transudation of a highly coloured fluid, and
pigmentation of the alveolar walls and of the epithelial cells is the result.
Chronic hyperaemia often goes on to splenization — a condition in which
the tissue of the lung is firm and reddish, like the pulp of the spleen. This
morbid state has been called hypostatic pneumonia, although there is no
pneumonia in the true sense of the word. The exudate is poor in fibrin
and cellular elements. At the seat of the lesion percussion shows more or
less complete dullness, and on auscultation the breathing is almost tubular.
Treatment. — Bleeding and cupping should be reserved for acute con-
gestion. The treatment of passive congestion forms a part of the treatment
of the cardiac disease. When the congestion is hypostatic, the position of
the patient should frequently be changed.
III. INFLAMMATION OF THE CHEST.
Discussion. — When I began to study medicine at Toulouse, my first
teachers, former pupils of the Paris and Montpelier schools, and, con-
sequently, rather eclectic than absolute, taught us that, besides pulmonary
congestion and genuine inflammations of the broncho-pulmonary apparatus,
there exist bastard phlegmasiae, called inflammations of the chest, wherein
hyperemia and inflammation exist in irregular combinations.
The term '' inflammation of the chest " has to-day almost ceased to
exist. Treatises on pathology, the publications and the theses of our
faculty, are for the most part silent on the subject. We speak of pulmonary
congestion, pneumonia, and broncho-pneumonia, but not of " inflammation
of the chest," which seems to have lost all its claims as a distinct morbid
condition.
I do not hold this view. I believe that inflammation of the chest should
have a place in our nosology. Besides the genuine inflammations of the
respiratory apparatus, such as pneumonia, broncho- pneumonia, pleurisy,
and bronohitis. wo find othor bastard morliid stato>^. in which the hypersemic
and inflammatory elements are differently combined, and whicli, by huit
accord, have been called " fluxions."
It is, moreover, remarkable that, while the plilogmasijin fix voluntarily upon
certain parts of the respiratory apparatus so that they might he culled
*• systematic," an epithet employed in diseases of the spinal cord (Vulpian),
120 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
tlie fluxions, on the contrary, are naturally difEuse and multiple. Inflam-
mation (fluxion) is rarely localized to the lung or to the pleura without
affecting other parts of the respiratory apparatus. It may touch or strike
the lung, the bronchi, the pleura, and the muscular layers of the thorax — in
a word, all the superimposed layers of the chest, and hence custom termed
it " inflammation of the chest."
Cruveilhier was pertitient m describing pleurodynia, accompanied by
fftver and pleural friction sounds, and Peter, in his " Clinical Lectures "
tells us : " Inflammation, if it be intense, may not remain limited to the
muscles, but may invade all the superposed planes of the thorax, including
even the pleura." A step farther, and Peter would have come to inflamma-
tion of the chest.
Description. — Inflammation of the chest is a morbid state of variable
intensity and nature. It is neither abortive pneumonia nor broncho-
pneumonia, but another entity. Sometimes it spreads its action over all
the parts of the respiratory apparatus ; at other times it leaves some parts
almost untouched, and concentrates its action on the lung, the bronchi, or
the pleura.
As examples —
An individual is seized with a sharp pain in the side ; he has slight rigors, cough, and
fever. On examination, we find pleurodynia, w4th or without cutaneous hyperaesthesia.
The pains affect not only the intercostals, but all the muscles of the part. The abdo-
minal and lumbar muscles may also be involved. Friction sounds over the painful
area, and bronchitic rales, scattered over both sides of the chest, are heard. In this
case the skin, the muscles, the pleura, and the bronchi have been affected. The pleurisy
is in the incomplete stage, and no effusion appears. The bronchitis is but shght, and
the patient will be well in a few days.
In another person the inflammation involves the bronchi and iung to a slight
degree, but concentrates its action on the pleura, and effusion is found. To this category
belong certain bastard pleurisies, obscured by the inflammation of the lung and of the
bronchi.
In another case the clmical picture presents some difference.
The illness has commenced with fever ; the musculature of the thorax may or may
not be painful. On auscultation we find fairly severe bronchitis and pleuritic rubs,
and at one part of the chest we recognize dullness and blowing breathing, Mith broncho-
phony, which are evidence of marked pulmonary congestion. From the onset the
sputum is streaked with blood, the dyspnoea is fairly acute, and the temperature
102° F. or more. What name is to be given to this disease ? It is not pleurisy, for the
pleural lesion is but incomplete. It is not bronchitis, although the bronchi have been
attacked. It is not pneumonia in the true sense of the word. It is a case of inflam-
mation of the chest which has concentrated its action upon the lung.
Lastly, the pulmonary localization is yet more marked or extensive in some cases.
The temperature reaches 104° F., the cough is painful, and the dyspnoea acute. Per-
cussion reveals dullness, which shows the extent of the lesion. We might be tempted
to call the disease pneumonia, and yet analysis of the signs and the symptoms proves
that it is not a true case. The rale is neither so fine nor so dry as in pneumonia ; the
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 121
tubular breathing is not so intense ; the bronchophony is not so marked ; the sputum,
instead of being rusty, is rather streaked with blood. Bronchitic rales or friction
sounds are scattered through the chest ; defervescence is not sudden ; and, although
the inflammation may reach its maximum and be in excess of the hyperjemia, still,
the disease is not true pneumonia.
However, I must say that these forms are on the road to become lobar
pneumonia. Pneumonia does not always present the classical type given
for purposes of description. It often conforms to inflammation of the
chest, and the barrier between the two is not insurmountable. Grasset
regards inflammation of the chest as an attenuated pneumococcal in-
fection.
The prognosis varies according to the variety and intensity of the disease.
Its aetio logical conditions are diverse. In some cases it forms the whole
disease, and follows upon a chill (Woillez, Bourgeois) ; in others it is
secondary to some general condition, such as influenza and catarrhal fever.
Revulsives (dry-cupping, blisters), local bleeding (leeches, wet-cupping),
emetics, quinme, and alcoholic drinks, should be employed, according to
the nature and the severity of the malady.
IV. ACUTE LOBAR OR FIBRINOUS PNEUMONIA— PNEUMOCOCCIC
INFECTION— PNEUMOCOCCIA.
Pneumonia is called lobar, when it invades a lobe, or part of a lobe,
without healthy tissue intervening, in contradistinction to lobular pneu-
monia, which causes isolated or confluent nodules. It merits the name
fibrinous because, of all the inflammations of the lung, it Is the richest in
fibrin ; the fibrinous exudate fills both the alveoli and the bronchioles.
The alveolar walls and the connective tissue are almost completely unaffected
by the process, and the parenchyma of the lung completely recovers its
integrity after pneumonia.
I shall first describe the disease as localized in the lung — that is, pneu-
monia proper — and then leview its extra-pneumonic localizations, such as
pleurisy, pericarditis, endocarditis, peritonitis, arthritis, gastritis, menin-
gitis, nephritis, otitis, etc., finally discussing the different clinical types
which the pneumonic infection may assume.
Pathological Anatomy. — It Is customary to describe three stages in
pneumonia ; engorgement, red and grey hepatization. The third stage is
somewhat rare.
Engorgement is characterized by intense congestion. The congested
region, which is violet-coloured and increased in volume, crepitates a little,
and pits on pressure ; it Is oedematous and infiltrated with a reddish scrum,
which flows out on section. The capillaries are distended with blood, and
allow plasma, red corpuscles, and leucocytes to pass out. The cells of the
122 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
pulmonary epithelium become vesicular ; some fall into the interior of the
alveolus, where they are enclosed by a fine network of fibrin. The stage
of engorgement lasts from twenty-four to forty-eight hours.
In the second stage, called red hepatization,* the lung is converted
into a kind of solid block, which is red, mottled, and homogeneous through-
out the whole extent of the lesion. The hepatized lung is heavy, and sinks
in water ; it has become friable, and is easily torn or crushed by the finger.
The cut section is practically dry, and studded with granulations. These
granulations are about 1 millimetre in size, and are due to the fact that the
infundibula are distended and moulded by the coagulated fibrin. The
diseased lung is larger and heavier than the healthy one ; it may weigh as
much as tlirice its normal weight. The hepatized tissue, after washing,
becomes of a yellowish-grey colour, from the dissolution of the red corpuscles.
Under the microscope the vessels are dilated and engorged with blood ;
the alveoli are filled with a fibrinous network, which enmeshes epithelial
cells and red and white corpuscles, f The alveolar arches and the epithelium
are unaffected. Cells and fibrin are found in the small and sometimes in
the large bronchi (fibrinous bronchitis). The pneumococcus is found in
the granular cells and the fibrinous reticulum. After three to five days, the
red hepatization gives place to resolution : the fibrin in the alveoli becomes
granular, the pus cells grow large, and the liquefied and altered elements
are reabsorbed in situ by the veins and lymphatics, or expelled in the
sputum. In this way recovery results.
When, however, pneumonia, instead of terminating by resolution, goes
on to grey hepatization, the lung takes a greyish tint. Its cut section is
granular ; the fluid which exudes is purulent ; the tissue becomes very
friable, and finger-pressure produces a tear filled with pus. Under the
microscope the alveoli appear full of pus corpuscles. Microscopic abscesses
are frequently met with. The parenchyma, however, is seldom destroyed,
and the pus is not, as a rule, collected so as to form an abscess. J
Grey hepatization is not always a sign of pus (Rindfleisch). The grey
colour of the lung tissue may indicate ordmary resolution. In this case
the colour is brownish or yellowish-grey, and the tissue is fairly firm and
granular, like that of red hepatization. The grey appearance is due to the
small number of red corpuscles, the disappearance of the haemoglobin, and
the abundance of migratory cells, which absorb the exudate.
* TKis stage was called red softening by Andral.
•f This exudate is very rich in granules of glycogen (Loeper, Arch. de. Med. Ex-
'perimentale, tSeptember, 1902).
t The formation of abscesses is a very rare termination in pneumonia. In thirty-
six cases collected by Grisolles (" Traite de la Pneumonic "), the abscess was situated
twelve times in tlie ujjper lobe, nine times in the lower one, twice in the middle, and
four times in several lobes at once.
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 123
Pneumonia always induces lymphangitis. The lymphatic vessels of the
inflamed region, like the pulmonary alveoli, contain fibrin, endothelial
cells, and red and white corpuscles.* The corresponding lymphatic glands
also participate in the process. Lobar pneumonia is found more often on
the right than on the left side, in the proportion of 3 to 2 (Lebert). It is
unilateral, or double, in the ratio of 8 to 1 (Grisolle) ; it affects the lower
much more frequently than the other lobes. The blood is very rich in
fibrin,! and contains two or three times the normal amount.
Bacteriology. — Pneumonic infection is due to the pneumococcus. This
organism was first isolated from the lung by Talamon (1883), and was
thoroughly studied by Fraenkel. Netter has demonstrated its intervention
in the complications of pneumonia. In health it is found m the saliva, where
it was discovered by Pasteur ; and where Netter has found it to be patho-
genic in one-fifth of normal persons, and Bezancon and Griffon have shown
that it exists as a constant saprophyte on the surface of the tonsils.
The pneumococcus resembles a candle-flame in shape. The organisms
usually face each other by their tapering extremities, sometimes, however,
by their other ends.
In the hepatized lung the pneumococcus is present in pairs — i.e., as
diplococci. In grey hepatization and in the pus from the complications it
often forms short chains (Griffon).
The pneumococcus stams readily with the aniline dyes ; the microbe
stains by Gram's method. Staining with carbolic methylene blue shows a
capsule which surrounds the elements. This microbe develops between
75° and 108°, but preferably at 98-5° F. On agar or on gelatinized serum
it forms transparent colonies, like little drops of dew. The best culture
medium is coagulated rabbit serum, and the best preservative medium is
blood rendered uncoagulable, or blood - agar, in which the pneumococcus
retains its vitality for several months (Bezancon and Griffon).
The pneumococcus causes pathological results which differ according to
its virulence and to the species inoculated. In the mouse little reaction is
seen at the point of inoculation, but generalized infection occurs. In the
rabbit the lesions differ according to the virulence of the injection — local and
fibrinous if it is attenuated, general and haemorrhagic if it is virulent
(Bezancon and Griffon, Fournier and Carnot). In the slieep and the dog,
which are more refractory, the local reaction is very intense, and inocuhitiou
of the lung produces hepatization. The blood contains a few microbes.
* " It is impossible to aflfirm that a vaciiDlo filled with pneumonic exudalo is a
transverse section of a lymphatic canal or of an alveolus " (Cornil and Ranvier, h>c. cil.,
p. G'JG).
f This hyperinosis of the blond is explained by (he fact thai the blood is charged
with fibrinogcaious mattMial from the iuHamed organ.
124 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
In man the germ is found in all the pneumonic products : pneumonic
secretion ; hepatized lung tissue ; fibrinous exudate in the bronchi ; glands of
the hilum ; fibrinous inflammations of the pleura, the pericardium and the
meninges ; vegetations of the endocardium, kidney, joints, and parotid glands.
The pneumococcus may be obtained during the course of the affection
by withdrawing from the lung a drop of exudate by means of aseptic
puncture, or by isolating it from the sputum, or from the mucus in the
throat.
The pneumococcus may be found m the blood-stream ; but this infection
of the blood does not imply a fatal ending, though it almost always coincides
with grave pneumonia.
To discover the pneumococcus in the rusty sputum or in the saliva,
examination of stained films is not trustworthy, unless the prepara-
tion literally swarms with encapsuled diplococci. Inoculation of mice is
the best and most convenient method. These animals are so susceptible
to the virus that death supervenes from general infection twenty-four to
forty-eight hours after inoculation with the sputum, and post-mortem the
pneumococcus is found in the blood and the organs.
The toxine secreted by the pneumococcus has been studied by Klemperer,
and quite recently by Fournier and Carnot.
Agglutinative Reaction. — Pneumococcal infection causes an agglu-
tinative reaction which is as follows :
A little serum is obtained from the blood of a healthy individual or from
a person suffering from some other disease (rheumatism, typhoid fever,
tuberculosis, etc.). This serum is inoculated with a minute quantity of a
culture of pneumococcus, and placed in the oven at 98° F. Next day this
culture is as clean as though the serum had not been inoculated. Neither
dust nor dots are visible, and if the tube is well shaken, the culture remains
quite limpid.
On the other hand, if a culture of pneumococcus is sown in the serum
of patients suffering from pneumonic infection (pneumonia, pleurisy, peri-
tonitis of pneumococcal origin, etc.), the culture, placed in the oven at
98° F., presents a characteristic appearance by the next day. Sometimes a
dome-like false membrane is present at the bottom of the tube ; at other
times we perceive several pseudo-membranous fragments. The culture in
other cases contains dots resembling a coarse dust, which, on shaking, make
the liquid turbid and then fall to the bottom of the tube. Without the aid
of the microscope, by the comparative study of tube cultures, we can say
whether pneumococcal infection is present or not.
Under the microscope, if we examine a culture of pneumococci on
healthy serum, or on serum from those with some other malady (rheumatism,
tuberculosis, typhoid fever), we see that the pneumococci are isolated, and
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 125
remain so, without any tendency to form chains or groups. No agglutina-
tion occurs.
On the contrary, if a culture of pneumococci on serum from patients
with pneumococcal infection is placed under the microscope, we see that the
microbes unite in long wavy chains, circumscribing clear spaces, in which,
as a rule, free pneumococci are not present, and we can no longer distmguish
the capsules of the pneumococcus.
In some cases, especially in the experimental infection of the rabbit, the
collections of pneumococci form masses.
In human infection the formation of a true mass is exceptional at the
outset of pneumonia, and wavy chains, separated by empty spaces, are
more commonly seen. The chain therefore appears to be the first degree
of agglutination, which later produces massing of the elements. Towards
the end of the second stage the reaction becomes more intense. The pneu-
mococcal sero-reaction gives equally positive results iia the primary extra-
pulmonary localizations of the pneumococcus.
Description. — In 25 per cent, of the cases lobar pneumonia is preceded
by prodromata, which include lassitude, pains in the limbs, headache,
epistaxLs, tracheitis, insomnia, and fever ; thoy last possibly one or two
days. More often pneumonia begins suddenly with a single rigor, which is
as prolonged as that of an intermittent fever, and is accompanied by a rise
of temperature in the axilla to 103° F, This invasion is sometimes accom-
panied by vomiting.
By the end of the first day, or at the commencement of the second,
dyspnoea, cough, and pain appear. The patient complains of a pain in the
side, at the level of the nipple. This pain is increased by the res[)Lratory
movements and fits of coughing. In some cases the pain is abdominal, or
supraspinous, or may even be found on the healthy side. Distress appears
from the first. The jerky and painful CO ugh is at first dry, but by the
second day, or in the course of the third, the patient brings up sputum,
which is tinged with blood, amber-coloured or rusty, aerated, and viscid.
It sticks to the sputum-cup, and is pathognoTuouic of acute lobar pneumonia.
The sputum, which is at first amber-coloured, like barley-sugar or apricot
marmalade, and then rusty, may on the following days become of a brick-
red colour. It represents the pneumonic exudate, which comprises white
and red corpuscles, epithelial cells, surrounded by fibrin and some fibrinous
filaments from the small bronchi. Pneumonic sputum is rich in mucus and
chlorides. Th(; mucus renders it transparent and gelatinous. Tiie pneu-
mococcus is found in abundance.
Pneumonia does not cause anaemia, and the red blood-corpuscles an; little
diminished in number. The blood-count shows a leucocytosis varyiu^f from
20,000 to 25,000, with considerable increase (85 per cent.) iji the poly-
126 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
nuclear cells. Insufficiency, as well as excess of leucocytosis, may mean a
bad prognosis.
Percussion of the invaded area sometimes yields dullness ; at other times,
according to Jaccoud, a transient tympanitic sound ; and auscultation
reveals the driest and finest of all rales — i.e., the crepitant rale — which
occurs in puffs towards the end of inspiration. It is not heard during
expiration, and is often perceptible only after making the patient cough.
The crepitant rale must at times be looked for in the axillary region.
Durmg the following days (red hepatization) the functional symptoms
increase, and though the pain in the side improves, the dyspnoea reaches
such a degree that the respiration rate may rise to 40. The pulse, which is
full, varies between 100 and 110 beats, and the temperature from 102° to
104° F., with a slight morning remission. At this time the aspect of the
patient is characteristic — cheeks burning, face injected, eyes bright, tongue
dry and coated, and voice short. The hurried working of the nostrils indi-
cates the acuteness of the dyspnoea. The urine is scanty and high-coloured ;
it is rich in urea and uric acid, but very poor in chlorides, which appear to
be absorbed for the benefit of the exudate. Delirium, which sometimes
appears at this stage, is quiet, but may be violent in drunkards.
In the hepatized region the dullness is complete, and the vocal fremitus
is increased, and, as the voice and the respiration are so well conducted by
the solidified tissues, the voice is loud, but not articulate to the listener's
ear. This condition is called bronchophony, and the breathing takes on
the rough, blowing tone known as tubular. Further, as all the inflamed
parts do not undergo their different changes at the same time, we may
find tubular breathing and crepitations close together, just as later we
notice redux crepitation and tubular breathing at the same time.
The second stage lasts three or four days, or sometimes longer, after
which recovery usually commences. The situation may, however, become
worse. When pneumonia ends in recovery, the fever falls very rapidly
with symptoms of crisis ; the wastmg ceases, and the patient enters on
convalescence. This condition coincides with the liquefaction of the
exudate ; the sputum becomes opaque and rich in fatty elements, the dullness
disappears, and the tubular breathing gives place to a rale that is larger
and more moist than the crepitation. This rale is the redux crepitation,
which would better be called a subcrepitant rale. It is audible both during
inspiration and expiration.
If pneumonia passes into the third stage (grey hepatization), the sputum
assumes a greyish or prune- juice tmt, the fever becomes adynamic m type,
the pulse is small and irregular, the abdomen is distended, diarrhoea appears,
clammy sweat covers the patient, and delirium is present at the end, which
is almost always fatal.
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 127
Extrapulmonary Localizations.
The infection does not always spend all its force on the lung. In many-
cases, even in frank pneumonia, but especially in epidemic pneumonia of a
well-marked infectious type, the pneumococcus invades the pleura, peri-
cardium, endocardium, meninges, stomach, peritoneum, joints, ear, etc.
The invasion of these organs may be consecutive, parallel, or anterior to
that of the lung ; it may, indeed, be independent of the pulmonary invasion.
Let us study these forms.
1. Pneumococcal Pleurisy. — The pleura is almost always affected in
pneumonia. The pleurisy is frequently dry, and limited to the production
of false membranes, which vary in thickness, and cover the pleura to a
variable extent, especially at the mterlobar fissures.
In other cases we find pleurisy, with sero-fibrinous or purulent effusion.
The pleural inflammation sometimes develops as a contact lesion from
the pneumonic focus ; at other times it arises at a distance from the focus,
the pneumococcus invading the pleura on its own account.
Pleurisies with effusion often supervene in the decline of pneumonia or
in full convalescence. They have, therefore, received the name of meta-
or post-pneumonic. As a rule, they are not sero-fibrinous, but suppurative.
Suppuration may be caused by the pneumococcus, without the aid of the
usual pyogenic organisms (streptococcus and staphylococcus) ; and when
these organisms are present, the infection is secondary. Meta-pneumonic
pleurisy may invade the general cavity of the pleura, or else be encysted,
i^iterlobar, diaphragmatic, or mediastinal (see Chapter V.), These forms
may arise without pain, the fever may or may not return, and after
three to six weeks they often end by vomica. Some eventually open in an
intercostal space ; others, especially in children, termmate in absorption.
The prognosis of these pleurisies Is, as a rule, not grave. Those which
occupy the general cavity may exceptionally yield to thoracentesis, but
in most cases operation for empyema is necessary.
We also find early pleurisies in which the effusion occurs at the same time
as pneumonia. Lemoine has given them the name of para-pneumonic.
We must not forget that aseptic puriform effusions may also exist in
pneumonia ; they must not be confused with septic purulent pleurisy.*
2. Pneumococcal Endocarditis. — Endocarditis is a fairly frequent
complication of pneumonia. It aj)pears during the course of this affection
(para-pneumonio), but most often during convalescence (meta-pneumonic).
The pneumococcus itself is the cause (Netter), and is rarely found in associa-
tion with other microbes, such as streptococci (Wcichsclbaum), or special
bacilli (Lion). In exceptional cases endocarditis consecutive to pneu-
monia is the result of the streptococcus alone (Jaccoud), und the uifection
♦ Vide Chapter V., Section 6.
128 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
is secondary. Endocarditis is more frequent in certain epidemics of pneu-
monia, in cases associated with influenza, and in the course of pregnancy.
It is in general accompanied by other extrapulmonary infections due to
the pneumococcus, such as purulent pleurisy, pericarditis, arthritis, etc.
Suppurative meningitis iii particular is frequently associated with it. The
invasion of the endocardium by the pneumococcus may be independent
of pneumonia, and show itself in the course of certain affections caused
likewise by the pneumococcus — viz., broncho-pneumonia, cerebro -spinal
meningitis, inflammation of the great serous membranes, etc. Endo-
carditis may develop in subjects who have no cardiac lesion, but previous
valvular disease is singularly favourable to its appearance.
Pneumococcal endocarditis usually attacks the left heart, and is found
at the aortic more often than at the mitral orifice, in the proportion of
3 to 2 (Netter). Though it more rarely affects the right heart (one-seventh
of the cases), it is, nevertheless, more frequent there than in endocarditis
due to other microbes. Pneumococcal endocarditis causes vegetations
rather than ulcerations. The vegetations are rounded, with a regular sur-
face ; the largest are sessile, with a broad base, and very adherent. They
are only detached in exceptional cases. Embolism is rare, and septic
capillary emboli are not often seen. It is, therefore, exceptional to find
emboli of the spleen, kidneys, etc., contrary to what is seen in streptococcal
or in staphylococcal endocarditis, where the loosely attached vegeta-
tions often give rise to these accidents. Destructive lesions may be seen —
viz., little ulcers of the endocardium, tiny abscesses m the myocardium,
followed by the production of valvular aneurysms. The virulent pneumo-
coccus is found in the deep parts of the vegetations, just as in the blood.
Pneumococcal endocarditis has been caused experimentally in the rabbit
after previous injury to the valves, and even without traumatism.
As a rule, endocarditis is silent when it develops at the same time as
pneumonia, and passes unnoticed if the heart is not examined daily. Meta-
pneumonic endocarditis, which supervenes some weeks after the onset of
pneumonia, and often after a more or less complete period of apyrexia,
may commence with a rigor and rapid rise of temperature. It commonly
assumes the typhoid form of malignant endocarditis, with fever and grave
adynamia. Auscultation may reveal blowing murmurs, variable in in-
tensity and position at the different orifices. In some cases the symptoms
of concomitant meningitis are the chief feature (Osier). The usual ter-
mination is death, which occurs after a very variable period. Exceptional
cases, followed by recovery (Traube, Lion), with or without persistence of
the valvular lesions, are, however, recorded.
3. Pneumococcal Pericarditis. — This is another insidious manifesta-
tion, only discovered by daily auscultation. This pericarditis, which is
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 129
almost always accompanied by pleurisy, rarely begins before the fifth day
of the pneumonia. Its frequency is variable, according to the epidemic.
Abundance of fibrin is present, and the effusion is usually purulent.
4. Pneumococcal Meningitis. — Meningitis may supervene during
pneumonia, or, later, during convalescence. In the former event it often
passes unnoticed, the excitement and delirium being put down to fever or
alcoholism. This is a common error. In the latter form the symptoms
comprise fever, headache, quiet or violent delirium, pain in the nape of the
neck, muscular rigidity, squint, contraction of the jaws, inequality of the
pulse, Cheyne Stokes breathing, and coma.
Post mortem the pia mater is infiltrated with greenish-yellow exudate,
and the dura mater is converted into a thick cap. Bulbar and spinal menin-
gitis are frequently met with. In some cases epidemic cerebro-spinal
meningitis, due to the pneumococcus, has been observed.
5. Pneumococcal Nephritis. — The urinary troubles are various. Albu-
muiuria, hsematuria, and anuria, have been noted. True nephritis, with
ursemic symptoms, may occur.
The renal changes have been minutely studied by Caussade. The
kidney is large and ecchymotic. The nephritis is almost always haematuric.
It may be caused by the pneumonic infection, for the pneumococcus has
been found in the kidney or may be grafted upon existing lesions.
G. Pneumococcal Gastritis. — The stomach, like other organs, may be
infected Ijy the pneumococcus. I have quite recently seen this gastric
infection in two patients suffering from pneumonia with generalized infec-
tion — viz., peritonitis, pericarditis, endocarditis, meningitis, and arthritis.*
These patients presented gastric symptoms of ])a,u\, nausea, vomiting, and
abundant hsematemesis. Post mortem, the mucosa was studded with
haemorrhagic erosions, due to acute necrobiosis. In one case pneumococci
were swarming in the erosions. This form of gastritis is described in detail
under Ulcers of the Stomach.
7. Pneumococcal Peritonitis.— I do not allude here to the primary
form, I which will be described later. I am at present concerned with
peritonitis which arises as a secondary condition in the course of pneumonia.
Secondary peritonitis is rarer than the primary form. The symptoms aro
abdomuial pain, tympanites, nausea, vomitiiig, and diarrhiea. This
secondary peritonitis is not, in my opinion, as serious as the primary form.
It was on the road to recovery in the two cases described. J
* Diculafoy, " Gastrite ulcereuso pncumococciquo " {Clinique Medicale dc VILUd-
Difii, 1S99, U"" le<,-on, p. 219).
•j- Ditnilafoy, " rcritnnito primitive a I'ncumocoquca " {Clinique Medicale dc r/L'td-
DIeu, 1S9G, 1S""= kvon, p. .390).
J Vide " Ulcerative Gastritis."
9
130 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
8. Pneumococcal Arthritis. — Arthritis and synovitis may supervene
during the course or the decline of pneumonia. In exceptional cases they
may precede it, and, indeed, we see primary arthritis without pneumonia.
It usually presents the same clinical aspect. The affected jomts are the
seat of very acute pam, which is soon followed by swelling, oedema, and
redness. It might almost be called a blennorrhagic arthritis, for the peri-
articular synovial sheaths often participate in the process. Movement is very
difficult, pressure is very painful, the temperature is raised, and the tongue
dry, while the patient is prostrated and shows the signs of grave infection.
The course varies somewhat in different cases. Sometimes it is rapid,
and pus forms m a few days, but at other times its progress is slower. The
prognosis of these joint lesions is usually grave not from the arthritis, but
from the more or less general infection. The gravity of the prognosis can-
not be based on the degree of virulence of the pneumococcus, for in a case
ending favourably the pneumococcus was very virulent, while in one ending
fatally its virulence was low. However this may be, the therapeutic
indication is to let out the purulent fluid.
Previous lesions (rheumatism., trauma) may favour articular infection
by the pneumococcus. Experiments have given similar, but not constant,
results.
The lesions vary, accordhig to the intensity and the duration of the
mfection. We may find serous or purulent effusion, thickenmg of the
synovial membrane, and destruction of the articular cartilages and the
ends of the bones. In one of my patients suffering from arthritis of the
wrkt, the joints contained | ounce of pus, rich in pneumococci ; the articular
surface was rough, and in places the cartilage had completely disappeared.
9. Pneumococcal Otitis. — Otitis is a fairly frequent complication of
pneumonia. The disease has an acute course, and usually ends in recovery.
Nevertheless, it may give rise to cerebral or cerebro -spinal meningitis, sinus
plilebitls, or abscess of the brain and of the cerebellum.
The enumeration of the complications of pneumonia, which include
pleurisy, menmgitls, parotiditis, peritonitis, otitis, and suppurative arthritis,
shows that suppuration plays a great part. The pneumococcus alone can
cause suppuration, and the pus in such a case has special characters. It is
viscid, rich m cellular elements, and of a greenish colour, like laudable J3us ;
the serum does not separate out. In other cases, however, the usual
organisms of suppuration — i.e, streptococci and staphylococci — cause
secondary infection and suppuration.
Varieties.— Pneumonia does not always show the same characters, but
assumes somewhat different forms, accordmg to the age of the patient (old
age), to the previous condition of health (want, alcoholism, pregnancy),
to the numerous extra-pulmonary localizations, to the seasons of the
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 131
particular year, or to other causes which are still imperfectly known (epidemic,
or influenzal pneumonia) ; and, as Peter says, pneumonic conditions exist
besides pneumonia ; in other words, there is a clinical as well as a patho-
logical aspect.
Varieties in Situation.
Central Pneumonia. — Pneumonia sometimes remams localized hi the
deep tissue of a lobe, and though the symptoms — i.e., rigor, high tempera-
ture, dyspnoea, cough, and rusty sputum — point to pneumonia, yet the
physical signs are wantmg ; dullness, rales, and tubular breathuig are
absent, until the inflammation extends and yields the usual signs.
Double Pneumonia. — A second attack of pneumonia may arise durhig
the course of the first. This second attack. shows itself from the sixth to
the eighth day. " Pneumonia is never double from the fn-st " (Grisolle).
As regards site, every variety is possible, but most often the corresponding
lobe of the opposite side Is affected. The second pneumonia ls generally
less extensive than the first, and the inflammation is less severe. It does
not begin with a fresh chill or pain in the side, and the appearance of the
sputum is scarcely altered. Percussion and auscultation reveal the fresh
focus which the symptoms had not almounced. The dyspncea, however, is
more acute at the time of the fresh mvasion, and the temperature in the
axilla affords valuable help. In unilateral j^neumonia the axillary tempera-
ture is higher by some tenths on the affected side ; in double pneumonia the
temperature is the same on both sides (Landrieux).
Apical Pneumonia.— This form is justly regarded as very grave, and is
often accompanied by collapse, adynamia, and a typhoid state. Suppura-
tion is prone to occur, and delirium and jaundice may appear, while the
usual signs of pneumonia — i.e., pain in the side, cough, and expectoration —
are less marked. Apical pneumonia is a serious disease — first, because it ia
more frequent m old age,* and also because alcoholism and general ill-health
favour apical pneumonia. The reasons for this predilection are well dis-
cussed by Peter, who regards the upper lobes of the lung as endowed with
less vitality, and as " auxiliary and additional."
Apical pneumonia is more frequent on the right side, and when the signs
cannot be found m the clavicular region or in the supraspinal fossa, they
miLst be looked for in the axilla. The situation of this variety might
lead us to take it for a tubercular lesion. This error m diagnosis must be
avoided.
Massive Pneumonia. -In this form of pneumonia ((Jrancluu) the
fibrmous coagulation extends throughout the whole bronciiial network of
* VV<5 .SCO ill tlic statist ics uf iJiiiund Fiuilcl lliat in lliirty cjuscs of fatal pnouuionia
thu apiucs wore aifuctud cigLtcun times (" Tiaitc ties Maladies dcs V'ioillurds," p. 4G0).
y— 2
132 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
the invaded territory, and reaches even the large bronchi. The air, there-
fore, cannot enter the bronchial tubes, and most of the stethoscopic signs of
pneumonia are wanting. Neither tubular breathing nor rales are heard ;
expectoration is almost absent. It is therefore evident how difficult it
may be to distinguish between pleuritic effusion and massive pneumonia.
However, certam signs are of value in diagnosis. The dullness of pleural
effusion is more complete and more fluid than that of pneumonia. Further,
the displacement of organs (notably of the heart), which is absent in the
case of pneumonia, is more or less marked in the case of effusion.
Varieties of Pneumonia, according to Age.
1. Children are more subject to lobular than to lobar pneumonia ; still,
lobar pneumonia is often seen, even as early as the first year. In young
children the onset is often accompanied by convulsions, vomiting, and
erythematous eruptions. The respiration is panting, and the pulse-rate
may exceed 140. About the age of five years the dry, crepitant rale is
heard ; below this age we find rather the subcrepitant rale. The other
signs closely resemble those of pneumonia in the adult, but the child does
not expectorate, and hence the absence of rusty sputum, which, however,
is sometimes seen 'm. four- to five-year-old children. Under two years of
age the cyclical course of the fever is really the only differential sign between
lobar and lobular broncho-pneumonia. The prognosis is grave only in
the very young ; a little later the disease is relatively benign.
2. In the aged, in whom there is little organic reaction, pneumonia is
insidious ; the rigor is insignificant, and the pain in the side may escape
notice. The colour of the face and the dryness of the tongue are sometimes
the only signs. We wait m vain for rusty sputum, which does not appear.
The crepitant rale is coarser than in the adult — in a word, pneumonia is
altered by the age of the individual. At the Salpetriere ambulatory pneu-
monia is sometimes seen ui old women, who contmue to eat and to attend
to their occupations. They die almost suddenly, and suppurative pneu-
monia is found post mortem.
Clinical Varieties of Pneumonia.
At the beginning of this article I described the ordinary form of lobar
pneumonia, but it is clear that the extrapulmonary localizations in the
pleuja, heart, meninges, and kidneys give a special aspect to pneumonia.
On the one hand, some clinical varieties depend upon the predominance of
the lesions in a certain organ, while in other cases the varieties depend on
the general appearance of the morbid complex, and the disease assumes
special features.
1. In the so-called inflammatory or sthenic form, often described by
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 133
old writers, and frequent in the country, the chief characters are as follows :
Redness of the face, epistaxis, violent headache, restlessness, severe
inflammation of the lung, sputum which is sometimes bloody, speedy
hepatization, rapid and quivering pulse.
2. The asthenic form is characterized by the following symptoms :
Insidious onset, lassitude, early delirium, subsultus tendinum, prostration,
stupor, soft and imequal pulse, tendency to adynamia, and collapse.
3. The nervous forms show several varieties. Delirium is common,
especially in drunkards. It may not be associated with cerebral lesions,
while in other cases delirium Ls caased by cerebral or cerebro-spmal menin-
gitis, due to the local action of the pneumococcus.
The paralyses consecutive to pneumonia show different forms. In the
acute phase of pneumonia they nearly always affect the hemiplegic type,
with or without aphasia, and with or without apoplexy. These pjiral3''ses,
which are curable in the adult, but fatal in the elderly, are due to lesions of
the cerebral vessels (Lepine).
The paralyses which supervene during convalescence affect the para-
plegic type, or the type of isolated paralyses, with or without muscular
atrophy. These paralyses are in some cases due to meningo-spinal changes,
in others to peripheral neuritis of 'toxic origin, like the palsies of diph-
theria.
4. Biliary pneumonia comprises two very distinct forms. In the one
there is pneumonia with jaundice, which is consecutive to catarrhal inflam-
mation of the bile-ducts, or to perihepatitis produced by right basal
pneumonia. These lesions are then purely local. In the other there is
pneumonia with a biliary condition, which depends on a general morbid
state. This condition is characterized by a subicteric tint, with al)sence of
active reaction, soft pulse, headache, foul tongue, vomiting, and diarrhoea.
The biliary condition accompanies the grave forms (apical pneumonia,
alcoiiolism). It is connected with "the medical constitution of the season
of the year." It forms part of what was called peripneumonic biliary fever,
and explains tlie epidemics of biliary pneumonia. In some exceptional
cases pneumonia is connected with a diffuse hepatitis, a variety of icterus
gravis.
5. Malignant and Epidemic Pneumonia.— Every pneumonia, whether
benign or malignant, is an infective dis(!ase, but clinically it is customary to
reserve the epithets " infective " and "malignant " for the grave and abnormal
forms. There is, first of all, the infectious pneumonia which has at different
times appeared in epidemic form during epidemics of malaria, scurvy, and
typhoid fever. Next, there is secoiidary pneumonia, supervening in tlio
course of some general disease, and deriving its character and gravity from
the surroundings in wliieh it develops.
134 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
In many cases, however, pneumonia develops on its own account — ■
sometimes in an isolated form, but more often in the form of more or less
circumscribed epidemics, which may be associated with those of influenza.
It is accompanied by all the features of an infectious malady.
The contagion is quite proved. The epidemic breaks out in a prison, in
barracks, or in a small area, or confines itself to a house or to a family,
tliree or four members being affected simultaneously or successively.
In some cases this epidemic pneumonia differs but little from genuine
pneumonia. As a rule, it presents special features, which have earned for
it the names " typhoid," " asthenic," " adynamic," etc. Hepatization
sometimes occurs at several foci. The sputum is bloody rather than rusty,
and the disease is accompanied by swelling of the spleen, diarrhoea, albu-
minuria, jaundice, pleurisy, pericarditis, vegetative endocarditis, menin-
gitis, parotiditis, precordial distress, and prostration. The fever-chart
does not resemble that of frank pneumonia. The histological lesions are
somewhat special. The prognosis is not absolutely bad. The disease is
benign m one epidemic, malignant in another. The prognosis, like the
clinical picture, comprises every intermediate form.
6. Pregnancy and Pneumonia. — Grisolle maintained that lobar pneu-
monia is formidable in pregnant women. At the present day the opposite
opinion holds good. Many cases of pneumonia occurring at different
stages of pregnancy have been published. The , disease was relatively
benign for mother and child. Last year I saw tliree cases of pneumonia
during pregnancy, one at a very late stage. The women recovered, and
delivery took place without mishap. The transmission of pneumonia to
the foetus is an established fact. In the published cases the child has
succumbed a few days after delivery. The infant may succumb without
showing any lesions in the lung. Post mortem we fbid lesions in the liver
and the spleen, due to toxines which have traversed the placenta.
Pneumonia in a nursing woman diminishes or suppresses the secretion
of milk. As the pneumococcus can be transmitted by suckling, the mother
should not continue to suckle her child.
etiology. — Lobar pneumonia is a disease of adults. In the aged it
assumes special features, and the child, though more subject to the lobular
form, may contract the lobar variety. Changes of season — -as in November,
March, and April— appear favourable to its development. Previous
debility is not necessary as a predisposing cause, for pneumonia frequently
attacks people in perfect health. Some persons have a special pre-
disposition to recurrences and contract several attacks. Probably the
pneumococcus is always present, awaiting a favourable opportunity for
development.
I have previously discussed epidemicity. Epidemics of pneumonia
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 135-
may be limited to a locality, or spread thsough a town, province, or country.
They often coincide with influenza, and are due to unknown atmospheric
or climatic causes, which increase the virulence of the microbe.
The question of contagion demands notice. Pneumonia is contagious,
and the sputum most often spreads contagion, which may be active long
after recovery. The foetus may be infected by its mother, and may itself
show the pulmonary and extrapulmonary lesions of the infection.
The nature of lobar pneumonia has been interpreted in various ways,
and till recently two chief theories were in evidence. One — the Hippo-
cratic doctrine, upheld and defended by the Montpellier school — regarded
the lesion of the lung as the local and secondary expression of a general
state, called pneumonic fever. Pneumonia — that is to say, the lesion —
would then be the result of pneumonic fever, which is the disease. The
anatomo-pathological school of Paris has brought forward quite an opposite
theory : The lesion in the lung represents the whole disease, and the local
lesion Is the cause both of the fever and of the general symptoms.
Between these extremes an intermediate opinion has found a place. It
Is generally admitted that a chill is perhaps the commonest cause of pneu-
monia ; for effective action, cold, or any other provoking cause, must find
the system in a favourable condition of receptivity.
Firstly, is it true that cold plays such a large part in the development
of pneumonia ? According to some statistics, cold Is said to act as a pro-
voking agent in only a half or a third of the cases. The cause of lobar
pneumonia resides in the existence of an infectious organism — the pneumo-
coccus — but the chill is tlie chief provokmg agent.
The pneumococciLS being the cause of pneumonia, how are we to admit
that its entrance into the lung may be followed, after such short delay, by
the symptoms of acute pneumonia ? In answer to this objection, Jaccoud
admits, with good reason, the possibility of auto -infection. " The human
organism constantly lodges various microbes in large numbers. As long
as its functions are normal, it Is a hostile medium, which wards off their
noxious effects. However, let disturbance arise and alter the physiological
functions, the hostile medium becomes friendly, and the affected organism
is deprived of effective resistance against the very microbes which it
but lately tolerated without being affected." The pneumococcus exists
normally in the mouth (Pasteur), in the pharynx, and in the bronchi (Netter).
Sliould it enter the lung in those who are not in a state of receptivity, its
j)athogoiuc iiiHuonce is annihilated by the activity of the ])liagocytes. In
the ojiposite condition pneumonia dcf^lares itself.
The dissemination of the pneumococcus produces the extrapulmonary
localizations above described.
In opposition to the primary form just described, wc ^oo secondary
' 136 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
infections which are less frank in evolution, and supervene in other diseases
(diabetes, cachexias, gout, eruptive fevers, etc.). This variety of lobar
pneumonia is somewhat rare, for the secondary form chiefly devolves upon
lobular pneumonia.
Course — Duration — Termination. — Lobar pneumonia has a mean
duration of five to ten days. The period during which the temperature
rises is short and rapid. By the second day it reaches its maximum (104° to
106° F.), remains stationary for some days, with a morning remission of J° to
1°, and in most cases defervescence is sudden and complete in twenty-
four hours. This defervescence, which usually occurs between the fifth
and the seventh days, is often accompanied by symptoms of crisis — viz.,
sweating, epistaxis, diarrhoea, and profuse secretion of urine contaming
albumin and excess of chlorides.* This increase varies in proportion to
the retention of chlorides m the tissues during the illness. It is remark-
able that the defervescence is sometimes preceded by transient aggravation
of the disease. This has been called the precritical phase. Labial herpes
cannot be considered as a symptom of crisis, for it often appears at the onset
of pneumonia.
Suppuration in the lung is a frequent cause of death, which, however,
may occur before the appearance of grey hepatization. Some patients are
struck down by adynamia and fatal collapse during the stage of red hepati-
zation, while others succumb through the extensive nature of the lesion,
which invades several lobes, narrows the field of haematosLs, and induces
asphyxia and cardiac paralysis. In some well-proved cases suppurative
pneumonia has caused death by purulent infection, and the affected tissue
may suppurate as a result of the pneumococcus alone.
Diagnosis — Prognosis. — Let us first differentiate between lobar pneu-
monia and other inflammations of the lung.
1. Lobar pneumonia is nearly always primary. It invades one or
several lobes, remains confined to a definite area, and spares the rest of the
organ. Onset, course, and termination are clearly marked : the crepitant
rale, the tubular breathing, and the rusty sputum scarcely permit confusion ;
suppuration is exceptional, and recovery is tlie usual termination when the
infection does not involve other organs. These characters are distorted
when the pneumonia is secondary, takes on an epidemic form, or develops
in the aged.
I would add, too, that even in its frank forms lobar pneumonia does not
always present the complete picture sketched in this chapter. It has been
my lot to see cases of lobar pneumonia which differ from the classical type.
Many so-called lobar pneumoniae border on inflammation of the chest,
* Up to defervescence the urine was scanty, dark, and in twenty-four hours con-
tained 35 to 50 grammes of urea, instead of the normal quantity of 28 to 30 grammes.
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 137
and are the intermediary forms which unite clinically the various inflamma-
tions of the respiratory passages.
2. Lobular or broncho-pneumonia is especially frequent in children,
and is often consecutive to some other malady (measles, diphtheria, whoop-
ing-cough, influenza, tuberculosis, etc.). It deserves the name of " fibrinous "
less than the preceding form. It Ls lobular — that is to say, it spreads by
centres which are scattered tlirough both lungs, and may be isolated or
confluent. The disease does not exhaust all its action on the inflamed
centres. It progresses by successive outbursts.; its lesions and its course
are irregular, and its description differs notably from that of lobar pneumonia.
3. Inflammation of the chest is not pneumonia, and, on the other
hand, differs from simple congestion. It is a morbid condition in wliich
the hyperaernic and inflammatory elements are differently combined.
The inflammation affects one or several lobes, and does not spare the other
parts of the respiratory system. The bronchi, the pleura, and the muscles
of the thorax — in fact, all the superposed layers of the chest — may be
affected in different degrees.
4. Spleno-pneumonia (Grancher) is thus defined by this author :
" Between pulmonary congestion and lobar pneumonia, and side by side
with broncho-pneumonia, there exists a morbid condition of the lung — a
kind of subacute pneumonia, which simulates pleurisy with moderate
effusion, and deserves its own description and denomination." Potain
has described a variety of pneumonia which he has named congestive, and
to which he says spleno-pneumonia may be likened.
5. Hypostatic pneumonia has not the anatomical attributes of a true
pneumonia. It is a mixed condition, in which passive congestion and
oedema play the chief part, and are accompanied by slight transudation
of fibrin, and sometimes by hsemorrhage. This morbid condition, con-
secutive to heart disease, hypostasis, and prolonged decubities, chiefly
involves the posterior and lower parts of the lungs.
0. Pleurisy at first presents numerous analogies with pneumonia. In
pleurisy, however, the chill is less violent, the initial temperature is not so
high, the pain in the side is often more acute, expectoration is absent, and
the friction soinid is more moist and diffuse tlian the dry, crepitant, and
clearly localized rule of pneumonia.
It is not sufficient to diagnose pneumonia : wc must also know whether
it is inflammatory, biliary, or adynamic ; whether it is or is not complicated
by pleurisy, endocarditis, ])ericarditis, meningitis, or otitis ; whether it is
primary or secondary ; whether it is arc'f)in[)anied by alcoholism ; whether
it is the first act in commencing typhoid fever ; whether it has developed
in a diabetic or in a tubercular subject. Each of the.se points affects the
prognosis and the treatment as mucli as the diagnosis.
138 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Treatment. — The treatment of pneumonia should be especially directed
to the general condition. When pneumonia is regular and benign, we should
be content with watchful expectancy, ordering acid drinks, laxatives, broths,
and wine diluted with water. In the contrary case the indications must be
acted on. Blisters are more harmful than useful in my opinion.
Pain in the side may be relieved by leeches, antipyrin, injections of
morphia, or by an ointment of vaseline 10 parts, methyl-salicylate 1 part.
In sthenic pneumonia antiphlogistic treatment should be employed —
i.e., blood-letting, cupping, leeches, and tartarate of antimony, or, better
still, kermes, administered to Trousseau's prescription :.
Kermes . . . . . . . . . . . . gr. xxx.
Extract of digitalis . . . . . . . . . . gr. iii.
Medicinal soap . . . . . . . . . . q.s.
For 20 pills.
Ten to fifteen pills are given in the twenty-four hours, and if vomiting or
diarrhoea supervene, 1 drop of Sydenham's laudanum is given with each pill.
Good results are also obtamed by infusion of digitalis, given at mtervals
in the twenty-four hours (Hirtz) ; but I have never tried this remedy.
Biliary pneumonia may be cut short by emetics, and especially by ipecacu-
anha. Adynamic pneumonia should be treated with tonics and stimulants,
such as quinine, tincture of coca, wine, or brandy. If the fever is severe,
sulphate of quinine and antipyrin may be given.
When pneumonia takes the ataxic form, with delirium, restlessness, and
high fever, the following draught, in tablespoonfuls every hour, may be
given with advantage :
Orange-flower water . . . . . . . . . . gilL
Cherry-laurel water . . . . . . . , . . Siii-
Syrup of ether . . . . . . . . . . . . 3x.
Bromide of potash . . . . . . . . . . 3ss.
Cold baths have been extolled in the ataxic and hyperthermic forms of
pneumonia. I have used this treatment' several times with success. I
would advise giving the baths just as in typhoid fever.
If pneumonia is accompanied by irregular pulse, feeble heart-action, and
a tendency to syncope, subcutaneous injections of the following solution of
caffein should be given :
Distilled water . . . . . . . . . . 3ii.
Benzoate of soda . . . . . . . . . . 3ss.
Benzoate of caffeine . . . . . . . . . . 3ss.
I would also advise in such a case injections of serum (8 to 16 ounces or
more daily). For further details, see chapter on Therapeutics.
The patient should drink plenty of milk, fresh water, and tisanes, with
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 139
or without lactose, for it is essential to promote urinary secretion. Milk
lias the further advantage of protecting the kidney — a fact not to be
despised, especially as pneumococcal nephritis is now well recognized.
Lastly, I must say a few words about the treatment of pneumonia by
subcutaneous injections of essence of terebinth.
Fochier (of Lyons) observed that in certain cases of puerperal infection,
when no important lesion can be found, sudden improvement may coincide
with the appearance of pus in the iliac fossa, the breast, a joint, or else-
where. The appearance of a local abscess or cellulitis seemed to have a
curative action. Fochier gave it the name of abscess of fixation. The
question was then asked whether analogous abscesses could not be produced
therapeutically. In women whose condition appeared desperate recovery
was induced by subcutaneous injections of essence of terebinth.
As Lepine had been successful in a case of pneumonia, I applied the
treatment to two women suffering from severe pneumonia which was
probably on the point of suppuration. Both patients recovered. The
treatment is as follows : An injection of L5 minims of essence of terebinth
— i.e., 60 minims for the four injections — is given by means of a sterilized
syringe, in the subcutaneous tissue of the outer surface of each thigh and
of the deltoid region of each arm. These injections produce extremely
acute pain, lasting about two hours. The next day the injected regions
present an oedematous, whitish, and diffuse thickening. The abscess which
forms IS opened, and the pus in my two cases was amicrobic.
Whether these phlegmons be called abscesses of fixation or abscesses
of derivation matters little. What does matter is the therapeutical result.
It deserves, I think, to be taken into serious consideration. This treatment,
in my opinion, should be reserved for patients who are suffering from grave
])neumonia in which grey hepatization is imminent.
Collargol has sometimes given good results (Netter). An ointment con-
taining 13 per cent, of collargol is employed, and a piece about the size
of a nut is daily rubbed into the skin. It is better to use intravenous injec-
tion of ].") to .'}() grains of collargol.
The prophylactic treatment of pneumonia should not be neglected. It
must not be forgotten that, as pneumonia is contagious, proper precautions
must be taken to isolate the sick, and to disinfect the sputum and articles
of bedding or clothing used by the patient.
V. CHRONIC PNEUMONIA— FIBROSIS OF THE LUNG.
Chronic inflammation of the limg may affect the pareiu-hyina and liie
con?u'ctive tissue. These lesions give rise to the varieties of chronic pneu-
monia known as lobar, lobular, and cortical.
140 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The chronic pneumonia called caseous is really tubercular, and will be
studied later, under Phthisis.
Chronic Lobar Pneumonia. — The lobar form is much rarer than the
lobular one. It may be primary, or may follow acute pneumonia. Malaria
appears to play some part in its development.
In our study of acute pneumonia we have seen that residual inflammation
may still remain in the alveoli, and may take several weeks to absorb
(Andral). This process, though it may be slow, rarely ends in chronic
pneumonia, because the parenchyma of the lung is unaffected ; and if it do
so end, it is because the parenchyma is affected by fresh inflammation.
Two stages are described in chronic pneumonia — viz., red and grey
induration. The lung tissue affected with red induration is firm and
increased in size ; the cut section is less granular, and the tissues are less
friable than in the red hepatization of acute pneumonia. The indurated
part does not crepitate, and sinks in water. The walls of the alveoli and
the perilobular connective tissues are invaded by fibrous tissue. The
alveolar cavities are narrowed, and at times invaded by nodules of fibrous
tissue which has replaced the wall of the alveolus.
The fibrosis is intra- and extra-lobular. After several months red in-
duration gives place to grey induration. The lung tissue, which has become
impermeable, retracts and diminishes in volume. It is hard, creaks under
the knife, and has all the attributes of fibrous tissue (Cruveilhier's fibrous
metamorphosis). In this fibrous tissue excavations (ulcers of the lung) are
sometimes met with, but no bronchiectasis is found, contrary to what is
seen in chronic broncho-pneumonia.
This chronic pneumonia extends in an uniform way tlirough a whole
lobe or a part of the lung. It is more common at the base than at the
apex.
Dullness, deformity of the chest, muco-purulent sputum, tubular breath-
ing, rales, and gurgling, are the signs of chronic pneumonia ; and if we add
frequent hsemoptysis and cachexia, with fever, sweats, and wasting, it will
be admitted that the diagnosis from phthisis would be very difficult if the
existence of the latter were not confirmed by the presence of bacilli in the
sputum.
Chronic Broncho-Pneumonia. — Chronic broncho-pneumonia is more
frequent than the preceding form, and usually follows acute or subacute
broncho -pneumonia. It is most common in early life, and is caused by
measles, diphtheria, whooping-cough, influenza, typhoid fever, and syphilis.
In the chronic, as in the acute, form the lesions affect both the bronchus
and the lobule. In a vertical section of the lobule, during the subacute
phase the bronchus is dilated, and its normal elements are converted into
embryonic tissue. The region of the alveoli which surrounds the bronchus
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 141
is affected by hepatization ; the walls of the alveoli show embryonic infil-
tration, and the alveolar cavities contain exudate, with epithelial cells and
leucocytes. Around the hepatized area we find the splenized zone, which
is the seat of congestion ; the epithelial cells desquamate and fall into the
alveolar cavity.
As the lesion becomes chronic the intra-alveolar elements undergo
granulo-fatty degeneration, and the embryonic cells, which infiltrate the
parenchyma, change into fibrous tissue. The fibrosis affects the peri-
bronchial and perilobular connective tissue and the parenchyma of the
lung atrophies.
Chronic broncho-pneumonia chiefly afEects the lower lobes and the
posterior part of the upper ones. The lung tissue is violet-coloured, dense,
and dry ; the cut section is smooth, without granulations, and the divisions
between the lobules are still perceptible under the low power. These
lesions were called camification, by comparison with muscular tissue. In
some cases the lung is fibrous and atrophied, and dilatations of the bronchi
are found. They are due to changes in the bronchial walls, and as they
are found before the lung atrophies (Charcot), it is hardly probable that
they are consequent on the pulmonary fibrosis, as Corrigan supposed.
The progress of chronic broncho-pneumonia is very slow, and the disease
passes through a subacute stage, subject to periods of arrest. Dullness,
rales, tubular breathmg, and sometimes gurgling, arc the most usual signs.
Fever is common, the expectoration is muco-purulent, or at times blood-
stained, and the disease usually ends in hectic fever.
Chronic Cortical Pneumonia. — In some cases of pleurisy, when the
absorption of fluid is very slow, the pleura becomes thickened, and forms
a fibrous shell over the lung. The lobes are adherent to one another, and
the parietal pleura is likewise adherent to the chest-wall. This fibro-plastic
process does not always remain limited to the pleura, but reaches the lung
probably along the lymphatics. The connective spaces between the lobules
are transformed into fibrous arches, which surround the lobules, and finally
involve the alveoli themselves.
Pleuro-pulmonary fibrosis is thus brought about. These cases are
somewhat rare (Brouardel, Tapret). I have seen one case in which bronchi-
ectasis was also present.
Pulmonary fibrosis as a secondary lesion is associated with diverse
changes in the lung. It accompanies emphysema, tuberculous lesions,
tumours, hydatid cysts, pneumokoniosis, etc. It is fairly common in
elderly people. The fibroid regions arc indurated and pigmented, the fibrous
framework of the lung is thickened, the walls of the vessels take part in the
change, and the alveolar cavities are atrophied by the new tissue. Syphilitic
fibrosis of the lung exists, and will be studied under Sypliilitic Legions of
142 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
the Lung. The lesion called slaty induration of the apices, and frequent
in the lungs of elderly people, is nothmg but a highly pigmented fibrous
tissue. This tissue bounds the alveoli, which are atrojihied in some parts,
emphysematous m others, and often contains small cysts of long standing,
transformed into caseous or chalky material.
VI. OCCUPATION PNEUMONIAS— PNEUMOKONIOSIS.
The dust from coal, iron, steel, copper, and silicon, gives rise to chronic
pneumonia, which we shall study under the names of anthracosis, siderosis,
and chalicosis.
Anthracosis. — Antliracosis may be physiological, most human lungs
being normally mottled with black. When, however, the infiltration of
carbon becomes excessive, the lesions cause special symptoms. Anthracosis
occurs chiefly among miners, charcoal-burners, and moulders in copper,
brass, or bronze, who use carbon dust m their work.
The lesions seen are : at first emphysema, then a black coloration of
the lung, which no longer crepitates, creaks under the knife, and sinks m
water. On crushing the lung tissue, the fingers are coloured black, and also
the water allowed to flow over its surface. The cut section may be mottled
with black or be of an uniform black colour. The lung tissue is divided by
large bands of connective tissue, which contam particles of carbon, heaped
up at certam spots to form nodules. Histologically, we see fibrosis, which
affects the connective tissue surrounding the lobule and its central bronchus.
A fibrous mass, crammed with black grams, is found m these regions. Bronchi-
ectasis is hardly ever seen ; on the other hand, obliteration of the bronchial
arterioles is frequent, and hollow, irregidar ulcerations, containmg black,
putrid material, are the result. The bronchial walls are intact. The pleura
is adherent and thickened ; the glands are hard and black. Lesions of the
right heart are sometimes seen.
Does antliracosis predispose to tuberculosis ? Authorities are not in
accord on this pomt. Oberthiir says positively that tuberculosis is rare in
coal-miners. It may be admitted (Boulland) that if the damage to the
lung favour the growth of the bacillus, this growth is arrested by the fibrosis,
which isolates the foci and prevents their development. The symptoms
display three periods (Tardieu). In the first period we see malaise, with
loss of appetite, wastmg, and fits of coughmg, which are followed by blackened
expectoration. On auscultation, the vesicular murnmr is feeble, the voice-
sounds are exaggerated and sibilant and snoruig rhonchi are sometimes
audible . In the second jDcriod the symptoms grow worse. Vomitmg appears,
the distress mcreases, and the induration of the lung is complete. Muco-pus is
often fomid m the sputum, and at times a little blood is present. The third
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 143
period is characterized by the progress of the ansemia and by decline. The
lung is hollowed out by cavities, and death supervenes, either by cachexia
or by asystole. The duration may be several years.
Chalicosis. — Infiltration of the lung by the dust of silica (chalicosis) is
seen among stone-cutters (quarrymen, millstone sharpeners, flint-cutters,
road labourers), needle sharpeners, glass, china, and earthenware workers,
potters, and flax-combers (Greenhow).
Post mortem the lungs are crammed with nodules, which are very hard
and blackish, or at times grey, white, or yellowish. Histologically, we find
lobular fibrosis, with narrowing of the alveoli and small crystalloid granules,
which are strongly refractive to light, and composed of silica. Cavities,
surrounded by grains of silica, may exist. The glands are hard and of a
blackish-grey colour. Lesions of the right heart are common. The symp-
toms, as in anthracosis, may present three periods. The sputum appears
more abundant, and hsenioptysis is more frequent. The disease lasts three
or four years. The phthisis of earthenware-makers (Porte) shows three
forms — pneumonic, emphysematous, and suffocating.
Siderosis. — Up to the present twenty-one cases of infiltration of the
lung by particles of iron have been collected (Zencker and Merckel) ; they
have been seen in workmen using red oxide of iron (looking-glass -makers,
gold-beaters, and muTor -polishers). In one autopsy (Zencker) the surface of
the lung was of an intense and uniform brick-red colour, streaked with
darker lines, corresponding to the interlobular spaces. The pleura was
covered with red patches. There were several cavities in the lung, without
a trace of tubercles. The microscope showed fibrosis of the lung, with
graimles of iron, which, on chemical exammation, gave its special reactions.
The physical signs resemble those of anthracosis, and the red sputum is
characteristic.
The diagnosis is chiefly ba^cd on the characters of the sputum, which is
black in anthracosis, red in siderosis, and without objective characters in
chalicosis. Tlie diagnosis from pulmonary tuberculosis and from latent
cancer of tlie stomach is most puzzling. In the first case inquiry as to the
patient's profession, and examination of the sputum from the chemical and
bacillary standpoint will be the chief points. In the case of latent cancer
of the stomacli, where confusion is possible (Lctulle), error can only be
avoided by careful study of the course of the disease.
Treatment is, in the first place, propliylactic. Workrooms must be freely
veutiluted, attempts at preventing the jjropagation of dust nuist be inaih-, and
masks used. When piieuniokoniosis is present, change of profession should
be advised. 1'liis radi(-al measure often arrests the disease. Revulsives,
balsams, arsenic, anil iodide of potash are employed for the fibrosis.
144 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
VII. THROMBOSIS AND EMBOLISM OF THE PULMONARY
ARTERY.
Thrombosis of the pulmonary artery is the obliteration of the vessel by
a clot of blood formed during life. It has many causes, such as cachexia
(tuberculosis, atlirepsia, malaria), compression of the artery by a mass
of glands, or by a mediastinal tumour. Thrombosis is sometimes consecutive
to extensive pneumonia, gangrene of the lung, and pleurisy (Vergely).
Atheroma and fatty changes in the vessel are exceptional causes.
Embolism is the sudden obliteration of the vessel by a body circulating
in the blood; This body, or embolus, often arises from a thrombus. The
results of embolism and the lesions to which it gives rise vary with the
si2;e of the artery obliterated, and also with the nature of the embolus.
It is therefore customary to study embolisms of the large, medium, and small
branches of the pulmonary artery. To this last category belong the capillary
embolisms ; to the two first, the lobular and lobar ones.
The large embolus, which is arrested in an artery of large or of medium
size, is generally caused by an mert body ; the embolism is then called
mechanical. Capillary embolism may also be mechanical, but is more often
infective and microbic.
Mechanical Embolisms of the Pulmonary Artery.
Pathogenesis. — The tlu-ombus may break up and give rise to emboli,
which, however, arc much more rare than those which have their origin in
the heart or in the great vems.
1. Embolisms of cardiac origin are chiefly seen in mitral lesions, and in
mitral stenosis in particular (Duguet). Aortic affections, on the contrary,
rarely give rise to them. Bucquoy has laid ^ress on pulmonary embolisms
consecutive to arterio-sclerosis ; but as the affection is often accompanied by
chronic myocarditis, this is, without doubt, a cause of embolism. In all
these cases the process is as follows : On the walls of the right heart, and
especially of the right auricle, masses of fibrin are deposited, and become
interwoven with the muscular bmidles which project into the cavity of the
auricle. The slowing of the stream and the change in the blood cause
coagulation. The clot beaks down gradually, and its fragments escape to
form embolisms m the branches of the pulmonary artery. Sometimes the
embolus consists of the debris of the valves and chordae.
2. Phlebitis is a very frequent cause of embolism, especially in acute
infectious diseases (typhoid fever, erysipelas, diphtheria, mfluenza, variola,
etc.), because the clot develops rapidly, and its adhesion to the walls of the
veins is very slight. A separate place must be given to pulmonary embolism.
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 145
following puerperal phlegmasia. This accident usually appears within three
weeks of the confinement ; beyond the fifth week puerperal embolism is
exceptional.
Phlebitis in chronic infectious maladies (tuberculosis, cancer) and cachexia
(malaria, diabetes, gout, etc.) is more rarely followed by pulmonary em-
bolism.
Phlebitis consecutive to varices, fractures, or compression by tumour,
may also give rise to embolism, especially if the lesion affect a vein in the
lower limbs. In some cases phlebitis has a deep origin, as in phlebitis of
the uterine and utero-ovarian veins (cancer of the uterus, uterine fibroma,
cysts of the ovary, renal tumours, etc.), and yet in these different diseases
embolism is to Ije feared.
Pathological Anatomy. — In order to understand the lesions which result
from pulmonary emboHsm, we must bear in mind that the lungs receive two
kinds of arterial vessels — the bronchial arteries, charged with the nutrition
of the organ, and the branches of the pulmonary artery, cliarged with
assuring haematosis. These two systems remain independent. The
branches of the pulmonary artery, like those of the spleen and kidney, are
terminal (Cohnheim) — that is, each vessel occupies its own proper area,
and does not ana.stomose with its 'neighbours. The result is a complete
independence in their function and their diseases. In the case of throm-
bosis there is, then, no reason to count upon the collateral circulation to
remedy the effects of obstruction in the vessel.
When the obstruction affects a lobar artery or the trunk of the pulmonary
artery, anaemia is seen, or in case of sudden death, atelectasis of the terri-
tory that is no longer irrigated is found post mortem. If, on the other
hand, the patient has survived some hours, we find congestion, oedema,
or perhaps an infarct, which may occupy nearly a whole lobe.
As a rule, the obliterated vessel is much smaller — m most cases a lobular
artery. The obstruction then shows itself by the formation of an infarct,
which is called hamoptoic (Laennec), These infarcts may occur all over
the lung, but are more frequent on the right side than on the left, and usually
occur at the base, the posterior surface, and the edges of the lungs. They
are sometimes single, at other times multiple, when their number may be
unlimited, just like the number of embolisms which give rise to them. They
have a blackisli, truffled colour, and a firm consistency, which permits their
recognition by simple pressure, when they are situated deep in the paren-
chyma of the lung. Their cut siu-f ace is shining, dry, and smooth, or granular
if the blood distends the alveoli. Around tlie infarct the lung tissue is bright
red, passing to yellow as the distance from the infarct increases. G?lderaa
of the lung and pleurisy, which is generally quite limited, are frequently
found.
10
146 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Under the microscope the alveoli are filled with red corpuscles, which
are crowded together, and more or less deformed, according to the age of
the infarct. The interalveolar spaces and the septa are packed with red
corpuscles. In an old infarct the red corpuscles are no longer recognizable,
and crystals of ha3matoidin and of hsematin, pigmentary granules infil-
trating the alveolar walls, and fatty granulations predominate. The con-
nective network is always thickened. This thickening is sometimes but
slightly marked, and as the arteriole agam becomes permeable, restitutio ad
integrum is favoured. Sometimes, on the other hand, fibrosis predommates
and causes a fibrous cicatrix, which is retractile and prone to infiltration with
calcareous salts (Pitres).
The uifarct may be uivaded by various micro-organisms, whence the
possible coexistence of suppurative or gangrenous centres. In other
patients the embolus (phlebitis in puerperal women) contains the micro-
organisms of suppuration or of gangrene.
The chief factor in the production of infarcts is still surrounded by
obscurity, in spite of experimental researches. Ranvier and Duguet have
shown that some time elapses between the obliteration of the artery and
the formation of the mfarct. The interval between these accidents is some-
times as long as two or tlu"ee days, and it is then supposed that the walls of
the artery become mflamed on the proximal side of the obliteration, break
down, and fuially burst. The infarct is produced at this moment. This
interpretation is to-day more generally admitted than that of collateral
congestion (Virchow, Rmdfleisch).
When the capillary embolisms (non-infectmg) are few in number, they
are not, as a rule, accompanied by any change in the lung tissue, because the
circulation is re-established by the anastomoses of the capillary network. If
their number is considerable, they may give rise to grave results from the
many capillaries obliterated. Experimentally, capillary embolisms are easily
caused by the injection of finely-divided substances into the jugular vein.
As these substances are irritant to the lung tissue, they determme pseudo-
tuberculous granulations at the point where they are arrested.
Symptoms — Diagnosis. — The large embohsms give rise to very dis-
similar results. The patient may be struck down by syncope, and die
suddenly ; he may survive some minutes or hours. Intense dyspnoea,
rapid cyanosis, and cardiac troubles (angina and palpitations) are seen,
though examination of the heart and of the lungs reveals no lesion. Lastly,
in some cases the patient is seized with intense pain in the side, severe
dyspnoea, and perhaps a rigor. Improvement soon occurs, and he sub-
sequently coughs up more or less profuse blood-stamed sputum, provmg an
infarct. In this form of embolism recovery may take place, but the patient
often succumbs in a few days, after several attacks, with signs of acute asystole.
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 147
The setiological conditions have a capital importance in diagnosis. The
large embolLsms are due to phlebitis, while the medium ones usually arise in
cardiac lesions. These same a?tiological indications will, in the case of sudden
death, and hi the absence of an autopsy, justify the diagnosis of puhnonary
embolism, and not that of angina pectoris due to aortic disease. Likewise
the asthmatic attack, the sudden suffocations of uraemia, which arise under
very different conditions, will hardly give rise to confusion. EmboUsms of
moderate size — that is to say, those which always end in the formation of
infarcts — have a more clear clinical history than the precedmg variety.
We can diagnose an infarct in a cardiac patient whose heart begins to
fail if we find sudden dyspnoea and intense pahi in the side, followed, some
hours later, by the rejection of bloody sputum. The patient coughs up
brownish or blackish viscid sputum, and not frothy blood, as m haemop-
tysis. Auscultation, which is negative when the infarct is deep, reveals,
in the case of a superficial uifarct, a silent or tubular area, around which
subcrepitant rales are heard. Friction sounds, due to dry pleurisy or to
slight effusion, may be heard. The early rales sometimes become moister
and larger, while the vesicular murmur reappears ; sometimes cavernous
breathing is heard when the infarct has been emptied tlu-ough the bronchi,
leaving a cavity, which will finally be filled up. Li cases where some
secondary uifection is grafted on the infarct, so as to produce suppiu-ation
or gangrene, fever appears, and the expectoration takes special characters
as regards appearance and odour.
In elderly people the discovery of sudden effusion, which is preceded by
pain in the side, often finds its explanation ia a latent uifarct (Vulpian).
The repetition of complications and the coexistence of progressive
cardiac weakness govern the prognosis.
We have already shown the means of distinguishing between hsemoptysis
and the bloody expectoration due to infarct ; in some cases, however, the
Uifarct may give rise to true haemoptysis. The rusty sputum of pneu-
monia is more viscid and aerated than that of pulmonary embolism, and
again the clinical picture is quite different.
Treatment. — To prevent, as far as possible, the formation of emboli
every patient suffering from phlebitis should be kept in bed four or live
weeks. When embolism occurs, we must treat symptoms : cupping, in-
halations of oxygen, and sinapisms, (|uict the dyspnoea. The (juantity of
blood brouglit up is rarely so abundant Jis to be formidable. The means
recommended for hastening the absorjition of an infarct are practically
futile. It is important to watch the condition of the heart, and to restore
its tone by dijiitalis and caffeiu.
10—2
148 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Special and Infecting Pulmonary Embolisms.
The name of special embolisms is given to the capillary obliterations
due to inanimate foreign bodies, as opposed to microbic infecting em-
bolisms. The first act mechanically ; the second, on the other hand, are
endowed with vital properties, which cause suppuration, sloughing, and
gangrene. The first group includes the debris of the fibrinous clot, broken
up by disaggregation, as in old foci of phlebitis, fibrmous cysts in vems
(Verneuil), and accumulations of cellular debris at a given spot (burns,
frost-bite, certain intoxications). When the embolLsms occur at many
points at once, they may end in death by suffocation, miless they pass
mmoticed.
More important are fatty embolisms, following fractures and osteo-
myelitis. Dejerine thinks that the increase of the intramedullary pressure
consequent upon inflammation causes the little oil-drops of the bony
marrow to enter the capillaries. These embolisms cause sudden and ex-
treme dyspnoea. The injured man has air-hunger ; his face and limbs are
cyanosed ; he sometimes brings up blood-stained froth, and rapidly succumbs,
with or without convulsions. Innumerable fatty droplets mixed with blood
are found post mortem in the vessels of the lung, and some authors there-
fore refer diabetic coma and suffocation in eclampsia to fat embolism.
Gaseous embolisms belong rather to the domain of surgery, and usually
follow the entrance of air mto the cervical veins. This accident shows itself
by a characteristic whistlmg ; severe dyspnoea develops suddenly, and death
usually follows.
The infective microbic embolisms are daily becoming more numerous
as the life-history of micro-organisms becomes better known. Some reach
the lungs m the debris of clots ; others make up the embolus alone. The
Streptococcus pyogenes is the most common ; then come the staphylococci,
coli bacillus, and a host of other aerobic or anaerobic micro-organisms, which
reproduce in situ most of their original processes. Miliary abscesses,
suppurative and gangrenous infarcts, admit no other cause. This variety
of embolism will be studied under gangrene of the lung. Pulmonary tuber-
culosis and certam forms of pseudo-tuberculosis (tuberculosis due to Asper-
gillus glaucus, fumigatus, etc.), frequently spread by the circulatory system,
and can be reproduced experimentally (Renon).* The secondary cancerous
nodules develojDcd in the lung are due to embolisms of cancerous origin, just
as the white pulmonary infarcts of leucocytheemia are due to accumulation
of hypertrophied leucocytes, and as the pigmentary embolisms of malaria
are due to the arrest of pigment granules in the capillaries of the lung.
* See the chapter on Aspergillary Pseudo-Tuberculosis.
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 149
VIII. GANGRENE OF THE LUNG— GANGRENE OF EMBOLIC
ORIGIN— GANGRENE OF AERIAL ORIGIN.
We must first define the meaning of the word gangrene. Gangrene ia
not simply the death of a tissue (necrosis or necrobiosis) ; it is death, with
which putrefaction or fermentation is associated. This fermentation is
due to anaerobic organisms (Pasteur). Gangrene, therefore, is not simply the
death of a tissue ; it is the death of a tissue accompanied by putrid changes.
" Sometimes gangrene pervades an already necrosed area, in which case
it is secondary; at other times necrosis and putrefaction. of living tissues
are caused by the same process, in which cases the gangrene is primary.
Gaseous gangrene, symptomatic anthrax, noma, and some cases of pul-
monary gangrene belong to the category of primary gangrenes."
Two great processes are responsible for gangrene of the lung — ^gangrene
of embolic origin, the germs reachmg the lung m the form of emboli by the
venous channels ; and gangrene of aerial origin, the germs reaching the lung
by the respiratory tract.
1. Pulmonary Gangrene of Embolic Origin.
Pathology. — Whenever a purulent, putrid, or gangrenous centre exists
somewhere in the economy (otitis, appendicitis, suppurative phlebitis,
osteo-myelitis, etc.), this centre may give rise to specific emboli which end
in the lung. Having reached the lung, the embolus provokes a like infection.
If it contains germs of suppuration, the infarct suppurates ; if it contains
those of putrefaction, the infarct becomes putrid ; if it carries the germs of
gangrene, both these changes occur at the same time. Furthermore, puru-
lent germs may sometimes start from an infected centre ; at other times,
those of putrefaction and gangrene, as in the examples quoted l)elow.
Let us take otitis, which I have compared to appendicitis, as it resembles
the latter affection closely, in that the infection is elaborated hi a closed
cavity and in the multiplicity of its complications. Whether the otitis be
acute or chronic matters little ; it may at a given moment give rise to suppu-
rative or gangrenous lesions. The former, such as cervical abscess, menin-
gitis, abscess of the cerebellum, or of the cerebrum, will be studied later.
Pulmonary gangrene consecutive to otitis will be studied here, and in
order to judge of its importance I give a resume of cases.
Case 1. — A young woman, who had excellent health in spile of a discharge from
I lie ear for five years, wa.s seized suddenly with sharp pains in the right ear, fever,
headache, and vomiting. A week later she came into hospital : prostration, severe
headache on the right side, some right otorrhosa, no mastoid pain on pressure, tonguo
dry, and breath ftetid. Some days later intense pain under li-ft hreast, suIk lepitant
rules, high fever, acute dyspna'a, frequent cough, fa'tid sputum, albuniinuriu, and
150 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
death. Post mortem several gangrenous infarcts in right Imig, and gangrenous pleurisy,
with 15 ounces of fluid. The tympanic cavity, which was the starting-point of these
troubles, contained a small quantity of foetid pus.
Case 2. — A child, who for three years had discharge from the left ear, was
suddenly taken ill with fever, mastoid pain, and vomiting. Brun opened the mastoid,
and found foetid pus in the antrum. A diffuse gaseous phlegmon soon developed in the
cervico-dorsal region ; breath foetid ; respiration panting ; death. Post mortem
thrombo-phlebitis of left lateral sinus, and embolic gangrene of lung, both consecutive
to otitis.
Case 3. — Boy, affected for three years with apparently benign discharge from the
right ear. High fever, with intense dyspnoea, rigors, and pain in chest, supervened.
Auscultation showed mischief at right base. Pains in chest became most acute ; breath
was foetid ; temperature rose to 104° F. ; death. Post mortem both lungs riddled with
gangrenous centres "of various sizes and miliary abscesses consecutive to otitis.
Appendicitis, like otitis (increased virulence of micro-organisms in a
closed cavity), may also give rise to remote suppuration (liver, pleura,
meningitis, etc.) and embolic gangrene of the lung. I shall here deal with
gangrene of the lung.
I saw the following case at the Hotel-Dieu :
Man admitted for sharp pain at the right base. No expectoration. Signs of
pneumonia found at the painful region. Temperature raised. Patient also complained
of sharp pains below the right ribs in the flank and iliac fossa. Palpation gave a feeling
of thickening and fluctuation. We therefore thought of an abdominal abscess, with
consecutive pneumonia. Patient transferred to siu"gical ward and examined under
cliloroform, but the abdominal effusion was not confiimed. Death two days later. On
opening the abdomen we found a collection of foetid pus, 'with false membranes and
adhesions. This collection was due to apjiendicitis. It started from the iliac fossa
and tracked up below the liver, where a subphrenic pocket was found. At the base of
the right lung a gangrenous centre as large as an orange. This centre was composed
of two concentric layers — the outer reddish, the inner blackish, excavated, and foul-
smelling.
The examples above quoted give an idea of embolic gangrene of the lung.
I have chosen my examples from otitis and appendicitis, but many other
foci (bone lesions, bed-sores, puerperal lesions, endocarditis, etc.) may end
in the same result.
Pathological Anatomy.— This form corresponds to Laennec's circum-
scribed gangrene, with the nearly constant addition of gangrenous pleurisy.
The gangrenous centres vary from the size of a cherry-stone to that of an
egg ; they are mostly present in both lungs, and are multiple ; some are
superficial and sub pleural ; others are deep-seated. The subpleural centres
have the conical shape of infarcts and a haemorrhagic tint. An arteriole is
usually seen at the apex of the cone. The deep centres have the shape
of blackish nodes, distinct from one another. Gangrenous infarcts show
the following forms : " Small, firm infarcts, which appear to be quite
recent, show on section a yellowish caseous nodule, purulent and ex-
tremely foetid, in the centre of a brownish or greenish tissue engorged
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 151
with blood. The older infarcts have in their centre softened inaterial
of a chocolate-brown, surrounded by a scalloped collarette. Beneath the
pleura, infarcts with a liquefied centre are found. The pleura is raised by-
gaseous, foul-smelling bullae, forming little caverns, which do not appear to
communicate with the bronchi. At its entrance into the infarct the arteriole
is filled with blood and with bacteria in enormous numbers. At the centre of
the infarct it has necrosed, and its wall is reduced to a shred. The bronchiole
which accompanies it is flattened and full of desquamated cells and leuco-
cytes (Guillemot).
The gangrenous cavity contains a greyish pulp, composed of the following
"elements : pus corpuscles, large cells infiltrated with fatty granules, masses
composed of threads of connective or of elastic tissue and debris of capillaries,
pigmentary granules, crystals of margarine, leucin, tyrosin, and various
micro-organisms. All these elements are found in the sputum.
The cavity is surrounded by a first layer, which serves as a wall and
limits the loss of substance. This layer is made up of debris of lung tissue,
elastic fibres, and obliterated vessels, which are continuous with the next
layer. The second layer is formed of lung tissue in the condition of grey
hepatization. It is friable and sanious ; the alveoli are filled with pus and
large fatty cells, and the vessels are blocked by coagulated fibrin. The
third layer, which is continuous with the healthy part of the lung, shows the
lesions of catarrhal pneumonia.
2. Pulmonary Gangrene of Aerial Origin.
Gangrene of aerial origin corresponds to the difluse form. It presents
much the same changes as the circumscribed form, save that they are
diffused and very extensive.
In certain cases the well-marked nodules of circumscribed gangrene and
the irregular lesions of the diffuse form are found together.
Gangrene of the lung (circumscribed or diffuse) Is, as a rule, accompanied
by pleurisy, which may be gangrenous, purulent, or sero-fibrinous. Pneumo-
thorax Is not rare ; it may result from perforation or from putrefaction.
Lastly, particles of sloughs may pass through the pulmonary vems into the
left heart and the general arterial circulation, and set up lesions due to
capillary oinbolisms.
Pathogenesis.— Pulmonary gangrene of aerial origin may depend on
various mechanisms.
Since the cavity of the bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli are, as it were,
the prolongation of the bucco-pharyngeal cavity, it Is clear that microbes
inhabiting this latter cavity may gradually reach and develop in regions
when^ Ihoy do not normally exist. For their growth, however, the soil
must be prepared ; the individual must be in a state of receptivity.
152 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
For this reason this gangrene Ls not usually seen in robust people ; on
the other hand, it is frequent in alcoholics, diabetics, and in sufferers from
Bright's disease, malaria, mental disease, or chronic cerebral affections. It
is sometimes met with in the course of acute infectious diseases — measles,
variola, typhoid fever, etc. — or in subjects exposed to intense and pro-
longed chill (Bucquoy).
In other cases it may supervene as a complication in the course of various
lesions of the respiratory tract — cavities of phthisis, cancer and sarcoma of
the lung, chronic pneumonia, hydatid cysts, foreign bodies in the air -passages,
perforation of the lung in chest wounds, foreign bodies carried in through
such a wound (bullets, shreds of clothing, fragments of rib) ; opening of an
abscess into the bronchi from the liver, spleen, kidney, etc. ; perforation of
the oesophagus in cancer, whether spontaneous or due to forcible catheteri-
zation.
All the gangrenous or suppurative affections of the bucco-pharyngeal
cavity — noma, diphtheria, bucco-pharyngeal abscess, laryngeal necrosis,
operations ujDon the mouth and throat, removal of lingual cancer — may cause
gangrene of the lung. It is probable in the latter cases that the obstruction
to swallowing explains the entrance of infected particles mto the respiratory
passages, an accident also seen in lunatics, patients suffering from labio-
glosso-laryngeal and diphtheritic paralyses.
A pulmonary infarct, resulting from non-infective embolism, may be
invaded secondarily by micro-organisms.
As regards lobar pneumonia, although gangrene is an exceptional ter-
mination, and even denied by Laennec, yet some cases are found (Grisolle,
Andral, Bouillaud, Lanceraux). Gangrene ls more frequent in lobular
pneumonia ; but why tn any given case does the infection of the lung tissue
end in gangrene ? To answer this question the patient's general condition
has been called in question. It is said that in the insane, diabetics, and
alcoholics the infectious process, instead of tending to resolution, finds in
the general state of the subject, or perhaps in the then existing constitution
(Graves, Leudet), a reason for ending in necrosis and putrefaction of tissue.
On this account an individual already weakened by typhoid fever, or suffering
from an eruptive fever (scarlatina, measles, variola), would run a risk of the
pulmonary inflammation ending in gangrene.
Syphilis sometimes determmes gangrene of the lung.
Lastly, in certain cases a part must be assigned to overcrowding and to
contagion, especially in hospital wards.
Bacteriology. — The microbic origin of this affection was foreseen as
early as 1849 by Virchow, but it is chiefly to Leyden and Jaffe that we are
indebted for the first serious work on this subject. Without attributing to
the Leptothrix pidmonalis — a microbe derived from the Leptothrix huccalis—
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 153
as great an importance as tliese authors would do, we cannot hesitate to
recognize that this micro-organism exists in most of the foci of gangrene,
either alone or in association with the Monas lens, Cercomonas (Kannen-
berg), Proteus vulgaris, Micrococcus tetragenus, and many other aerobic
and anaerobic microbes. We may note the Bacillus ramosus (Veillon and
Zuber), the Bacillus fragilis (Veillon and Zuber), and the Micrococcus
fcetidus. " Upon the whole, in the centres of gangrene the aerobic flora is
chiefly and sometimes uniquely represented by an almost constant species
of streptococcus. In all cases this flora is less numerous than the anaerobic
one. It may, indeed, be completely absent. The anaerobic species are, on
the contrary, represented by various and very numerous kinds " (Guillemot).
Symptoms.— Gangrene of the lung is sometimes ushered in by special
symptoms, such as extreme rise of temperature, acuteness of thoracic pain,
and adynamia ; but in other cases no hint may be given of the imminence of
gangrene. I have seen two cases in which the course of events was as
follows : An individual is taken ill with chills, nausea, and vomiting ; cough,
dyspnoea, and pain are next added to the gastric symptoms. Auscultation
shows slight pleural rub, scattered rales, and tubular breathing, due to
pulmonary congestion or to broncho-pneumonia. The fever is moderate,
and the general condition without special significance. At the commence-
ment the disease simulates an ill-defined infection, but the Issue is not long
in coming. The patient Is seized with dyspnoea and fits of coughing, and if
there is a communication between the gangrenous centre and a bronchus
(this is more rare in the case of embolic than of aerial gangrene), he brings
up abundant blackish sputum, which Is mixed with blood and extremely
foetid. It is then evident that a gangrenous focus has formed in the lung,
and has just opened into a bronchus.
As soon as the communication between the bronchus and the centre
occurs, the expectoration and the breath become horribly foetid, and
haemoptysis Is not uncommon. The sputum is very abundant, diffluent,
greeuisli, or blackish ; it contains blood, pus, mucus, fat, crystals of mar-
garine, elastic fibres, balls of filaments, and micro-organisms.
When the expectoration Is abundant, if collected in a measure-glass,
it usually presents three distinct layers. The top Is frothy and muco-
j)urul(int ; the middle one, transparent and viscid, appears to be composed
of thickened saliva ; lastly, at the bottom of the sputum-glass we find
yellowish or greenish balls, giving off an offensive odour, and constituting
what are usually called Dittrich's plugs. According to Charcot, foetor of
the breath may be lacking in diabetic gangrene ; this feature is not absolute.
When a gangrenous cavity forms, ])rovided it is superficial or of suflirioiit
extent, auscultation yields the signs of a cavity — namely, cavernous breath-
ing, gurgling, and pectoriloquy. Gangrene of the pleura, which beguis with
154 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
intense pain in the side, acute dyspnoea, and the signs of effusion, is often
associated with gangrene of the hmg. This aspect of the question will
be studied under Putrid and Gangrenous Pleurisy. The existence of
pneumothorax (by perforation or by putrefaction) is sometimes recognized.
The general symptoms are usually marked — high fever, repeated chills, an
earthy tint, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, and rapid wasting. Death usually
ensues in gangrene of the lung. Kecovery may, however, take place,
especially in the circumscribed form, either spontaneously or after operation.
The diagnosis of gangrene from bronchiectasis has been already de-
scribed. Gangrene should not be confused with foetid bronchitis, where the
mucous membrane alone is attacked. Foetid bronchitis has special
symptoms. In a person who suffers from bronchial catarrh the breath and
expectoration become at certain times terribly foetid; but these troubles
are transitory, intermittent, and perfectly curable, and auscultation shows
the signs of bronchitis, not those of a gangrenous cavity.
The mouth must be examined to make sure that the foetor of the breath
is not due to some local affection, such as dental caries, ulcero- membranous
stomatitis, gangrene of the tonsils, etc.
The treatment of gangrene of the lung is very limited. The chief point
is to support the patient's strength by means of tonics, quinine, wine, and
alcohol. Creosote, balsams, hyposulphite of soda (Lanceraux) also find
their indications. The patient should breathe an atmosphere loaded with
the fumes of tar, and should be made to use sprays of carbolic acid.
The gangrenous focus should be opened up, when it is clearly limited and
superficial. Cases of pneumotomy have been followed by recovery, but
successes are rare, judging from the cases which I have seen.
IX. BRONCHO-PULMONARY HiEMORRHAGE— HEMOPTYSIS.
I shall describe in the same chapter haemorrhages from the bronchi and
from the lung. Haemorrhage from the surface of the bronchi is called
bronchorrhagia ; that which occurs in the lung tissue itself — that is, in the
alveolar cavities — takes the name of pneumorrhagia. This distinction is
most often artificial. The term pulmonary apoplexy, which, by an abuse
of language, was, and is still, used to designate haemorrhage of the lung,
should be abandoned.* Spitting of blood after broncho-pulmonary haemor-
* The term pulmonary apoplexy was created by Latour in 1815, and adopted by
Laennec. This abuse of language was due to Rochoux, who in his wi'itings on cerebral
haemorrhage had made wrong use of the term apoplexy, and employed it as synonymous
with haemorrhage. Several authors have protested against this faulty term — for
example, Gendrin, who coined the word pneumo-haemorrhage, and Trousseau, who
called this lesion infiltration of blood.
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 155
rhage, or hSBmoptysis, is only a symptom which serves to designate the
rejection of blood which comes from the respiratory passages, just as hajma-
temesis designates the vomiting of blood which comes from the digestive
tract.
etiology. — Bronchial haemorrhage (bronchorrhagia) is caused by con-
gestion (strains, chills, hysteria). It is sometimes supplementary to a flux,
or to an habitual haemorrhage (menstruation, haemorrhoids), and it is very
often associated with pulmonary tuberculosis. According to circumstances,
haemoptysis precedes or accompanies the hatching of tubercles ; later, it
may be due to rupture of small aneurysms in the cavities. Bronchial
haemorrhage may be associated with enlargement of the arterioles which
accompanies bronchiectasis ; it very frequently accompanies the growth of
hydatid cysts in the lung. Under interlobar plem-isy we shall see the cause
of " interlobar haemoptysis." Haemophilia and purpura are sometimes
accompanied by haemoptysis.
Pulmonary haemorrhage (pneumorrhagia) is often passive (blood
stasis), and due to diseases of the heart (especially mitral lesions). The
occurrence of haemorrhage in heart affections has been variously inter-
preted.* Some invoke the mechanical obstruction to the pulmonary circu-
lation by the lesions at the mitral orifice ; others add to this cause the
frequent hypertrophy of the right ventricle and the changes in the capillaries
of the lung. A more recent theory attributes the haemorrhage to an em-
bolism which, starting from clots in the right auricle, reaches the small
branches of the pulmonary artery, and, after the fashion of capillary
embolisms, provokes a haemorrhagic infarct.
The eruptive fevers (black small-pox), icterus gravis, etc., provoke
haemorrhage which appears to be connected with the alteration in the
capillaries and a pathological state of the blood, named, for want of a better
term, " state of dissolution." The causes of the haemorrhage associated
with Bright's disease are ill understood. In the new-born, pulmonary
haemorrhages connected with sclerema are seen (Hervieux).
In some cases it is dilhcult to differentiate the origin of one haemorrhage
from another : for example : the haemorrhages consecutive to broncho-pul-
monary lithiasis, syphilis, hydatids of the lung, gangrene, cancer, inter-
lo])ar pleurisy, etc.
Pathological Anatomy. — The changes in bronchial haemorrhage are
superficial ; the mucosa of the bronchi may be anaemic or congested, and
coagula may be present in the lironchi.
The lesions of pulmonary haMUorrhage are more important. If the
haemorrhage, takes place by rupture, which is rare, the blood tears the lung
* Athcromatoiis changos cannot bo accused in this case, as they arc cxtrciiicjy
rare in (he pulnumary vessels (Roki(an.sky).
156 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
tissue, collects in a diffuse fOCUS, as in the brain, and may burst into the
pleural cavity.
As a rule, however, the haemorrhage proceeds in a different way. The
blood infiltrates the alveoli and the parenchyma without much destruction,
and the infiltration takes the form of conical nodules, which show a centrally
directed apex, recalling the distribution of the bronchi and vessels. These
hsemoptoic infarcts, which vary in size and number, are clearly circum-
scribed and deeply situated, as a rule, in the lower lobes. The cut section
of the nodules is blackish and granular, like the hepatization in pneumonia,
on account of the fibrinous coagula which make the infundibula prominent.
The bronchi and the pulmonary vessels of the area near the infarct are
obliterated by clots. The hsemoptoic nodule may undergo or provoke the
following changes : It becomes indurated and retains its pigmentation ; it
passes into fatty degeneration ; it causes secondary pneumonia at its peri-
phery, or provokes limited gangrene. When it is subjacent to the pleura, it
causes partial pleurisy.
Symptoms. — The chief symptom in bronchial haemorrhage is haemop-
tysis. When the haemorrhage is violent, the blood pours out of the nose
and mouth ; it may also flow into the stomach, whence it is rejected by
haematemesis. As a rule, the haemoptysis is more moderate, and the
patient coughs up bright, frothy blood, which in the spittoon has the
appearance " of the foam produced in a basin when an animal is bled "
(Trousseau). It may cease in a quarter of an hour or half an hour, and
recur some hours later, next day, or on succeeding days. The last sputum
coughed up has not this frothy and bright red appearance, but is black and
viscid. It is the remnant of the haemorrhage which has remamed longer
in the bronchi.
Haemoptysis is sometimes sudden, and the patient is as much surprised
as scared by his spitting of blood. Sometimes it is preceded by a feeling of
warmth m the chest and throat ; at other times it is preceded or ushered
in by epistaxis. When supplementary to the menstrual flow, it is periodic,
like the haemorrhage which it replaces.
Bronchorrhagia has no physical signs. I am, of course, referring to
signs directly related to the haemorrhage, and not "to those of the lesions which
have caused the bleeding.
When the haemorrhage is pulmonary, especially in cardiac cases, the
clinical picture is very different. The blood which has infiltrated the lung tissue
has not the same tendency to burst into the respiratory channels. Haemop-
tysis is not, as in the preceding case, the chief symptom, but is often absent,
and its characters distinguish it from haemoptysis in tuberculosis. The
sputum in pneumorrhagia is neither bright red nor aerated ; it is blackish,
viscid, and more or less mixed with mucus. The quantity of blood brought
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 157
up is much less abundant than in bronchorrhagia. The hgemoptysis may
last from ten to twenty days, and Grisolle considered this persistence as one
of the best diagnostic signs. The differential signs are, however, not
absolute, since the blood of bronchorrhagia, if it has remained long in the
bro2ichi, may resemble that of pneumorrhagia.
When the bleeding is abmidant or persistent, the patient presents the
usual symptoms of great haemorrhage : pallor of the face, small pulse,
tendency to syncope and to dyspnoea, which is proportionate to the extent
of the lesion. If the nodules of j)neumorrhagia are large and superficial,
percussion reveals dullness, and auscultation yields blowmg breathing and
bronchophony. Broncho-pneumonia consecutive to pulmonary haemor-
rhage is rare. Gangrene and perforation of the pleura are almost always
fatal.
Diagnosis. — The diagnosis of broncho-pulmonary haemorrhage has only
one certain sign — that is, haemoptysis. Given haemoptysis, it is necessary
to distinguish it from other haemorrhages (epistaxls, stomatorrhagia, haema-
temesLs) which somewhat resemble it. We must, therefore, trace the cause,
and for this purpose we inquire into the characters of the blood coughed up,
the symptoms accompanying it, and the circumstances in which it super-
vened. The larynx, the aorta, the' lungs, and the heart are subjected to a
mmute examination.
Cancers of the larynx sometimes provoke profuse h93moptysis.
Aneurysms of the aorta may open into the trachea or into the bronchi,
and cause sudden death from haemoptysis, or only slight bleeding, which
recurs for several consecutive days or weeks. These cases are exceptional,
but still they must be recognized, for both prognosis and diagnosis are
involved. Spitting of blood, arising as a supplementary haemorrhage, must
not be taken for haemoptysis of tubercular origin ; nor must we forget that
hysterical patients have congestion and haemoptysis, which has nothing in
common with tuberculosis.
The diagnosis between the haemoptysis of pulmonary (tuberculosis) and
that of cardiac origin (mitral lesion) is often made easy by the different
characters of the blood and by the existence of the respective lesions in the
lung or in the heart ; but the matter is not always so simple, and haemoptysis
may appear as an early sign before the organic lesions are j^erceptible by
our means of investigation. Furthermore, the distinctive characters of the
bloody sputum are not absolutely rigid. Haemoptysis which has the appear-
ance of a bronchorrliagia has, nevertheless, been caused by heart disease,
as Trousseau has clearly shown.
The diagnosis as to the nature of haemoptysis has been greatly simplified
since the discovery of the tubercle bacilhis. Careful and repeated ex-
amination of the sputum or of the blood in lucmoptysii in performed, and
158 TEXT- BOOK OF MEDICINE
the presence of the bacillus sometimes allows us to state that the lesion is
tuberculous.
Although there is not absolute agreement between broncho-puhnonary
haemorrhage and haemoptysis, it is difficult clinically to separate them, and
the gravity of the prognosis often betrays itself by the persistence or the
abundance of the haemoptysis. Fulminating haemoptysis is caused by the
opening of an aortic aneurysm uito the trachea or hito the bronchi, or by the
rupture of a small aneurysm in a tuberculous cavity (Kasmussen's aneurysm).
Febrile haemoptysis m tuberculous patients is more grave than the apyretic
form. The gravity of the prognosis depends also on the causes (pulmonary
or cardiac lesions) which have produced the haemorrhage.
Treatment. — Bronchial is more accessible to treatment than pulmonary
haemorrhage. The initial haemoptysis of tuberculosis may be arrested by
an emetic :
Ipecacuanha . . . . . . . . . . gr. xv.
Tartrate of antimony . . . . . . . . gr. ss.
Give at once, as soon as the patient is seized with haemoptysis.
The expectoration of blood is sometimes arrested before the complete
effect of the emetic. Ipecacuanha may then be admmistered f grain every
half-hour, or every hour. Good results are obtained with a mixture of
perchloride of iron in a dose of 30 grains in 4 ounces of water.
Iced and acid druiks are given, and a draught of the following compo-
sition is prescribed :
Distilled water . . . . . . . . . , §iv.
Syrup of rhatany . . . . . . . . . . si.
Rabel water . . . . . . . . . . . . 5ss.
A tablespoonful to be taken every four hours.
Pills of extract of thebaine, ^ gram in each, may be given nourly — from
4 to 10 pills in the twenty-four hours. Subcutaneous injections of ergotin
may be used. Chloride of calcium, in drachm doses, may be prescribed.
An ice-bag is kept in situ on the chest.
Blisters applied to the thorax or to the actual seat of the congestion,
revulsives to the lower limbs, dry-cupping and sinapisms, may also be
employed.
This treatment will be considered in detail in the chapter on Pulmonary
Tuberculosis.
Digitalis finds its indications in haemoptysis of cardiac origin.
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 159
X. PULMONARY EMPHYSEMA.
Definition. — Tlie name emphysema is given to the exaggerated dilatation
ot the pulmonary tissue by air. When emphysema is limited to the alveoli
or the lobules, it is said to be alveolar or intralobular ; but when the lobule
is ruptured, and the air invades the interstitial tiasue of the lung, the emphy-
sema is interlobular.
Pathological Anatomy and Mechanism. — On opening the thorax, the
lungs apjjear distended, and have but little tendency to collapse. The
affected parts are greyish- white, crepitate a little, and have a downy feel-
ing to the touch (Laennec). Emphysema usually involves the aj)ices and
the anterior edges of the lungs. Spherical projections of different sizes, due
to the emphysematous enlargements oi the infundibula, are seen on the
surface. The vessels of these parts are for the most part obliterated, and
the circulation is deficient, while it is increased in the neighbouring parts,
which become the seat of oedematous congestion. On microscopical ex-
amination of sections from an emphysematous lung which has been pre-
viously inflated and dried, the alveolar walls are often found to be
atrophied and perforated. The atrophy of the septa and of the elastic
tissue permits dilatation of the alveoli and of the lobules. The dilatation
is at first limited to some alveoli or to an infundibulum ; later, as the lesion
spreads, the infundibula communicate with one another, and the dilatations,
which are at first as large as millet-seeds, finally exceed a nut in size. In old
people the apex of the lung is thus transformed into a lacunar tissue, in
which the air circulates freely. How are the perforation of the septa and
the communication between the infundibula brought about ? " Under a
still unknown influence." The thinned septa are transformed ; in tlieii
interior and on their surface they present ovoid masses of fatty granulations,
which may come from the alveolar pavement epithelium or perhaps from the
capillary vessels, and it is probable that this granular degeneration plays a
large part in the perforations of the wall of the alveoli.
The mechanism by which emphysema is produced has been varioursly
explauied. Two orders of causes are admitted — mechanica'i ana trophic.
Sudden efforts of expiration, the fits of whooping-cough, the cough of
croup and of broncho-[)ncumoiiia, dilate the alveoli to excess, and produce
acute emphysema. It is therefore not surprising that the same causes if
often n^pcatod (usthma, chronic bronchitis), eventually cause emphysema by
mechanical means. In other cases — in the aged, for example — faults in
the nutrition of the lobule, atrophy and perforation of the alveoli, coincide
80 closely with the spread of emphysema that they appear to be the principal
cause. It is therefore dilfirjult to say exactly what part corresponds to
160 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
mechanical and what to trophic action, in the production of emphysema.
In a good many cases this double process seems to exist. It is perhaps
favoured by some special tendency of the lung tissue (heredity).
Rupture of the emphysematous vesicles is a grave complication. If the
perforation involves the pleural cavity, pneumothorax results. If the
rupture occurs under the visceral layer of the pleura, or in the interstitial
tissue of the lung (interlobular emphysema), the air travels along the con-
nective tissue, reaches the mediastinum, and invades the subcutaneous
tissue of the neck, the thorax, and other regions.
Symptoms. — The shape of the thorax is peculiar. The chest is rounded
and bulging in the clavicular regions, and when the emphysema is very ex-
tensive, the intercostal spaces appear dilated, and the chest is enlarged at
its base. In the affected regions percussion gives a more ringing sound than
in health. This resonance may encroach upon regions which are usually
dull, so that the area of cardiac dullness is replaced by hyperresonance. On
auscultation, the vesicular murmur is feeble, the respiration has a harsh
tone, inspiration is shortened, and expiration is prolonged. The obliteration
of vessels produces blood stasis, which may extend to the right ventricle.
Dilatation of the ventricle and tricuspid incompetence sometimes follow,
and troubles m the cardio-pulmonary circulation may come on and increase
the obstruction to respiration. The emphysematous patient has many
reasons for his difficulty in breathing. The rarefaction of the lung tissue,
the depression of the diapliragm by exaggerated distension of the lungs, the
insufficiency of expiration, and the diminution in the field of haematosis,
lower the respiratory capacity by 50 per cent., or even more, as shown by
spirometry.
Besides the continuous dyspnoea which is the result of the emphysema,
we must also note attacks of suffocation, which often supervene, and are
due to the various diseases, such as asthma, pulmonary congestion, or mitral
lesions, that are so often associated with emphysema (Woillez). These
various types of dyspnoea also exist when emphysema is associated with
tuberculosis.
The diagnosis is easy, but we must not forget that emphysema, instead of
constituting the whole disease, is often only an episode in the course of
another malady (asthma, tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis), which must also
be diagnosed.
Treatment. — The therapeutic indications are chiefly directed to the
diseases which have produced the emphysema. As for the emphysematous
lesions themselves, we have but little influence over them. Inhalations of
oxygen and baths of compressed air are, however, generally recommended.
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 161
XI. (EDEMA OF THE LUNG— SUPERACUTE OEDEMA IN BRIGHT'S
DISEASE.
(Edema of the lung is due to the transudation of blood-serum into the
alveoli and the interstitial tissue of the lung. Congestion is sometimes
present as well, and plays a more or less important part. In cases due to
nephritis the oedema far outweighs the congestion, while in cases due to
cardiac lesioas the congestion has the same importance as the oedema, and
the lesion is called " congestive oedema," oi " cedematous congestion of the
lung."
On anatomical examination of the cedematous lung, congestion and
atelectasis are found in association with oedema. The lung is heavy, and
does not float. On section, abundant frothy, clear fluid exudes when
oedema alone is the cause, but red-tinted when congestion is also present.
Many causes provoke oedema of the lung. It may arise suddenly,
following thoracentesis, when the operator has made the mistake of with-
drawing a large quantity of fluid too rapidly or too completely. The opera-
tion is scarcely finished when the patient is seized with suffocation, angina,
and fits of coughing, and brings up a^rosy, albuminous, frothy liquid, which
is the result of superacute oedema. It is fortunate if this terrible accident
does not end in death.
Congestive oedema of the lung is seen fairly frequently in the course of
diseases of the heart, and during periods of asystole. Many persons suffering
from ill-compensated mitral lesions are seized with dyspnoea, due to blood-
stasis, elevation of the pulmonary tension, and resulting oedema. This con-
gestive oedema chiefly occurs at the bases of the lungs. On auscultation,
numerous fine moist rales are heard ; tubular breathing is heard if pleural
effusion accompany the oedema. In certain cardiac cases congestive oedema
of the lung exists, to the exclusion of lesions in other organs. The lung, which
is the first to receive the recoil of the circulatory embarrassment, becomes
congested, oedema appears, and dyspnoea is the first indication of the cardiac
lesion. In other cardiac cases the oedema is associated with congestion of
the liver (cardiac liver), of the kidney (cardiac kidney), or with oedema of
the extremities — in short, it forms part of the asystolic syndrome. Appro-
priate treatment may give good results, as we shall see in the chapter on
Diseases of the Heart.
Influenza (Teissier, Rendu) and aortic lesions (Huchard) may lead to
OL'dema of the lung, but the chief cause is nephritis,* either acute or chronic.
* SiipcracuUi (rdeiiiii of tlic liint^ may .suiMTvcno in tlio courso of iinyiiaiiry-
Vinay (Li/on Mcdiad. IS!)7), whu ha-s Btudiid this complication, rightly cunsicK-LS it
due lo ni'i^hritis gravidarum.
u
162 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
GEdema of the Lung in Bright's Disease : Slow Form— Acute Form—
Superaeute Form.
ffidema of the lung is very frequent in the course of acute and chronic
neplu-itis. In many cases of acute scarlatinal or of early syphilitic nephritis,
or nephritis a frigore, oedema of the lungs may be associated with dropsy of
other parts. Sometimes the oedema affects the bronchi rather than the
lungs, and is the old "albuminuric bronchitis of Lasegue"; at other titnes
the lungs are oedematous, especially at the bases, and auscultation records a
multitude of fine rales. Oldema as slight as this scarcely merits the name
of a complication ; it forms part of the general dropsy, hampers the breath-
ing, and brings on dyspnoea, but does not occupy the chief place in the course
of the acute nephritis. The matter is very different in generalized oedema of
the lung, and especially in the superacute from, which is a complication as
sudden as it is terrible.
The same remarks apply to oedema of the lung in chronic nephritis. In
a dyspnoeic patient with Bright's disease we often hear at the bases the sub-
crepitant rales of pulmonary congestion, which remains stationary for weeks
and months. The patient who has attacks of dyspnoea and believes himself
asthmatic is sometimes the victim of an error in diagnosis, and goes the
round of the thermal cures in his search for the best treatment. In such a
case the oedema is not of the first importance ; it is more or less extensive,
more or less obstinate, takes its share in the respiratory embarrassment, but
does not focus all the attention upon itself. It Is very different in the other
variety of oedema— superacute pulmonary oedema— which may burst forth
suddenly in the course of chronic nephritis, or more rarely in the com-se of the
acute disease, and in a few hours endanger life. It is on this superacute
oedema, then, that we shall fbc our attention.
The following case gives an exact idea of it :
A man of forty-five was seized with such acute distress that he was brought to
hospital at once.* On admission, death appeared imminent : pale face, duU eyes, livid
lips, bluish fingers and nails, hurried breathing, WTetched pulse — such was the con-
dition of the moribimd patient. Any interrogation was impossible. The heart could
not be examined, but both lungs were full of fine subcrepitant rales.
At fu-st sight the condition recalled capillary bronchitis, suffocative catarrh, or acute
phthisis. The diagnosis, although difficult, was not unpracticable. He brought up
abundant frothy sputum, of a rosy colour. The eyelids were puffy, the legs slightly
oedematous ; the temperature was subnormal, and the urine very albuminous. The
o?dema and albuminuria pointed to nephi'itis ; the characteristic expectoration and the
fine rales in the lungs indicated superacute oedema.
The treatment was obvious. Charrier cupped the patient, and di-ew off 10 ounces
* This case is taken from my lecture on Superacute CEdema of the Limg in Bright's
Disease, in which I have quoted a large number of cases {Clinique Mcdicah de V Hotel-
Dieu, 1897, p. 23).
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 163
of blood. The effect was immediate. In less than an hour the breathing was easier,
the expectoration was less profuse, the fine rales disappeared from the upper parts of
the lungs, and death was averted. Strict milk diet and lactosed diinks were prescribed,
and 5 teaspoonfuls of Trousseau's diuretic wine were given daily.
Next day the breathing was easy, the temperature normal. The heart was ex-
amined, and Ave heard a shglit bruit de galop. Rilles were no longer audible in the
lungs except at the bases. The kidneys commenced to act ; and the urine, though
almost supijressed the day before, amounted to 8 ounces, but was markedly albuminous.
Two days later the patient was able to give us a complete history. He told us that
for some time his health had been faulty, and he had suffered from pollakiuria, cramps
in the calves, dead fingers, cedema of the eyelids and of the malleoh.
Treatment produced rapid improvement. In a few days the situation had totally
changed. Respiration became regular, except that some rales persisted at the bases
of the lungs. The puffiness of the face and the cedema of the legs had completely
disappeared, and the urine amounted to 50 ounces, although albumin wa^ still present
and the depuration was imperfect, for the toxicity of the mine, as experimentally
determined, was far from reaching its normal value.
Symptoms. — The first point of importance is the suddenness of this
cedema. Reference to the cases which I have collected shows that super-
acute oedema does not, as a rule, result from bronchitis or some pulmonary
condition which has gradually become more severe. The onset is nearly
always sudden and unexpected ; the unforeseen accident comes on by day
or by night. One patient was seized with superacute cedema while I was
asking him questions, and on auscultation, I felt, so to say, the rising of the
liquid in his chest. The same sudden onset occurred m tlu:ee of Girau-
deau's patients. His first patient was seized while fast asleep, just as an
attack of asthma comes on, although on the previous day she was quite
well. Hls second patient was taken ill quite as suddenly in the night with
superacute oedema dui-ing a period of apparently good health. The same
remark applied to his third patient, who was stricken down two hours after
dinner, although there was no premonition of such an accident. A sunilar
thhig happened to Bouveret's patients. In one of them superacute
oedema appeared suddenly, and death resulted ; in the other a first attack
of cedema supervened, it is true, after a walk of tliree miles, but the two other
attacks appeared without appreciable caiLse, when the patient was at rest.
I do not say, of course, that events always have this course. In some
cases superacute cedema is preceded by such prodromata as cough, dyspnoea,
or rales. In such a case it seems that the soil is prepared ; it was so in
my first case and in one of Giraudeau's cases. It is, however, an exception.
Superacute oedema of the lung in Bright's disease is hardly ever the result
of pro-oxistiug broncho-fjuimonary lesions. It bursts out suddenly, like
an attack of asthma, all hough some hours previously no sus[)icion has been
entertained.
A second point is that superacute oedema of the lung is very often an
isolated result uf Bright's disease, for, paradoxical as this may ap[)e;ir, it
11—2
164 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
is hardly ever associated with the severe manifestations of uraemia, or with
the marked oedema of Bright' s disease. Without knowledge on this point,
it would appear that superacute oedema ought to supervene in the patient
who is suffering from anasarca. This may be so, especially in acute
nephritis. Giraudeau's patient was seized with superacute oedema of the
lung in the course of acute nephritis with .anasarca. This, however, is a
rare occurrence. Nearly all the cases which I have collected show that the
mischief appeared as an isolated accident in the course of latent nephritis.
It cannot be said, however, that this oedema attacks persons in perfect
health. Close examination will show that they are more or less tainted
with Brjghtism. If the " minor complications of Brightism " be carefully
looked for, the evolution of an insidious nepliritis may be constructed.
A group of symptoms, such as the sensation of dead fingers, cryaesthesia,
auditory troubles, cramps in the calves, pollakiuria, itching, electric shocks,
and epistaxis, will be found in their past history. We shall see that they
were not exempt from such a trace of oedema as puffiness of the eyelids and
of the alveoli. We shall find that their arterial tension is high, their tem-
poral arteries are tortuous, the second sound accentuated, and a gallop rhythm
is present. We shall find that these patients were subject to headache, which
they styled migraine ; to suffocation, which they took for asthma ; and to
colds, which they regarded as due to ordinary bronchitis. If their urine is
analyzed, albumin will be found ; on testing the toxicity, it will be low. We
shall find, in short, by a,n attentive and searching examination of this con-
dition — which for a long time I have named Brightism — that the patient
whose health appears to have been fairly good has in reality been suffering
from mischief in his kidneys ; the urinary depuration has been affected, and he
has been exposed to the risk of complications which gave more or less warning.
After this digression as to the onset, let us resume our clinical analysis
of the symptoms. The attack commences with a tickling in the larynx,
jerky cough, and distress, which reaches its limit in some minutes, or
perhaps some hours. These symptoms are due to sudden blocking of the
pulmonary alveoli by sero-albuminous fluid. As a rule, the inundation
begins in the bases, and may affect the whole of the lungs more or less rapidly.
As the blood-serum transudes into the alveoli and the bronchioles under
pressure, the patient is at once seized with fits of coughing, and then brings
up the characteristic fluid, which is frothy and rose-coloured. Some
patients may bring up as much as 2 or 3 pints in a few hours, or even
more. It may be that the bronchi have not the power of expelling the fluid
which has thus accumulated, and the asphyxia varies in indirect ratio to the
amount of expectoration.
As soon as dyspnoea appears, innumerable fine subcrepitant and sibi-
lant rales can be heard over both sides of the chest, testifying to the
1
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 165
inundation of the alveoli and of the bronchioles. According to the rapidity
and the extension of this inundation, the rales invade the whole, or nearly
the whole, of the lungs.
In proportion as the inundation increases, and if the expectoration is
ever so slightly insufficient, dyspnoea increases rapidly ; the patient is pale,
alarmed, and conscious of his extreme danger ; the pulse is small and quick,
the lips are bluish, the nails livid, the limbs cold ; and the struggle may in
a few moments end in death (fulminant forni), in a day (rapid form), or in
three or four days (slow form).
In some patients the condition is not absolutely perilous, so long as the
sufferer can empty the inundated lungs. Paresis of the expulsive muscles
may supervene, expectoration may be quite absent, and death from
asphyxia occurs at short notice. In favourable cases the fluid is coughed
up as soon as it forms, the inundation Ls arrested in time, and after a duration
which varies from some hours to some days, the dyspnoea improves, the
rales diminish, and the patient wins the struggle. We must, however, not
be too sanguine, for the danger, though averted for a moment, may some
hours or some days later recur and prove fatal. Sometimes convalescence
requires several days ; at other times recovery comes on suddenly, and the
patient is able to resume work on the next day.
Superacute oedema of the lung in Bright's disease is made worse by the
fact that not only may the patient succumb to an attack in a few hours, but
that, although liLs lungs have recovered, he remains liable to fresh attacks.
Several patients have had two or three repetitions of superacute oedema,
months or years apart. Giraudeau's first case had three attacks in two
years, and Bouveret's second case had three attacks in six months.
Diagnosis. — The diagnosis of superacute oedema of the lung in Bright's
disease follows from the description which has just been given. A patient
with Bright's disease may have severe attacks of dyspnoea, but in this case
it is a question of uraemic dyspnoea, which often exhibits the Cheyne Stokes
type. It differs from that of pulmonary oedema in that we do not find rales
and the characteristic sputum. Dyspnoea of toxic origin may, however, be
combined with that due to oedema.
We see a patient who is a prey to the most acute dyspnoea, but it is a
case of genuine asthma, and the diagnosis will be easy. The number of
respirations is not increased, but rather diminished. Everything points to
spasmodic dyspnoea ; inspiration is painful, expiration whistling and very
prolonged. The prominent fact on auscultation is not the innumerable
rales of j)ulinonary rjedema, but the association of rales with signs of acute
eni[)]iyKema. Expectoration is a})sent, or composed of shreddy, mucous,
or pearly sputum, and in any case the frothy, albuminous, rosy expectoration
of superacute oedema is not found. Prognosis and treatment are (piite
166 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
different, for the attack of asthma is never grave, and blood-letting is
unnecessary.
I cannot review all the varieties of dyspnoea which may resemble that
of superacute oedema. Such are the severe cases of dyspncea in suffocative
catarrh, acute phthisis, cardiac asthma, and angina pectoris. Let us not
forget that we can always make a correct diagnosis in superacute oedema
from the following symptoms : Sudden onset of the dyspnoea ; fine rales over
a large area of, or the whole:, chest ; incessant cough ; abundant frothy,
albuminous, rosy expectoration ; frequent oedema of the face or of the legs ;
albuminuria ; and previous symptoms of Brightism.
Pathological Anatomy. — In a case reported by Bouveret both lungs,
from base to apex, were oodematous. The fluid literally streamed out on
cutting and squeezing a lobe between the fingers. The bronchi were full
of the same frothy rose-coloured fluid. The kidneys were small, granular,
and cystic. The heart was enormous, the aorta much dilated, but not
atheromatous ; the sigmoid valves were healthy. The coronary arteries
presented yellow patches of endarteritis.
In Huchard's case nephritis was found post mortem, with small
granular kidneys, weighing together 5| ounces, and pericarditis, with about
3 ounces of sero-fibrinous fluid in the pericardium. The lungs were so
infiltrated with serous fluid that two pints of albuminous rose-coloured
fluid were pressed out by gentle squeezing.
At the autopsy on Giraudeau's patient the lungs were bulky and
violet-coloured. On section and on pressure a large quantity of frothy
rose-coloured fluid, like that brought up in the expectoration, flowed out.
The kidneys showed acute congestive nephritis ; they were large and violet-
coloured ; the capsule stripped easily, and in places subcapsular haemor-
rhages were visible. The heart showed general hypertrophy, which was
most marked in the left ventricle. The valvular and arterial orifices were
healthy. The aorta presented no trace of aortitis, either at its origm or in
the arch.
Giraudeau observed the following lesions in the lungs of a young
girl : The pulmonary alveoli were filled with coagulated fluid, which im-
prisoned desquamated epithelial cells and some red corpuscles. The
capillaries of the septa were gorged with red corpuscles. It seemed that
certain septa were thickened by a true interstitial oedema. At these points
the bloodvessels were less apparent, as if the circulation had been impeded
by the compression of the vessels.
Pathogenesis. — What is the explanation of superacute oedema m Bright's
disease ? The undeniable clinical fact is that patients with Bright's disease
are liable to slight oedema in any part — in the lungs, the larynx, and the
cellular tissue — just as they are prone to effusion into the serous cavities.
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 167
Why, then, this localization in the lungs ? I do not know. As Brouardel
remarks, from a medico-legal point of view, cold and alcohol appear to have
been important factors in many persons who have died from this cause. A
drunken man sometimes falls asleep in the open air during intense cold. He
dies, and post-mortem superacute oedema of the lung is found, with lesions
of nepliritis, which are never wanting. Some authors (Huchard and Renaud)
assign the jsrincipal, if not the only, part to the lesions of aortitis and peri-
aortitis. According to Huchard, the needful intermediary between acute
pulmonary oedema and Brightism is aortitis, and especially periaortitis,
with its inflammatory or reflex reaction on the cardio-pulmonary plexuses.
I am sorry to differ from this view. I do not deny, of course, that some
aortic cases may have congestion and oedema of the lungs ; but what I main-
tain, .supported by undoubted evidence, is that superacute oedema of the
lung has been found in many cases of Bright's disease in which neither aortic
nor periaortic lesions were found during life or post mortem. The subject
on whom Bouveret made an autopsy had neither aortitis nor periaortitis ;
Giraudeau's two cases showed neither of these lesions. My patient had
neither aortitis nor periaortitis. Brouardel, who at the Morgue performed
post-mortems on patients who died of superacute oedema of the lung, says
that the aortic lesions are far from being constant, while the renal ones are
never lacking. He noted, among others, the autopsy of a man who suffered
from latent nephritis, and succumbed to superacute a^dema of the lung.
The autopsy revealed the integrity of the aorta, but showed the lesions of
nephritis.
To the anatomical let us add the clinical proofs. Many patients with
Bright's disease, whose cases I have reported, have neither before nor after
their attacks of pulmonary oedema had any sign of aortitis. The question
seems to me settled.
We do not know by what mechanism superacute oedema in Bright's
disease is produced. I do not, however, reject the idea of pulmonary vas-
cular troubles of vasomotor origin, the return circulation being for the
moment annihilated, and favouring considerable hypertension in tlie
afferent vessels.
Loeper blames the increase of the l)lood concentration ; Widal tlie
increase f)f the clHoride of soda in the blood.
Treatment. — The urgent indication is bleeding. In spite of the cokl-
ncss of the patient and the threatening collapse, which would at first appear
as contra-indications, there must be no delay, and, without losing an instant,
10 to 15 ounces of blood must be withdrawn. The marvellous results of
bleeding must have been seen to make its imporfance clear. I do not
exaggerate in saying that it produces in the patient a visible change. In a
case at the Necker Hospital o^flema came on with such ra])i(lity that death
168 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
would have speedily followed unless bleeding had been performed at
once. The patient, who had not lost consciousness, told us that he felt
himself dying and recovering in the space of a few moments. In my patient
at the Hotel-Dieu blood-letting had such a marvellous result that imminent
death was arrested, and the rales which filled his chest from apex to base
disappeared as by magic, leaving only a residue at the bases. Bleeding gave
a similar result in Giraudeau's first case.*
Of all methods of blood-letting bleeding is, without doubt, the most
favourable ; but, in default of bleeding, wet -cupping over the chest may be
made, or, better still, two dozen leeches may be applied. Dry-cupping of
the thorax and of the lower limbs is also useful.
Subcutaneous injections of caffeine or ether are often indicated. We
must remember, however, that the kidneys are inactive, and therefore use
caffeine with caution. We may start with an injection of a grain, and be
ready to repeat it several times during the following hours. Oxygen in large
doses may also render some service. The patient's strength must be
supported by milk and weak tea, with a little alcohol.
We must also know what to avoid. Blisters must not be used, for the
patient has Bright's disease, and the action of cantharides on the kidneys
will rapidly make the situation worse.
For the acute dyspncea our thoughts turn to morphia, but caution is
necessary, for morphia in such conditions may cause grave mishaps. As
Brouardel says : " These are cases which it has been my lot to see fairly
frequently. A patient begins to choke. It is evening, and one of the
physicians on night duty is called. He gives an injection of morphia,
following an only too common rule ; the patient gets no relief. A second
and third injection at length bring quiet ; some minutes or hours later
the patient succumbs, and the family blame the physician who has given
the injections. Autopsy and inquest follow. It is found that death was
due to superacute oedema of the lung."
Danger once averted, do not lose sight of the patient. Absolute milk
diet must be prescribed, chloride of soda, which favours oedema (Widal),
avoided, and the urinary secretion closely watched. In short, he must be
treated as a case of Bright's disease, and be advised to avoid with the
greatest care every cause of overwork and chill.
* In my wards I have recently seen two more cases of superacute oedema, in
which bleeding suddenly arrested asphyxia that was threatening the patient's life.
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 169
XII. ON TUBERCULOSIS IN GENERAL— BACILLUS TOXINES.
Local Tuberculosis.
Nature of Tuberculosis. — By his immortal work on pulmonary phthisis,
Laennec bequeathed to tlie medical world such an exhaustive description of
this disease, with its lesions, its forms, and its signs, that we must all do
homage to his genius.
On December 5, 1865, Villemin read a paper before the Academic de
Medecine, and upset all previous theories as to the nature of tuberculosis.
By numerous and well-conducted experiments, Villemin showed that tuber-
culosis is a virulent, infectious, and inoculable disease.
As soon as Villemin's discovery was known, inoculation of tuber-
culosis was repeated, and varied to infinity in France and abroad. The
tuberculous material was introduced into the serous cavities of the pleura
and of the peritoneum. Cohnheim practised inoculation, by means of a fine
needle, mto the anterior chamber of the eye, and, owing to the transparency
of the cornea, was day by day able to follow the evolution of the tubercular
process, and in some cases show the generalization of tuberculosis m the
animal under experiment. Chauveau produced tuberculosis in the bovine
species by mixing tuberculous material with their food, and observed in
several cases that the intestine, which had served as the point of entrance
for the virus, was much changed by the lesion. Tappeiner and Wcichsel-
baum produced tuberculosis in dogs by making them breathe the powdered
s])utum of phthisical patients. Krishaber and myself have experimented
upon the monkey, in order to deal with the animal which nearest approaches
man, and in the numerous experiments made with my intimate and lamented
friend I was struck at the autopsy with the severity of the infectious
pror-ess. Three-quarters of our inoculated monkeys died of tuberculosis
in a few weeks, while out of twenty-eight monkeys kept away from all con-
tamination, and not inoculated, only one died of tuberculosis.*
So great was the importance of Villemin's discovery that it completely
changed our ideas of tuberculosis, and gave it a place in the list of infectious
diseases. It had also the result of sanctioning, in irrefutable fashion,
Laennec's doctrine of the identity and the unity of tuberculo-caseous
l<'sions, and, at the same stroke, destroyed the German teaching, which,
* Our comploto researches concern scventy-eiglit monkeys. Out of sixteen monkeys
inoculated with human tubercle, twelve died with tubercular lesions ; out of Iwenfyfour
monkeys win'eh were not inoculated, but wliieli livi-d witli the inoculated monkeys, live
died from tuberculosis ; out of ten monkeys which wc^re inoculated with purulent matter,
only one died tulwrculous ; out of twenty-eight nionki-ys which wen^ i.solatcd from ••v«'ry
Rource of contamination, only one died from tubercular disease {Arch.de I'/ii/siologic,
Mars, 1884, No. ."J).
170 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
under the eminent patronage of Virchow and Niemeyer, differed from the
work of Laennec, and looked upon tuberculous infiltrations of the lung as
simple caseous degeneration, or so-called scrofulous phthisis. This latter
part of the question, however, with its developments, will be treated in
one of the following chapters.
Bacillus of Tuberculosis.— The infectious nature of tuberculosis being
demonstrated, the question was to discover the microbe of the disease. The
work of Pasteur and his culture methods, which had given such marvellous
results in the study of other diseases (antlu-ax), served as a guide. The work
was begun, and in May, 1882, Koch discovered the bacillus of tuberculosis.
This bacillus may be revealed in the sputum by the process described
below.* It forms a very slender, straight, or bent rod, in length equal to
the third part of a blood-corpuscle— that is to say, 2 or 3 //.
The bacillus is of uniform size throughout its whole length, but ovoid
swellings, which may be due to the presence of spores, are seen. The
small, colourless, oval vacuoles in the interior of the bacillus have also been
looked upon as spores.
In order to stain Koch's bacillus, Ziehl's method is employed at the
present day. It consists m leaving the slides for ten to twenty minutes in
a solution of carbol-fuchsin which is prepared as follows :
Fuchsin . . 1 gtamme
Carbolic acid
Absolute alcohol
Distilled water .
5 grammes
10
90
The preparation is then decolorized, either with a 30 per cent, solution of
nitric acid, or by a mixture of five parts of absolute alcohol with one of nitric
acid. In order more clearly to define the bacilli, the slide is stained a second
time with methylene blue in a solution of water and alcohol. By this
process the bacilli are stamed red, while the tissue and other microbes are
of a blue colour.
These characters distinguish it from all other micro-organisms. It is
analogous only with that of leprosy.
The so-called pseudo-tuberculous, or acid-resisting bacilli, are more thick-
set, and are less resistant to decoloration by acids, especially nitric acid.f
*
Some of the most purulent sputum is taken with a needle and spread out on a
slide, which has previously been washed in diluted nitric acid, and afterwards in alcohol.
A second slide is placed upon the first, and the two are rubbed together so as to form a
film on each of the slides. The albumen is then coagulated by passing the slide three
times through the flame of a Bimsen burner, or by placing upon it a few drops of a
mixture of alcohol and ether in equal parts. The slides may then be put in the staining
fluid.
•1- Tlie tubercle bacillus is not the only one which remains stamed by Ziehl s method
after decoloration with acids. A group of other baciUi possesses the same property ;
DISEASES OF THE LUXG 171
The bacilli in tubercular sputum are usually free, and are rarely found
enclosed in the leucocytes or the epithelial cells. They may be single or in
pairs, or grouped en masse.
In histological preparations the bacilli are found en masse in the giant
3ells.
The discovery of the tubercle bacillus has been of the highest importance,
for its presence is a sure sign of tuberculosis. The proof that the bacillus
is indeed the active agent of tuberculosis, as the bacterium is the active
agent of anthrax, is that the tubercle bacillus has been successfully isolated,
cultivated, and inoculated. Koch, inspired by his culture methods, pro-
ceeded in the following manner : He took a small piece of tubercular
material, and placed it on sterile gelatinized serum, which was then put in
an oven at 99^ F.
Roux and Nocard have introduced glycerinated media, which are an
excellent culture material. Good results are obtained by the addition of
1 to 2 per cent, of glucose to the glycerinated media.
After twelve days or a fortnight the appearance of dry or scaly particles,
"omposed of colonies of bacilli, is noticed. These colonies are whitish or
yellowish, not shining, clearly isolated from one another, and but little
adherent to the culture medium.
The tubercular particles, transported to another culture medium, re-
produce new colonies of barilji, and so on, through several successive cultures.
Bezan^on and Griffon have extolled the use of glycerinated blood-agar
and yolk of egg with agar, which give earlier and more certain cultures
than other media.
From the point of view of diagnosis, the discovery of the tubercle bacillus
has had considerable influence. We know how difficult the diagnosis often
is between pulmonary phthisis and other diseases, such as bronchitis, clu-onic
catarrh, chronic pneumonia, bronchiectasis, chronic laryngitis, pulmonary
Byphilis, hydatids of the lung, etc. In these different cases the presence of
the bacillus in the sputum furnishes the proof of tuberculosis ; and its absence,
after several sucx^.essive examinations, enables us to deny, in a more or less
certain fasliion, the existence of tuberculosis.
In cases where the search for the bacillus is fruitless recourse is had
they aro tliorofon^ callod arid-re.v,stin/j, or p.s('iido-tul)frculniis. Thoy arc mot with in
milk anrl in butter, and aro found in pianta, in earth, and manure. They may l)e patho-
genic in animals. In man acid-resisting bacilli are found in the smegma, the cerumen,
the nasal mucus, in certain affections of the eyes, of the uro-genital system, and of ii. At a
more or less advanced stage in phthisis the menses become irregular, and
186 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
may be suppressed, or at times replaced by Icucorrhoea. These troubles
explain why pregnancy is rarer in phthisical women. The puerperal and
nursing states have, furthermore, a bad influence on the course of the disease.
The oedema seen in phthisis is of diverse origin : cachectic oedema,
which begins in the lower extremities ; painful oedema, which is due to venous
coagulation (phlegmasia alba dolens), and is generally limited to one limb ;
and diffuse oedema, with lesions of the kidney and albuminuria, are seen.
Lesions of Other Organs. — I have so far described the lesions of the
lung, and discussed the most usual symptoms of pulmonary phthisis. There
is hardly an organ which escapes tubercular infection. Whether tubercular
infection be present alone, or whether it be aided in its work of destruction
by secondary infections from the toxines of other microbes, many and
varied troubles result, modifying the picture of the disease or hastening its
course. The study of these complications will be discussed fully when
dealing with the tuberculosis of each organ ; I shall here content myself with
a rapid enumeration.
1. Digestive System. — The changes in the digestive system com-
prise tubercular ulcerations of the tongue, the mouth, and the larynx ;
tuberculosis of the tonsils ; gastritis, which is sometimes ulcerating ; all
varieties of dyspepsia ; chronic enteritis ; ulceration and fistula of the anus ;
tuberculosis of the mesenteric glands ; acute and chronic peritonitis.
The lesions of the liver present the most diverse forms ; for the liver, like
every other organ, has its own peculiar tuberculosis. The tubercular granu-
lation is not the only lesion present. We find also tubercular lesions affecting
the type of cirrhosis or of fatty or amyloid degeneration.
2. Circulatory System. — The troubles of the circulatory system in-
clude palpitation, which is very frequent ; dilatation of the right heart ;
tubercular pericarditis and endocarditis ; the formation of clots in the veins
of the limbs ; and thrombosis of the pulmonary artery, which is a possible
cause of rapid death.
3. Genito-Urinary System. — The testes, the prostate, the bladder,
the kidney, the ovaries, and the uterus, may be affected by tuberculosis.
It may remain as a local condition, or precede that of the lung.
4. Nervous System. — Here we find extensive or localized meningitis ;
lesions of the cerebrum, with all their train of symptoms ; tubercular lesions
of the mesoencephalon and the bulb, and those of the spinal cord (tuber-
cular leptomyelitis), which do not differ in their clinical description from
other varieties of myelitis.
In opjjosition to these lesions of the nervous centres, I would mention
peripheral neuritis, which has of late been carefully studied. Clinically,
it shows itself by sensory (neuralgia, hypersesthesia, anaesthesia), motor
(paralysis, paresis), and trophic troubles (amyotrophia, zona).
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 187
5. Organs of the Senses. — Otitis in phthisical patients is a catarrh
of the drum (otorrhoea), with perforation of the membrana tympani. The
ulceration of the mucosa causes caries and necrosis of the petrous bone.
This otitis may be consecutive to pharyngeal catarrh, which has spread to the
drum through the Eustachian tube (Belliere). Tuberculosis of the nose and
of the nasal fossse has been already described.
Tuberculosis in Children. — I shall now mention tuberculosis in children
and elderly people. Children may become tubercular at all ages, but the
very young child (one from a few days up to two years old) presents a
familiar form of tuberculosis. It has been summed up by Landouzy and
Queyrat as follows : Infantile tuberculosis often appears as a broncho-
pneumonia. It may show all the lesions of tuberculosis seen in adults,
including cavities surrounded by fibrous tissue and aneurysms, which pre-
dispose to fatal haemoptysis. Tuberculosis is transmitted to the new-born
either by mediate contagion or by heredity.
In elderly people tuberculosis is more frequent than is usually supposed,
but it has not the cliaracteristics of phthisis in the adult. It is more torpid,
and its symptoms are less marked.
Course — Prognosis — Termination. — The course and duration of pul-
monary phthisis are extremely variable. One individual, for example, may
for many years bear the growth of tubercular products without passing
into the third stage ; while another, after six or eight months' illness, is
already a victim to sweating, wasting, diarrhoea, and hectic fever. Some
people who have had apparently insignificant haemoptysis show no symp-
toms of proved tuberculosis until ten or fifteen years later. Others may
have had several attacks of haemoptysis and inveterate bronchitis, but yet
have dragged out a more or less invalid existence, without ever reaching
the third stage. Many causes hasten or retard the course of pulmonary
phthisis. Firstly, there is the nature of the soil on which the disease has
developed ; then there are the cares of every kind, hygiene, questions of
climate, nourishment, and comfort, and hence the much quicker course of
tuberculosis amongst the poorer classes, while among those in easy circum-
stances we can often check or modify its progress. It has been said that
when emphysema occurs in a tubercular lung, it arrests the progress of the
tuberculosis for the time being.
Between the local changes in the lung and the general condition of the
patient there is, of nece.ssity, some parallelism. We see people with local
.signs of advanced tuberculosis (softening and cavities), but they live on,
without reaching the stage of consumption. These examples must be known
in order to avoid grave errors in prognosis.
The natural end of pulmonary tuberculosis is often death by i»hthisis ;
yet cases of cure are frequent (({rancher). I have often s(!en recovery from
188 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
pulmonary tuberculosis when it is treated at an early period. The tubercle
may recover (cretaceous and fibrous condition), and the small cavities may
cicatrize. In certain conditions death supervenes from complications, such
as laryngeal phthisis, purulent pleurisy, pneumothorax, enteritis, perito-
nitis, meningitis, etc. Syncope, embolism, or thrombosis of the pulmonary
artery are causes of sudden death.
iEtiology. — Heredity and contagion are the two great causes of pul-
monary phthisis, and in this respect tuberculosis shows an analogy with
syphilis. In both heredity may betray itself by early or by late manifesta-
tions. The early ones are, in the one case, syphilis in the new-born ; in the
other, tuberculous broncho -pneumonia of infancy, meningitis, and tuberculi-
zation of the peritoneum and of the bronchial glands. The late manifesta-
tions are, in the one case, the multiple lesions of hereditary syphilis ; in
the other, pulmonary phthisis and the various local tubercular lesions till
lately considered as scrofulous.
Sometimes the parents are notably phthisical ; at other times they
show only such imperfect evidences of tuberculosis as inveterate bronchitis
or suppurating adenitis, wrongly regarded as scrofulous ; they drag out a
more or less invalid existence, without going on to confirmed phthisis. They
may be cured, or think themselves cured. These troubles favour tuber-
culosis, and children born of such stock may, unfortunately, inherit
the original taint. Sometimes, in a family where' tuberculosis or scrofula
reigas (and they are identical), the parents in whom the germ is latent beget
children who develop tuberculosis, while the parents themselves are only
affected later.
We may consider heredity in two ways : either the subject inherits the
infectious principle — that is to say, the seed ; or he only inherits the predis-
position to contract tuberculosis — that is to say, the nature of the soil
which is favourable to its growth. Many authors mcline to this latter
opinion. Peter says that people are not born tubercular, but tuberculizable.
Bouchard says that the tuberculosis which parents transmit to their
children is prospective, and not actual.
This opinion is admissible, but it is none the less true that the hereditary
lesion has been caught red-handed in the foetus. The inoculation of guinea-
pigs with blood from a foetus conceived by a phthisical mother has caused
tuberculosis analogous to that which a fragment of tubercular lung produces.
We possess to-day undeniable cases of congenital tuberculosis. In
two cases out of five, Koch's bacillus has been found in the blood of the
umbilical vein of infants born of tubercular mothers (Bar and Renon).
Tuberculosis has been recognized in the foetus at various ages. It may be,
says Kuss, that the germs reach the foetus a little before delivery, or at
the moment of birth (thanks to placental depletion, produced by the first
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 189
inspirations), and only succeed in setting up appreciable foci at the end of
several months. It is therefore reasonable to admit that hereditary tuber-
culosis Ls transmitted directly by the germs. The whole question consists
in recognizing what the conditions will be which, sooner or later, will favour
the growth of the germs, which may long remain in a latent state. This
latency of the bacilli is not at all surprising.
The contagious nature of tuberculosis had been long supposed, but it
was clearly established by Villemm. To-day it is based upon a consider-
able number of cases. Cases of contagion between husband and wife are
relatively frequent : a healthy husband becomes tubercular through contact
with his wife who is dymg of phthisis. He marries again, and, in his turn,
gives tuberculosis to his second wife, who was quite well. I could give
many more cases ; the more intimate the living in common with phthisical
persons, the more is contagion to be dreaded.*
In the preceding chapter I describe the modes of transmission of tuber-
culosis by experimental measures. How can we explam its transmission
in the human species ? It is possible that the bacillus enters the digestive
tract by means of food and drink, and in this connection milk, both from a
tubercular animal and from a tubercular wet-nurse, has been incriminated.
Calmette thinks that the intestinal tract is often the entrance-gate of
pulmonary tuberculosis. Verneuil thinks that the contagion may take place
through the genital tract. In some cases the bacillus has entered the economy
through a wound in the skin.
The respiratory passages are the usual entrance gateway of the infectious
germ (spore or bacillus), and in most cases the lung Is the first organ attacked.
The germs exist in abundance in the sputum of phthisical patients, and
experience has proved that the sputum may be dried, powdered, and kept
for several weeks without losing its virulence, since the dust, when uihaled
by animals, causes tuberculosis (Tap}>einer). Transmission to man prob-
ably occurs in this way : the debris of sputum, reduced to powder, floats
in the air and enters the bronchi. In order that the germ may produce its
noxious effect, the bronchus must have first lost its epithelium, and it
may be asked if bronchitis and broncho-pneumonia (measles, whooping-
cough) do not especially favour the entrance of the germ. In all cases the
contaminated person must be in a condition of receptivity, for in case of con-
tagion we find favourable soils and soils refractory to the growth of germs.
Children of tubercular stock, patients with diabetes or convalescent from
* These propositionH are general, and ajjply equally to animals and to man. Krid-
haber and myself, in 1883, made exix-rimental researches upon tuberculosis in the ape,
and lost only one monkey out of eighteen which were living together, but wen* kept
isolated from every source of contaminatif)n, while we lost five monkeys from tuber-
culosis out of twenty-four which lived with tubercular animals. They had cunt rated
tuberculosis by contagion (Arch, de Fhysiulogie, 1883).
190 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
acute diseases (measles, whooping-cough, typhoid fever) are in a state of
receptivity. The soil is prepared by malnutrition, failing health, excesses of
every kind, exhaustion, fatigue, trouble, and repeated pregnancies. " It
may be said that tuberculosis is the common end of all constitutional
degenerations in families as well as in individuals " (Jaccoud).
Traumatism and contusions of the thorax may be placed in the category
of predisposing causes, by tilling the soil in which the bacillus \$as in a latent
condition. Since attention has been called to this point many cases have
been collected, and I know of several in which injury to the thorax has been
followed by tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis is most common in youth ; it appears, however, at other
periods. It is fairly common in advanced age and in children during earliest
infancy. It is more common in warm climates, and is comparatively rare
in high-lying countries.
Diagnosis. — The diagnosis of pulmonary phthisis is sometimes difficult,
not only at the onset of the disease, but even at more advanced periods.
See divides the disease into latent, larval, and pseudo- phthisis. In latent
phthisis we find ill-marked symptoms, such as pallor, wasting, with or with-
out fever, catarrhal cough, or haemoptysis. The cases of larval phthisis are
those which assume the mask of an acute affection of the respiratory tracts,
such as bronchitis, pleurisy, broncho-pneumonia, or laryngitis. The cases
of pseudo-phthisis are diseases such as bronchial dilatation, syphilitic
gummata of the lungs, hydatid cysts of the lung, aspergillary tuberculosis,
and neoplasms of different kinds that simulate phthisis, but are not of
tubercular origin. In these different cases the diagnosis is not always
simple, and the recognition of Koch's bacillus renders the greatest service.
As regards diagnosis, I think it useful to state the following precepts :
Every youth or adult who wastes much or rapidly, with or without fever,
must be suspected of having tuberculosis, in the absence of diabetes or
Basedow's disease.
Every girl or young woman who has neither genuine chlorosis, Bright's
disease, nor syphilitic anaemia, but yet has the apjjearance of chloro-ansemia,
must be suspected of having tuberculosis.
Every individual who has haemoptysis must be suspected of tuberculosis.
The cases of so-called supplementary haemoptysis are very often tubercular ;
but, on the other hand, we must remember that there is a group of non-
tubercular cases, such as haemoptysis in bronchitis, hydatids, or syphilis of J
the lung, false tuberculosis, etc.
Koch's tuberculin has undoubted value in diagnosis, and may reveal
even the most hidden trace of tuberculosis. It has therefore attracted the
attention of hygienists, and has been employed in veterinary practice forj
the early diagnosis of tuberculosis in cattle.
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 191
In man great care must be taken in using injections of tuberculin for
purposes of diagnosis. The amount must not be more than yV or t milli-
gramme ; two or three injections may be made at intervals of two or tlu:ee
days. In case of positive reaction, the temperature rises about 1° or more.
The rise is often accompanied by lassitude and headache.
The cuti-reaction does not give constant results. I have verified this fact
at the Hotel-Dieu.
Prognosis. — I shall not dwell at length on the prognosis of pulmonary
phthisis. The preceding description sliows how serious the disease is.
There is, however, a point to which I would call attention — viz., that tubercu-
losis is cured much more often than we suppose. Not only is it curable at its
onset, but it is still curable at an advanced period. In people who have died
from quite another disease we often find old fibrous or cretaceous tubercular
lesions, which prove that they have at some time been affected by tuberculosis.
Treatment. — Let us first consider prophylactic treatment, the object
of which is : (1) To modify as far as possible the evil results of heredity in a
person of tubercular stock ; (2) to remove the causes of contagion. The
individual should from infancy live in the open air, in the country, and in a
high-lying locality, take much exercise, have abundant nourishment, and
avoid all causes of contagion ; for, thanks to his origin, he is, above all others,
in a state of receptivity.
The means employed to avoid contagion are as follows : Choose for the
child a nurse who has no tubercular taint ; never permit a child to sleep
in a room with phthisical parents ; do not allow husband and wife to share
the same room. Collect, as far as possible, the products of expectoration
in a basin, which is emptied and washed several times a day ; and do not
allow sputum to be left on linen, pocket-handkerchiefs, or on the floor,
where it dries, is reduced to dust, and becomes a potent cause of contagion.
Purify rooms and bedding after the death of a phthisical patient ; expose
clothing which the patient has used, to steam at a temperature of 212°, or,
better still, jjurn it. If these precautions were taken, the balance-sheet of
phthisis would be much diminished.
We may next consider the different medicines and their respective
efficiency in phthisis.
Cod-liver oil, in suflioient doses, builds up the constitution. Intolerance
on the part of the stomach and diarrhoia are contra-indications. Tolerance
may sometimes be established by giving the oil in increasing doses, after it
has been well cooled in a freezing mi.xture. I have obtained excellent results
with cod-liver oil in large doses — e.g., a tumblerful. Some patients take
10 to 15 ounces daily for several weeks. I repeat that the results obtained
are often surprising. When the oil disagrees, I substitute fatty and oily
foods : caviare, sardines in oil, tunny-fish, slices of bread and butter, pdte de
192 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
foie cjras, etc. Excellent results are sometimes obtained. I would especially
recommend eggs and raw meat in large quantities.
Meat- juice has been used with benefit. The good effects of this regime
do not rest solely upon pure and simple super- alimentation, but on the
particular quality of the food.
Glycerine is a very useful and economical drug, and is given daily in
doses of 1 to 2 ounces, with a little rum, and flavoured with a drop of essence
of peppermint (Jaccoud). Preparations of arsenic, because of their trophic
action, are much indicated : arseniate of soda is given in doses of ^V to yV
grain daily in distilled water ; or arsenious acid, in doses of -oV to yV grain
daily, in the form of granules, each containing -^^ grain. Cacodylate of
soda, in daily injections of about 1 grain or more, is an excellent medicine.
(See Appendix on Therapeutics.)
Creosote stimulates the appetite and lessens the bronchial secretion ;
it is given in capsules or in pills, each containing 1 minim creosote. The
patient takes as many as ten or twenty during his meals.
Counter-irritation, by repeated blisters or by the cautery, is useful in
dealing with inflammation and congestion. In my own practice I make
much use of counter-irritants. It is well to use the cautery, and to allow
suppuration to go on as long as possible. A good way is to apply the
cautery-point 200 or 300 times a week, and to continue this treatment for a
long period.
The fever of tuberculosis, especially in the hectic form (absorption fever),
may be checked by salicylic acid (Jaccoud's method). Twenty grains of
salicylic acid are given during the morning in three cachets, at intervals of
half an hour. According to circumstances, the dose is diminished, stopped,
or repeated some days after.
Aspirin (acetyl-salicylic acid) in 5-grain doses, repeated three or four
times a day, is useful for the fever of phthisis (Renon) ; abundant perspiration
limits its use.
Cryogenin, in doses of two or three cachets, each containing 1 grain,
has a remarkable antithermic action.
Antip}Tin is efficacious, in daily doses of 30 to 40 grains. For the fever,
I have often prescribed bathing with tepid water or cold baths, with great
benefit to the patient.
Haemoptysis should be dealt with in the following manner : If very
abundant, it is sometimes arrested by an emetic, such as ipecacuanha (30
grains). If it is more trifling, ipecacuanha is prescribed in nauseating doses,
and one or two of the following pills are administered every hour, or every
two hours :
Ipecacuanha . . . . . . . . . . . . gr. i.
Extract of opium . . ... . . . . • • gr. uV
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 193
Other means are also used for haemoptysis : subcutaneous injections of
ergotin, solutions containing perchloride of iron, and counter-irritation to
the chest by means of blisters. The patient should be kept absolutely at
rest, given iced and acidulated drinks, and have abundant cold nourish-
ment, which should be administered in small quantities. The following
tbaught may also be prescribed, in tablespoonfuls, every three hours :
Distilled water . . . . . . . . . . ^iv.
Syrup of rhatany . . . . . . . . . . 51.
Rabel water . . . . . . . . . . . . ni xlv.
The sweats are relieved by white agaric (Trousseau), in doses of .'3 grains,
taken every evening, in a cachet ; by atropin ( Vulpian), in doses of Jg grain ;
or by cam}»horate of pyramidon, in doses of from 6 to 8 grains, in a cachet.
Diarrhoea, which is often profuse, may be treated with chalk in largo
doses ; by opiates (five to ten pills, each containing J- grain opium, given in
the course of twenty-four hours) ; by methylene blue, given daily, in three
cachets, each containing 3 grains of lactose and 1 grain of methylene blue.
Vomiting may be relieved in some cases by 2 drops of laudanum, taken
before a meal ; or by a tablespoonful of lime-water, with the addition of
uV grain of hydrochlorate of cocaine ; at other times by lavage of the
stomach, or, better still, by artificial feeding. This artificial feeding (super-
alimentation, gavage), used by Debove, has often proved effective, not
only in vomiting, but also in malnutrition. Milk, lentil-flour, and powdered
meat are given through a tube. Some patients will swallow, without the
help of the tube, 6 ounces of powdered meat in the twenty-four hours, the
powder being suspended in milk or broth, given at short intervals. Super-
alimentation sometimes produces remarkable effects.
Koch's Tuberculin.— I must now give some details of treatment by
K'--"-^^
When necrosis occurs, the cast-of5 tissue contams bacilli in more or les
Isiderable numbers, and the ulceration ^^us produced -ay te - f^^^^^
into a simple wound, covered with fleshy granulations, which may form scat
tissue.
In a healthy man 1 c.c. of lymph is necessary to produce a rise of tem-
perate to 100" F, In a tubercular man a dose of from 1 to 3 c.. o lymph
is sufficient to produce, at the end of two or three hours, a r go , a tempe a
ture of 104° F., cough, vomiting, acute pain, enlargement of the spleen,
a^d Iht delirium. These symptoms last twelve to fifteen hours. In
he c:lf:f lupus, local reaction can be made out at the site of the — '
lesions. At the end of five or six hours the lupoid areas swell ^^^^^'>^^^-
and sometimes necrose. The redness diminishes after two or three days
and is accompanied by scaling. Two or three -*s la the scha
become detached, leaving in favourable cases a '-t'^g <=;^*^- J '^^ ^n
thing happens in tuberculosis of the glands, bones, "'J^*^' *>"**"* J
is less clear. In favourable cases of pulmonary tuberculosis, after sub-
1 talus injections of lymph in very small doses the cough is less re
quent, the expectoration becomes mucous, the baolh diminish, and finally
disappear, and the general condition improves.
Such are the results of tuberculin in favomrable cases ; ^ut these cases are
exceptional, and. after many well-conducted observatior. the infatuation
first aroused has given place to the most profound '^^''f'- i„„eulati«ns
Most serious accidents, and even death, have occurred after 'no™l''t»m
of tuberculin Amongst these accidents, I would note meningitis endo-
Xlema of thfglottis and of the l-S- ^™-'^°-P"--:"'j\:':
After inoculations performed in my wards with the grea es care^ I have
seen perforation of the tympanic membrane from 7ff'™.°*'*f , ,^,'^ f,
gloomy results have caused the use of mjections of tuberculm m phthisis
" \^"mtion of physicians at the St. Louis Hospita, which for two
months'and a half tried tuberculin on thirty patients ^-^^^^-l^Z^^^l^'
decided aoainst Koch's method of treatment. In some cases temporary
reductt n °of the lupoid mass and temporary attenuation of the tuberculous
lesion were seen, but cure was never obtained. In the course of these
xT^iments no patient, fortunately, succumbed, >>-*-, gravyompa^
tions were seen in the heart, brain, and kidneys, as well as the most a a^n
^neral symptoms. In some cases tubercular centres m the lung, tUl the
latlCwere reawakened, and it was very difiicult to arrest the lesion wh.cl
had once more become acute. • • i o a,.r1 nlUa
Tuberculocidin.-Klebs has separated the noxious principles and alka
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 195
loids of Kocli's tuberculin from the active principle which is an albumose.
This purified lymph, or tuberculocidin, does not give rise to febrile reaction ;
it causes retrogression in the tubercular tissues, without necrosis, and brings
about the destruction of the bacilli. The dose, at the commencement of
treatment, is ^^ grain, and it may be raised to 7 grains later. The results
are encouraging.
C. Spengler (of Davos) has combined the action of tuberculin with tuber-
culocidin. He injected a mixture of from 5^^^ grain of tuberculin with
^ grain of tuberculocidin. Injections were made several days following,
and in some cases the fever yielded.
Denys has used bouillon, freed from the tubercle bacillus by filteriug^
in the treatment of tuberculosis in man. He gives hypodermic injections
in doses varying from 1 to 25 c.c. He has seen good results, but the value is
not yet exactly known.
Let us now consider thermal and climatic treatment in pulmonary tuber-
culosis. Speaking generally, thermal cures are absolutely contra-indicated
while the patient is suffering from haemoptysis or from fever. In patients
affected with slow tuberculosis, who are but little prone to sharp reaction,
haemoptysis, or broncho-pneumonia, Mont-Dore, la Bourboule, and the
sulphur- waters, such as Cauterets, Luchon, Eaux Bonnes, etc., may be recom-
mended ; but in patients suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis in the irrita-
tive form, the warm alkaline springs of Royat and Ems, or the cold sulphur
springs of Allevard, are advisable.
A similar distinction should be made when choosing a place of residence
for tubercular patients. In cases liable to febrile attacks and palpitations
of the heart, high altitudes, such as Davos and Saint-Moritz, will be most
beneficial. These elevated situations give wonderful results, as regards
improvement and cure, from the purity of the air and the activity which
they cause in the breathing. All forms of phthisis, however, are not suited
to these high altitudes ; stations of moderate altitude, or the maritime ones
of Cannes, Mentone, Arcachon, Algiers, Madeira, or Pan, are then to be
considered.
Surgical treatment of tubercular lesions of the lung, interstitial injections
of drugs, and pneumotomy, are questions which are under consideration,
and upon which it would be premature to pronounce an opinion.
XIV. FIBROID PHTHISIS.
The tubercles in the lung, instead of undergoing caseation, may be con-
verted into fibrous tissue. They form isolated granulations, which aro
proiniiicut and very hard to the touch ; thiur structure is completely niodilied
by the fibrosis. Fibrous tubercles had already been noted by Baylc, but
io— 2
jgg TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Cruveilhier was the first to show the importance of this change : " Pulmonary
tubercles are too generally considered as being inc^able; ^W -7 become
cicatrized" He noted "granulations and tubercles of recovery -that
inert granulations and tubercles-perfectly distinct from those m process
of development, with which they had been confounded. Cruvem^ier a^^^^^^
noted that tubercular lesions may recover at any stage, ^^^^ "^ ^
granulation to the cavity, by a fibrous change ; and that, fiirthe , part of the
Lg tissue around the tubercles may be converted mto fibrous tissue^
This change constitutes a means of isolation and cure of the tubercular
centres The condition constitutes the curative phlegmasia, or dark slaty
induration which we now call interstitial pneumonia in phthisical patients.
Later Grancher and Charcot showed that this fibrous change is very
common, and may occur at a very early stage ; it must be considered as one
of the modes of evolution of the tubercle.
Furthermore, the works of these authors, and those of Renaut, Bard,
Cornil, and Thaon, made it plain that Cruveilhier' s dark f^^ ^^^^'[Z
may end in true pulmonary fibrosis or fibroid phthisis ; and that while the
fibrous change in the young tubercle is a true process of recovery, the
puhnonary cirrhosis which surrounds the caseous tubercles has not always
that happy result. Indeed, we now know that Koch's bacillus may remain
aUve foTfvcry long time in caseous tubercles surrounded by fibrous tissues,
and that pulmonary fibrosis of an invading character may cause disastrous
results, and be in itself a serious condition. • n •
Lastly Cruveilhier showed that large fibrous tubercles, especially in
old people, may contain not only caseous substance, resembling dry putty
but also stony granules. Very small calcareous granules have been noted
by Schlippel and by Ziegler in the tubercular follicles, where they assume
quite a special disposition, and are made up of concentric layers Metch-
dkolf found calcareous bodies of the same character m the tubercles of
Algerian gerbil {Meriones Shawi), an animal in which the infection spreads
very slowly after inoculation. In the centre of these calcareous bodies we
find tubercle bacilli, which in the early stages of the lesion appear perfectly
normal, and are surrounded by a layer of amorphous substance. Later they
lose their faculty for taking stains, degenerate, and disappear. According
to Metchnikoff, the stratified layers are multiple cuticles, secreted by the
bacillus for defensive purposes, and the phosphate of lime is probably
deposited in this cuticle by the giant cell itself, in its reaction against the
*'''' Although these facts are not applicable to the calcareous bodies in the
tubercle of man, they are very interesting as reconciling the tubercles o^
recovery with the ideas we have concerning them.
The histological changes are as follows :
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 197
1. Fibrous Tubercle. — When the tubercle reaches its stationary stage,
we find new connective fibres, which interpose themselves between the cells,
and finally make up most of the granulation in which giant cells may still
be met with at the centre or at the periphery. " These giant cells are often
situated in a cavity which holds them exactly, and is made up of fibrous
Dundles, forming a circle around them. The isolated fibrous tubercles,
and the periphery of the large confluent tubercles of the same nature,
have in their interior capillary vessels permeable by the blood. The
wall of the vessel is often thickened, especially in the sclerosed tissues.
While the tissue of the granulation becomes fibrous, " the septa of the pul-
monary alveoli have a tendency to become thickened, and interstitial
pneumonia develops around the granulations that have become fibrous."
In the thickened walls of the alveoli, small round cells, which infiltrate the
bundles of the connective tissue, are seen in large numbers. In the oldest,
and especially the confluent, fibrous tubercles the giant cells disappear at the
centre of the islet, which is now only formed of fibrillary connective tissue,
without vessels and cellular infiltration ; fibrous tubercles, with giant cells
and permeable vessels, are found at the periphery.
The old fibrous tubercles may be infiltrated with black pigment. Those
black granulatioiLS, composed of particles of carbon, and also of altered blood-
pigment, may occupy the whole granulation, or only a part of it. They are
then situated at the periphery, for they are found chiefly in the cells ; they
may be seen in the giant cells.
These fibrous tubercles, even when they contain giant cells, may be
considered as absolutely arrested in their evolution.
2. Interstitial Pneumonia.— The fibrous, pigmented tubercles otten
cause thickening of the septa of the lung, so that they may be situated in the
middle of an indurated connective tissue which no longer presents alveolar
cavities. Around these masses, where the lung structure has quite perished,
the pulmonary tissues show the lesions of interstitial pneumonia : thicken-
ing of the alveolar septa, which are made up of fibres of connective tissue
and flat cells containing black pigment ; alveolar exudate, made up of
leucocytes and pigmental epithelial cells ; alveolar septa covered with layers
of large swollen epithelial cells ; narrowing of the alveoli, which may take
an elongated form, while their direction is perpendicular to that of the
thickened interlobular septa. In certain places distended vessels, which
form a kind of cavernous tissue, are found in the connective tissue. Side
by side with the lesions of interstitial pneumonia we sometimes see opaque
formations, which to the naked eye resemble tubercles. This condition
IS really one of venous thrombosis, surrounded by fibrous zones, possessing
a rich collateral circulation (Cornil). This interstitial ])n('unioni:i may
be found around caseous centres and healed cavities with thickened walls.
198 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
This condition is seen in the lung, where the fibrosis has made slow progress.
In these cases it is often found associated with chronic adhesive pleurisy and
thickening of the subpleural connective tissue. In this way arises pulmonary
fibrosis, which not only deprives a part or the whole of the lung of all function,
but which may also result in deformity of the chest and dilatation of the
bronchi.
In other cases fibroid phthisis does not run the same course. The
induration may affect a whole lobe, or even both lungs, in the form of islets,
or of large masses around indurated or caseous miliary tubercles without
or with merely small cavities. Interstitial pneumonia then presents a form
of subacute phthisis, and at times matures fairly rapidly : m six months or
in a year (Cornil).
To sum up : the fibrous change may affect young, isolated tubercles,
and thus bring about a true cure of these lesions. The interstitial pneu-
monia which is often present, and the fibrous change in the more advanced
lesions, are frequently of good omen. On the one hand, however, they do
not always arrest the course of the lesions ; and, on the other hand, they
may go beyond the mark, and give rise to pulmonary fibrosis, with its results.
XV. PNEUMONIC PHTHISIS— TUBERCULAR PNEUMONIA-
CASEOUS PNEUMONIA.
Since Laennec traced the anatomical and clinical history of phthisis two
chief schools of thought have arisen — the one affirming the unity, and the
other the duality, of phthisiogenous lesions.
According to the former, pulmonary tuberculosis and caseous pneumonia
are one disease ; they are both traceable to heredity, go on to the same
termination — i.e., phthisis— and if their lesions, tubercular granulations
and caseous infiltrations present any difference, such difference concerns
only the form of their morbid products, and not their nature. Laennec
therefore bequeathed to us the doctrine of their unity, both from the
anatomical and the clinical point of view.
According to the dualists, on the other hand, pulmonary tuberculosis
and caseous pneumonia represent two distinct diseases. In 1850 Reinhardt
affirmed that the lesion described by Laennec as tubercular infiltration
was nothing else than "caseous pneumonia." According to the dualists,
the pathological anatomy, course, and prognosis were different in the two
cases. Tubercular granulations and caseous infiltration had neither the
same origin nor the same nature ; heredity was the chief element in the
case of the tubercular patient, while in the case of the patient with caseous
disease, he got off with a pneumonia which Virchow called scrofulous,
he had not the ill-luck to become tubercular " (Niemeyer).
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 199
You see, said the dualists, that this scrofulous pneumonia (Virchow's)
has nothing in common with pulmonary tuberculosis, since there is a differ-
ence in form, seat, origin, and nature between the two maladies — difference in
form, becaiLse the tubercular granulation is nodular, while caseous pneu-
monia Ls diffuse ; difference in situation, because the granulation arises
outside the alveolus, while caseous pneumonia arises inside ; difference in
origin, because the tubercular granulation develops at the expense of the
connective tissue, and caseous pneumonia at the expense of the pulmonary
endothelium.
Such were the anatomical and histological arguments invoked by the
duahsts, and it is on this ground that each of their conclusions has been
vigorously attacked and successfully routed in various works, and notably
by Grancher, in a thesis which forms an eloquent plea in favour of
Laennec's work.
But what definitely ruined the dualist doctrine and confirmed the
triumph of the French school is Villemin's discovery, on the one hand, and
Koch's discovery, on the other. Since Villemin made his memorable experi-
ments, we know that all tubercular products are virulent and inoculabie,
whatever their form may be ; and we know also, since Koch's great dis-
covery, that all these products contain the specific bacillus of tuberculosis.
The experiments of Auclair deserve quoting : In the rabbit caseous
pneumonia follows the intratracheal injection of an ethereal extract of
bacilli from tubercular patients ; interstitial pneumonia may be the result of
inoculation with a chloroform extract of the same bacilli. The double
fibro-caseous evolution of the tubercle appears, then, to depend upon a
double toxine, whicli explains the incidence of the lesions to one or to the
other process, or to both at once.
There is no longer any reason for preserving the term " caseous pneu-
monia." The infectious malady called tuberculosis, which runs an acute, sub-
acute or chronic course in the lung and other organs, shows itself anatomically
by products of a tubercular nature. The products are sometimes of small
size and nodular in shape (grey granulations, miliary tubercles) ; at other
times they are of large size (discrete or confluent nodules, tubercular infil-
tration). The granular form may exist alone — i.e., acute granular tuber-
culosis. The pneumonic form, whether discrete or confluent, may exist
alone — i.e., caseous pneumonia, or, better, tubercular broncho-pneumonia,
which may more or less quickly give rise to acute and subacute phthisis.
Pathological Anatomy. — Tubercular ])neumonia is usually limited to
one lung ; it may be; limited to a few lobules or invade a whole lobe. It
attacks the lower as well as the upper lobe.
The lung presents different appearances, according as the lesion is more
or less advanced. In the more advanced stage the lung tissue resembles
200 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Roquefort cheese — hence the name " caseous pneumonia " — and the greyish
areas form with the yellowish and brownish ones a kind of mosaic. The cut
section does not present the granular condition of lobar pneumonia, but is
more opaque, smooth, dry, homogeneous and angemic.
The lesions of commencing tubercular pneumonia are seen side by side
with the caseous masses. We find masses of rosy-coloured, quivering,
and semitransparent substance, called by Laennec " colloid infiltration,"
but since termed " caseous colloid pneumonia " (Thaon) ; masses of greyish
homogeneous substance are also seen : this is Laennec's grey infiltration.
These tubercular infiltrations may go on to caseation.
If we study caseous infiltration closely, we see that it is not disseminated
at random through the lung ; it is composed of more or less confluent nodules,
leaving between them lung tissue that is healthy, or showing the lesions of
ordinary broncho-pneumonia. The caseous nodules have a special texture,
and are, for the most part, developed around a small bronchus, which is the
centre of their formation (peribronchial nodules). They are composed of (1)
a central region, and (2) a peripheral zone. The older the central zone, the
more caseous it is. Some vestiges of lung are seen — i.e., arterioles — rings
and bands of elastic tissue, which represent the bronchioles and the alveolar
walls. Around this central region, which comprises the caseous centre of
the tubercular follicle, we see a zone that is well defined on the side of the
central region, but irregular at the periphery. This embryonic zone
(Grancher) is formed of embryonic cells, that infiltrate the walls of the
alveoli and their cavities ; and giant cells that are irregularly disposed in
the form of a crown (Charcot), and complete the analogy between the
caseous nodule and the tubercular follicle. Here, as in the tubercle, the
degeneration begins at the centre, and the lesion extends at the circumfer-
ence. These caseous nodules which are seen in the different varieties of
caseous pneumonia are collections of a tubercular nature ; the condition
is Laennec's tubercular infiltration in its most absolute sense. The caseous
inflammation is tubercular, and contains Koch's bacillus.
The softening of the caseous substance, the ulceration that results,
and the cavity, are produced by the process we have already described
in the case of tubercle. Caseous pneumonia, however, may last a long
while, without giving rise to ulceration of the lung ; considerable masses
may long remain in the same condition, although the lung is impermeable
to air and blood (Cornil and Ranvier).
Chronic caseous pneumonia, like chronic tuberculosis, is always accom-
panied by interstitial pneumonia (Grancher), and often by fibrinous pleurisy.
We shall see later in what relation tubercular granulations are associated,
mth it.
Bacteriology. — The tubercle bacillus has always been met with ii
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 201
caseous pneumonia. In the lobar form the bacilli are found in the centre
of the infundibula, in the embryonic cells that fill the alveoli, and in the
walls of the alveoli. A similar distribution obtains in the lobular forms.
The tubercle bacillus, however, is not alone in evidence in the lesions of
tubercular pneumonia and broncho-pneumonia. Mixed infections are
present, just as in all broncho-pneumonias ; the pneumococcus, the pneumo-
bacillus, and the streptococcus predominate in the diseased zone around
the caseous masses. This peripheral zone represents the less advanced
stage of the lesion, while the caseous centre represents its completion. The
secondary or associated microbes predominate in the peripheral zone, and
it is probable that they engender centres of broncho-pneumonia and start
the lesion, which the bacillus finally casefies.
Description. — Tubercular pneumonia may be lobular or pseudo-lobar
(Vulpian). A lobar form has also been described, but, according to Charcot,
tubercular pneumonia is never lobar, and the cases which have been called
lobar are confluent lobular or pseudo-lobar.
Tubercular pneumonia, whether it be lobular or pseudo-lobar, some-
times resembles an acute phlegmasia, and at other times a chronic disea.se ;
but all intermediate forms — notably the subacute variety — are found
between these two extremes.
The acute pseudo-lobar form begins suddenly with fever, chill, pain in the
side ; and, indeed, the violence of the chill, the high temperature, the coloured
and viscid sputum, may closely resemble the onset of true lobar pneu-
monia. I saw, some years ago, a medical student who was carried off in a
few weeks by tubercular pneumonia of the middle lobe ; his sister had died
some time before from chronic tuberculosis. The acute lobular form, in its
initial symptoms, resembles broncho-pneumonia.
The acute forms may carry off the patient very quickly, within a few
weeks, even before pulmonary ulceration has had time to develop. At other
times cavities appear early, and auscultation allows us to follow the course of
events. Wiieti thf progress of the disease is a little slower, the clinical picture
of subacute tubercular pneumonia is seen. These acute and subacute forms
answer to the terms " acute phthisis " and " acute pneumonic phthisis."
Chronic tubercular pneumonia may follow the acute condition, or be
ciirouic from tlie first. In the latter case the disease begins silently,
preceded or not by some suspicious symptoms, such as laryngitis, bronchitis,
or hffimoplysis. The patient coughs and complains of distress, which is
often paroxysmal, and comparable to the dyspncea of heart disease, or of
an attack of astliina. He loses strength and wastes. On auscultation, we
find in one or in several lobes tubular breathing, subcrepitant rales, and
marked diniinutioii of the vesicular ninrmur. These signs are sometimes
predominant ; ihey remain stationary in the invaded regions ; but the
202 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
lesion, in spite of its extent, may only canse moderate fever, and trifling, or
purely catarrhal, expectoration.
It is exceptional for caseous pneumonia to recover ; in most cases the
chronic form leads to ulceration of the lung, cavities, slow consumption,
and phthisis, in the true sense of the word. In other circumstances, and in
spite of several months' duration, the patient succumbs without ulceration
of the lung. He is carried off by asphyxia, with symptoms of hectic fever,
sweating, and diarrhoea. I have seen two cases of this kind : one, with
Tardieu, in a young girl whose brother died two months later of ordinary
tuberculosis ; the other, with Krank and Leudet, in a young woman in
whom caseous pneumonia complicated, as often happens, fibrinous pleurisy.
In both patients almost the whole of the right lung appeared to be
converted into a huge caseous block ; the dullness was absolute, and the
absence of every normal and abnormal sound alternated in places with
slight tubular breathing, or with subcrepitant rales. The growing dyspnoea
and the asphyxia were the chief symptoms throughout the disease.
During infancy, as I have said in the chapter on Pulmonary Phthisis,
tuberculosis often shows itself as a broncho-pneumonia.
Diagnosis. — The diagnosis of tubercular pneumonia is exceedingly diffi-
cult at the commencement. The acute forms simulate broncho -pneumonia
or genuine pneumonia, and it is soon evident that we are dealing with acute
phthisis. It must be said, however, that cases of acute caseous pneumonia
rarely show the symptoms of genuine inflammation. Thus, in the form
which simulates lobar pneumonia the sputum contains more blood, or is
accompanied by genuine haemoptysis ; defervescence does not occur ; wasting
is rapid ; signs of cavities appear in some cases, and the patient is carried
off by acute consumption.
The chronic and subacute forms of caseous pneumonia are quite as in-
sidious in their course. The inflammation is ill defined ; the stethoscopic
signs, rales, and tubular breathing remain stationary ; secondary pneumonia
is thought of, and the primary cause is sought elsewhere. The question is
asked whether the patient may not be diabetic, or suffering from Bright's
disease, or cardiac mischief ; but the appearance of further symptoms soon
makes the diagnosis clear.
In these doubtful and difficult cases too much information cannot be
obtained. The patient's antecedents (haemoptysis, suspicious bronchitis),
and the question of heredity (phthisis among forebears or relatives) will^
have great weight in diagnosis.
The presence of tubercle bacilli in the sputum of patients with caseous!
pneumonia is less frequent than in cases of common tuberculosis. Bacilli]
may be wanting in the expectoration, although they may be found in the^
lung tissue at the autopsy.
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 203
XYI. ACUTE GRANULAR TUBERCULOSIS— ACUTE GENERALIZED
TUBERCULIZATION.
The terms "galloping" and "acute," applied to phthisis and tubercu-
losis, have been variously interpreted by authorities, and this confusion has
certainly complicated the study of these diseases. We must abandon the
term "galloping," and keep only the epithet "acute," in opposition to
that of " chronic." Phthisis is chronic when the lesions slowly and gradu-
ally end in ulceration of the lung, cavities, and consumption ; it is sub-
acute or acute when these lesions run a rapid course, as in certain cases of
tubercular pneumonia : the patient then passes through the stages of phthisis
in a few months or weeks, instead of several years.
These different forms — chronic phthisis, which is the most common,
subacute and acute phthisis — have been described in the preceding chapters.
I shall now give the description of another form of tubercular infection —
viz., acute granular tuberculosis, acute granulosis, or granulia.
In the different varieties of phthisis which we have already reviewed,
the grey granulation was of minor importance, while the miliary tubercles
and the diffuse or circumscribed tubercular inflammations almost entirely
made up the lesion. In acute granular tuberculosis the chief lesion is the
tubercular granulation, while the hyperaemia and broncho-pulmonary
infection only occupy a second place. The tubercles are so confluent,
asphyxia and death arc so rapid, that the secondary degenerations and the
ulcerations of the lung that accompany phthisis have not time to develop.
We must, however, remember that the different forms of tubercular infec-
tion may exist simultaneously in the same subject, in which case we find post
mortem the lesions of chronic phthisis or of acute tubercular pneumonia,
and the confluent granulations of acute tuberculosis.
Pathological Anatomy. — The lesions of acute tuberculosis differ accord-
ing as the granulations are or are not accompanied by congestion, bron-
'liitis, broncho-pneumonia, pleurisy, or old tubercular lesions.
1. In some cases the granulations constitute the only lesion, or, at least,
the neighbouring inflammation which accompanies them is insignificant ;
the parenchyma of the lung is riddled with granulations, both on its surface
and in its deep parts. On section, the lung appears riddled with granula-
tions ; these are almost always quite young, grey, and somitransparont ;
wlien they are older they undergo degeneration in the centre. In
chronic tuberculosis (ordinary phthisis) the miliary tubercle develops chiefly
around the bronchiole, which serves as its centre of formation ; but in acute
tuberculosis the grey granulation develops chiefly around the l)loodvessels
and the lymphatics. The structure of the granulations has been described
elsewhere.
204 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
2. In other cases the granulations of acute tuberculosis are accom-
panied by intense congestion, capillary bronchitis, broncho-pneumonia, and
pleurisy. If the disease has lasted some time, the tubercular granulations
and the broncho-pulmonary infiltrations have already undergone initiatory
softening and caseation.
3. In a large number of autopsies we find both acute and quite recent
crops of granulations, and an old tubercular lesion, or a caseous nodule of
broncho-pneumonia. On these facts Blihl founded his theory, according
to which the crops of acute tuberculosis are only secondary lesions,
grafted on the chronic lesion which has favoured their develop-
ment.
Cases of secondary infection, well known from Laennec's time, are
very frequent ; they demand serious consideration, and prove that an indi-
vidual attacked by acute tuberculosis has been already in the power of the
tubercular infection, because old silent lesions are found in the lung, the brain,
or other organs. Cases of secondary acute tuberculosis have been noted in
patients primarily affected with tuberculosis of the eye, or with tubercular
infiltration of the spine, of the lymphatic glands, etc. Still, acute tabercu-
losis may be primary, as has been noted, in a large number of cases.
Acute tuberculosis does not, as a rule, remain limited to the respiratory
system. It often invades other organs and systems, and then merits the
name of acute tuberculization. Few organs escape ^ peritoneum, meninges,
pericardium, endocardium, synovial membranes, liver, spleen, kidneys,
choroid, thyroid gland, bronchial and mesenteric glands, etc., may be
invaded by the tubercular granulations.
The glands may rapidly reach an enormous size, and cause certain com-
plications, such as " compression of the bronchi, with symptoms of asphyxia ;
compression of the mesenteric arteries, with intestinal gangrene ; compres-
sion of the common bile-duct, with jaundice."
In acute tuberculosis the granulations are usually found in the vascular
and lymphatic tissue. Giant cells and bacilli have been recognized in the
internal coat of the meningeal vessels and in the fibrinous thrombi of the
vessels ; they have been seen in the lining membrane of the pulmonary
veins (Miigge) ; in the tunica intima of the endocardium of the right heart ;
in the vegetations of the endocardium ( Weigert) ; in the walls of the veins ; in
the tunica intima of the inferior vena cava ; in the blood ; in the wall of the
thoracic duct (Ponfick) ; and in the walls of the lymphatic vessels : so that
acute tuberculosis " results, in all probability, from the entrance of bacteria
into the general circulation of the blood or lymph plasma."
Description. — Acute tuberculosis shows such different forms that an
attempt has been made to classify them, either by the anatomical lesion or
by the leading symptom. Although the different classifications proposed
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 205
may be purely fanciful and but little in agreement with the clinical data,
I feel that they are necessary for a pathological description.
1. There is a catarrhal form, of benign appearance, in which acute and
almost latent tuberculosis (Leudet) resembles a seasonal fever, with some
pulmonary or gastric symptoms ; but the patient is rapidly carried ofi by
attacks of suffocation or of syncope after a more or less lengthy illness,
which did not appear serious, and was supposed to be bronchitis or influenza.
These latent forms are the more insidious inasmuch as they may be apyretic.
I have seen a case at the Necker Hospital.
2. The suffocative form, which Graves calls acute tubercular
asphyxia, and which, says Andral, resembles an acute attack of asthma, is
characterized by increasing dyspnoea and asphyxia, which come on without
warning, or, at least, in the midst of trifling symptoms. Pain, cough, and
expectoration are absent ; the fever is moderate, and auscultation shows only
some rales. This form, which is often accompanied by broncho-pulmonary
congestion, may carry off the patient in four or five days. If an}i:hmg
can give a clue to the diagnosis, it is precisely the absence of sigas, or, at
least, the disproportion between the gravity of the symptoms and the levity
of the physical signs.
3. Acute tuberculosis may be 'associated with the infections of the
respiratory system (diphtheria), and is then partly masked by them. Thus
when it takes the form of capillary bronchitis, we find cough, dyspnoea,
and expectoration. There are the same fine, sibilant and subcrepitant
rales ; and if other symptoms, such as bloody sputum, enlargement of the
spleen, abdominal or cerebral troubles, are not present, the diagnosis is most
difficult. When acute tuberculosis is associated with broncho-pneumonia
(acute phthisis), the difficulties in diagnosis are the same as in the preceding
case. The disease runs its course in a few weeks, or in two to three months ;
we see the rapid formation of ulcers in the lung and the consumption of the
patient, and this variety is confounded with pneumonic phthisis.
In some cases the broncho-pulmonary inflammations give place to pleural
inflammation, and the sero-fibrinous or haemorrhagic pleurisy is so promi-
nent that the acute tuberculosis passes unnoticed, until it shows itself by
symptoms that have nothing in common with simple pleurisy.
A. The typhoid form answers especially to acute generalized tubercu-
lization, and closely resembles typhoid fever : headaciii^, insomnia, pul-
monary congestion, epistaxis, abdominal and cerebral troubles, and lenticular
rose spots, are present. There exist, nevertheless, some distinctive signs
which may assist in the diagnosis. In acute tuberculosis the stupor Is less
profound ; hypera3sthesia of the chest is acute (Bouchut) ; ophthalmoscopic
examination sometimes reveals tubercles in the choroid (Bouchut); the stetho-
fcicopic signs are more marked at the apex of the lungs, and the sputum l^
L
206 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
sometimes mixed with red blood ; the patient has attacks of dyspnoea,
and the temperature cm-ve presents some differences. While the febrile
cycle of enteric fever is made up of three periods, in which the temperature
successively ascends, remains stationary, and descends, the temperature in
acute tuberculosis is much higher at night than in the morning, and scarcely
deviates from this type during the whole disease. Sero-diagnosis (VVidal)
will remove all doubts between enteric fever and acute tuberculosis,
5. The cerebral form may show itself suddenly by loss of consciousness,
followed by coma and symptoms of meningitis ; these symptoms recall the
description of acute hydrocephalus, and, indeed, abundant effusion is found
post mortem m the ventricles. The cerebral symptoms do not supervene
as a simple episode, as is seen in the other varieties of acute and chronic
tuberculization ; here they draw all the attention to themselves.
6. Unusual Forms. — There are cases which are, indeed, more rare and
insidious than the precedmg ones, in which tuberculosis shows itself by
such imusual symptoms that the nature of the disease is not recognized
at first. Colin has published the history of a patient in whom the
miliary tubercles primarily appeared in the kidneys, and the disease was at
first taken for acute nephritis. In a case of Laveran the tuberculosis
first invaded the articular synovial membrane, and for the first few days
the disease was looked upon as acute rheumatism.
7. In some cases the tubercular lesions are little marked, but the viru-
lence of the bacillus is exaggerated, and the disease truly deserves the name
acute tubercular infectious fever. The case looks like typhoid fever,
but there is no stupor, and the fever may improve under the influence of
antipyrin.
Diagnosis — Prognosis. — I have indicated the difficulties in diagnosis
with regard to each of the forms which acute granular tuberculosis may
assume. A search for bacilli in the sputum should never be neglected.
It is the most valuable method, and in many cases has cleared up a doubtful
diagnosis.
Acute tuberculosis and acute generalized tuberculization are nearly
always fatal, and, indeed, some forms carry the patient off in a few days.
There are exceptions to this rule. Sometimes the tubercular granulations
occur m intermittent crops ; the disease is not very acute, and lasts several
months. In other cases the acute attack gives place to a chronic state,
and acute tuberculosis becomes ordinary pulmonary phthisis. In some
cases, when the tubercles have not been confluent, they pass into the
fibrous state ; the disease becomes chronic, and may then be almost harm-
less, if the patient is not affected with other acute or chronic manifestations
of tubercular infection.
Acute tuberculosis especially attacks young people and soldiers, and
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 207
the military medical officers have insisted on its quasi-epidemic character.
It is not rare in very young children, up to the age of fifteen or eighteen
months, and although in them it is nearly always generalized, the absence
of local symptoms renders the diagnosis very difficult (Parrot).
The treatment of acute tuberculosis varies, according to the form
that the disease assumes : tannin, in daily doses of 15 grains, and iodide
of soda, in daily doses of from 120 to 240 grams (Lepine), appear to have
given good results.
XVII. FALSE TUBERCULOSIS OF THE LUNG.
The tubercle, which is a mode of reaction of the tissues against patho-
genic agents, is not in any way specific to Koch's bacillary tuberculosis.
It may be met with in different affections, characterized histologically by
tubercles ; these are cases of pseudo-tuberculosis.
The causes of pseudo-tuberculosis are multiple. I would mention certain
animal parasites — the Strongylus vasorum, whose eggs produce in the dog
a tubercular reaction in the pancreas (Laulanie) ; the Ollulanus tricuspis, and
the Pseudalius ovis fuhnonalis, one of which produces pneumonia in the
cat and the other m the sheep. At bther times bacterial parasites are seen
— for example, the bacilli of Maiassez and Vignal's zoogloeic tuberculosis ;
also tubercles are produced by fungi, such as Favus cladothrix (Sabraces and
Dubreuilh), Eppinger's streptothrix (Picot, Riviere, and Sabraces), and the
aspergilli, which include Asfergillus subfuscus (Olsen and Gade), Asper-
gillus nidulans (Lindt), As-pergillus flavescens, and, above all, Aspergillus
jumigatus. Pseudo-tuberculosis is especially due to the latter fungus, and
as it is the only one that has been observed in anything like a complete
manner in man, it is the only one we shall describe here, under the name of
aspergillary pseudo-tuberculosis.
Aspergillary Pseudo-Tuberculosis.
In man aspergillary pseudo-tuberculosis (pulmonary aspergillosis) has
been met with chiefiy in pigeon-feeders and hair-combers. I have seen it
several times in my wards at the Necker Hospital.*
Bacteriology. — The Aspergillus jumigatus, which belongs to the order
of xVscomycctes and to the family of the Perisporiacea?, is composed, in the
adult state, of a mycelium made up of short alternating liyphae, whicli are
slightly dilated at their extremities, and give off sterile, sc[)tate, and colour-
less branches, and colourless or slightly colom-ed fruit-bearing ones. These
latter support the spores, which rest on the receptacle or spore-bearing head,
* Diculafoy, Chantemesso ct Widal, " Uno rseudo-tubcic-ulujic .Myti.i.si(luo "
{Congress do Berlin, 1889).
208 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
from which they emanate by the strangulation of small cells having the
form of quills, and called basidia.
The spores of the Aspergillus fumigatus are green or brownish, accordiiig
to the media. Their maximum development takes place at 98° F.— that is,
at a temperature nearly the same as that of the human body. These spores
grow very well on Raulin's liquid, on beer wort, and Sabouraud's maltose ;
their colour is brown on the former and green on the latter culture medium.
In certain cases they may take on a yellowish colour. Gelatine is liquefied
by Aspergillus fumigatus.
In animals the pathogenic action of this fungus is well marked. Pigeons
die three or four days after inoculation of the spores in the axillary vein ;
rabbits die in six or eight days, and guinea-pigs in four or five days, after
injection into the veins of the ear. The ape is less sensitive ; and this patho-
genic action, which is nil in the sheep, is present in the case of dogs and cats
(Saxer). Inhalation into the trachea kills pigeons in from twelve days to a
fortnight. The ingestion of spores produces exceptionally in the rabbit
tubercular lesions of the intestine, which may go on to perforation (Renon).
Spontaneous aspergillosis is fairly frequent in birds ; it may invade the
eggs during incubation, and transmit the disease to the chick (Leucet).
It^s fairly rare in Mammifera?, where it takes the form either of chronic
phthisis or of superacute hgemorrhagic septicaemia (Leucet). The spores
of the Aspergillus fumigatus are present in the air, -upon trees, in the most
superficial layers of the soil, and are also found in the nasal mucosa and the
saliva of persons who are healthy, or who are suffering from the most diverse
affections. The surface of seeds is, however, theu- chosen haunt (Renon).
The resistance of the spores is considerable, and their vitality is enormous.
They still reproduce themselves after two or three years' sojourn in an old
culture, but their virulence is, in consequence, found to be attenuated. Their
vitality is weakened by a more or less prolonged sojourn in organic mem-
branes (Renon). Heat kUls them, and they then become harmless to
animals ; but the animal is none the less susceptible to the injection of viru-
lent spores, and appears to succumb the more quickly, as the degree of heat
necessary for the sterilization of the primarily injected spores has been high.
By a progressive inoculation with virulent spores, rabbits can be made to
stand considerable doses, that would rapidly kill the control animals.
The Aspergillus fumigatus does not produce toxines. Neither culture
fluids nor substances extracted from the mycelium possess any vaccinal
powers (Kotliar, Renon). In the rabbit the spores traverse the placenta,
and are directly transmitted from the mother to the foetus.
^Etiology— Pathogenesis.— It is interesting to consider how pigeon-
feeders may take the disease. Infected pigeons present on the floor of the
mouth a small tumour, or chancre, which may cause a mouth-to-mouth
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 209
contamination. It is probable that more usually pigeon and feeder find
the common cause of their disease in the spores of the AspergUlus fumigatus
which are present on the grains of millet and vetch.
Hair-combers may also contract aspergillary tuberculosis. They are
infected from the flour which they rub on the hair to remove the grease This
flour contams many spores, while the undressed hairs collected every mornino
in the dirt-boxes by the rag-pickers of Paris scarcely contain any of them*'
Jiirds livmg m this dusty atmosphere succumb in a fortnight to three weeks •
pigeons that are made to inhale this dust die of aspergillary tuberculosis
In some cases aspergillosis finds in man a soil perfectly prepared by
previous mflammation of the broncho-pulmonary system. The affection
IS then secondary ; its progress is slow, and almost alwavs masked by the
symptoms of the primary disease ; it is not recognized, as a rule, until the
autopsy. In other cases aspergillary pseudo-tuberculosis is a primary or
autonomous affection that is identical with the disease seen in animals and
It IS this form that I have especially in view in this chapter. The French
conception of primary aspergillosis (Dieulafoy, Chantemesse and Widal
lotam, Renon, Gaucher and Sergent), after having been actively attacked
in Germany, ls now completely admitted ; it is indisputable, for it corresponds
exactly with anatomical, experimental, and clinical facts (Renon) Cases
have been multiplied during the last few years, and, according to Saxer
primary aspergillosis is much more frequent than is usually supposed
The only difference that stiU separates the French from the German
school consLsts in the term " pseudo-tuberculosLs," which is applied in
France to the primary aspergillary ulcerative process in the lun.^ If we
remember that this affection, which destroys the lung tissue, presents all the
clinical signs of tuberculosis, we see that we are very nearly in agreement,
and that in every case the idea of aspergillosis as a primary disease receives
a striking confirmation.
Symptoms.-Asporgillary pseudo-tuberculosis presents various forms
Ihe disease may begin with slight or with abundant haemoptysis followed
m general by other attacks at intervals of several months, or of one or two
years.
At the same time, fatigue, loss of strength, with dyspepsia and anorexia
appear. The cough is dry, and recurs in fits. The expectoration, at first
fro liy becomes greenish and purulent, and the sputum is often streaked
with blood. The signs of pulmonary tuberculosis in its first stage are found
--namely, slight induration at one apex, with harsh breathing and some-
times prolonged expiration. A rise of temperature to 102° F., with or without
niglit sweats, may be noted; sometimes, also, pleurisy, with or without
eftusion, may occur. In some patients haemoptysis is rare, and the signs
"t l>ronchitis are most prominent. The cough is Licessant, and suffo-
14
210 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
cation i. intense, especially during the night. Indeed, ;«->- °|;>;*;
asthma " (Benon) are seen ; the breathlessness diminishes durmg the day,
bnt 3y f the patient makes no active efforts. The .putum is greeni^.
Z2nt and sometimes nummular. During the attaclcs a brmtd. tempete,
wMi norh g sibilant and subcrepitant rales, is heard ; between the attacks,
r™ptom of puhnonary induration at the apex of the lung may be found.
nrrruK the other organs are healthy, the liver and spleen bemg
'■^Ihe'ci" -the disease is not always progressive, and slight improve
ment of variable duration may alternate with transient ^W^^f^^, ^^^
fe not as in ordinary tuberculosis, a gradual and progressive extensKin of the
ons After a period of transitory cachexia, the patients regain tlieir good
condition, and sometimes resemble tubercular patieii s ->}^f^l^l
would not be considered sick if auscultation were not performed Retro
Session is therefore nearly always the rule -the aspergiU,^ g-duaUy d^
Ippears from the expectoration, and a definite cure may be caused by
fibrosis, as is seen in the case of animals. j ti,„ 1„„<,<, bv Koch's
The most formidable complication is the mvasion of the lungs by K-och s
bacUlus, which gradually takes the place of the f™S- ■ t^^^;-- ^^^^
that of an ordinary pulmonary tuberculosis, accompanied by local lesions,
: aiialt^ulalrUaneouftuberculosis. Thisfibro-plast.^^^^^^^^^
asnerdUus however, helps the struggle against the new parasite but the
cS access ma; overshoot the mark, and m one case Reiion and bergent
h^ve notTd that fibrosis became, in its turn, the chief complication, and
the patient died of dilatation of the heart, with asy.stole.
The duration of aspergillary tuberculosis is very long ; it has lasted
three six eight years and more in the cases that have so far been observed
Th iSfc /««>«- niay not harm the lung, and may only mvade
the bronchial system. The result is a peculiar --''-»- —^•
which was essentially chronic in the two known case. J^'^^^^™ '
composed solely of mycelium and spores were situated in ^"^^ » «« ~
and expelled almost every month, with a crisis of acute dyspncea (Obici,
''"D^gTosUr-^^trLportant to make an early diagnosis, but this is im-
possMe'by clinical methods alone. We should think of the asperg" ;
hi a patient who has tubercular lesions, recognized as such by physical
xam!:ation, the course of events is slow and the general heathremams goo ^
The probability will become much greater if the patient be exposed in
hfs work to handlmg gram or flour (pigeon-feeders, hair-combers miller
edimen. etc.) ; and it will become a certainty if Koch's bacillus be absent
fromThe sputim and the mycelium be present. The diagnosis, thereforp
entirely rests on bacteriological exammation.
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 211
In searching for the bacilli, the Ziehl-Kiihne method should be employed.
If the result ls negative, we must prove the absence of the bacilli by inocula-
tion of a guinea-pig with the sputum. If thirty or forty days afterwards
the animal presents no tubercular lesion (verified bacteriologically) at the
point of inoculation, the question is decided : it is not a case of Koch's
tuberculosis.
The search for fragments of mycelium in the sputum should be made
with an aqueous solution of safTranin, or, better still, by staining with
thionin. If the search is negative, recourse may be had to cultures. If
it is positive, the same procedure should be employed, to make certain that
the fragments are really those of the aspergillary mycelium. The fresh
sputum, collected aseptically, should be sown in tubes of sterilized Raulin's
liquid, and placed in an oven at 98° F. If the sputum contains spores or
mycelium, we shall, by the second day, see that isolated filaments, which are
united into a tuft of mycelium, rise up from the sown particle ; the
mycelium will rise gradually, and take from three to six days to reach the
surface. Some hours later it will form a whitish, velvety, and absolutely
characteristic carpet, which twenty hours later is covered with greenish
spores, that assume a smoky-black colour in a few days. We must then
verify the pathogenic action of the fungus thus found on the rabbit, and
absolutely prove the Aspergillus fumigatus, since the two other species,
Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus glaucus, which develop under these con-
ditions, are non-pathogenic. The animal will succumb in a few days to a
generalized aspergillary tuberculosis of all the viscera, but especially of the
kidneys, and a fragment of the latter organ, sown in a tube of Raulin's
liquid, will in five or six days reproduce a culture of the Aspergillus fumi-
gatus. The cycle will be complete, and absolutely no room will be left
to doubt the existence of the fungus in the sjiutum.
We can thus eliminate asthma, chronic bronchitis, and Koch's tuber-
culosis. The pseudo-tuberculosis produced by the Rhizomucor parasiticus
(Lucet and Constantin) closely resembles aspergillosis ; minute examination
of the parasite found in the sputum and cultures will alone prevent error.
Actinomycosis of the apex of the lung is often accompanied by chocolate-
coloured expectoration, which consists of a mixture of blood and pus ; the
peculiar grains of the actinomyces arc found in it. In the exceptional cases
of puhuonary mycosis, due to Eppinger's streptothrix, the form of the
mycelium in the sputum is different, and cultures decide the question.
Prognosis.— The prognosis of aspergillary pseudo-tuberculosis is rela-
tively good ; this does not obtain in pseudo-tuberculosis complicated by
Koch's bacillus. The remissions arc less frequent and less prolonged ; the
puhuonary signs are more marked, and death may supervene at a distant
date.
14-2
212 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Pathological Anatomy. — ^When aspergillary pseudo-tuberculosis is
secondary, and occurs as a complication of chronic bronchitis or of previous
pulmonary tuberculosis, it is, as a rule, a post-mortem discovery : small
velvety, greenish, or brownish tufts, composed of adherent mycelium, are
found. The cavity contains full-blown spores. Outside this infiltration
of the walls of the cavities by the fungus we may see (Lichtheim, Cohnheim,
Fiirbinger) tubercles of the size of a nut or of a millet-seed, which, under the
microscope, show an abundant mycelium extending from the tubercle to the
alveoli.
The lesions of simple and primary aspergillary pseudo-tuberculosis have
been studied in man (Ribbert, Boyce, Saxer), and also in animals (Dieulafoy,
Chantemesse and Widal, Ribbert, Renon, Obici, Saxer). Microscopically
there is no difference between the tubercle due to the aspergillus and that due
to Koch's bacillus. In pigeons the lesions affect especially the lung and
the liver ; in rabbits they affect the kidneys ; and pleurisy, enteritis with
perforation of the gut, peritonitis, cystitis, and osteitis of the vertebrae,
with congestive abscess, simulating Pott's disease, may be noted. All these
lesions are tubercular in form. The mycelium is passed in the urine, when
the renal changes are marked (Renon).
The tubercles vary in size from a pin's head to a small pea ; they may
undergo vitreous degeneration and calcification, with formation of true
cavities ; at other times we find a tubercular infiltration en nappe. Asper-
gillary tuberculosis may pass into a fibrous condition, which is one of its
active modes of cure. This process is also seen in man, even when bacil-
losis is present as a complication. At the autopsy of a pigeon-feeder,
affected in succession by these two maladies, Renon and Sergent noted
marked lesions of chronic pneumonia ; the fibrous tissue extended from the
bronchi to the pleura, choking the lung tissue proper.
" The histological lesions are in every way comparable with those of
bacillary tuberculosis. In a section of the lung we see a large number of
tubercular nodules, surrounded at their periphery by giant cells. The
growth of these nodules can easily be followed. The young ones are formed
by an agglomeration of leucocytes or of epithelial cells around one or several
branches of mycelium. The older granulations present in their centra a
feltwork of mycelium, the interlacing branches of which stain better at the
periphery, in the immediate neighbourhood of the giant cells. In certain
cases the tubercle is solely represented by a very large cell with multiple
nuclei ; while the protoplasm contains a ramification of mycelium, either
alive and well stained, or altered in structure: moniliform, unstained, and
partly digested by phagocytes " (Dieulafoy, Chantemesse and Widal). In
chronic cases we sometimes find in the tubercle tufts of abundant
mycelium, presenting a great likeness to actinomycosis (Laulanie, Renoi
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 213
Ribbert, Boyce) and to the actinomycotic forms of Koch's bacilhis
(Renon).
Indeed, according to the German school, the fungus plays the chief part in
the production of the histological lasions in the human lung. The aspergillus
is said to provoke foci of necrosis, which, by elimination of their con-
tents, cause cavities. This process is said to be specific (Saxer). We see,
however, that two at first irreconcilable opinions are almost brought into
harmony, although the primary pathogenic action of the parasite has
remained a subject of active discussion.
Treatment. — ^The treatment is symptomatic and general. Haemor-
rhage must be treated by the means given under Pulmonary Tuberculosis.
Bronchitis may be alleviated with creosote and terpene, and tincture of
lobelia, with iodide of potash, which has given fail- results in animals, should
be employed for the attacks of suffocation (Rer.on). The general condition
should be maintained by superalimentation and by large doses of cod-liver
oil (.3 to 5 ounces daily), and residence in the country, at the seaside, or in
a climate at high altitude should be advised.
XVIII. CANCER OF THE LUNG.
etiology. — Cancer of the lung may be primary or secondary ; the
former is rare, the latter common.
The growth is frequently secondary to cancer of the breast, which extends
to the parietal pleura, when the subpleural lymphatics carry cancer cells to
the lung. Tlie mechanism is the same in the propagation of cancers from
tlie mediastinum to the lung.
Cancer of the lung is sometimes secondary to that of tlie abdominal
organs — glands, stomach, intestines, liver, and ovary. The spread of cancer
from these organs to the lung takes place in different ways : by venous
emboli, following the course of the portal vein, vena cava, right heart, and
pulmonary artery ; by way of the lymphatics, the cancer reaching the
peritoneum over the diaphragm and passing through this muscle by means
of the lymphatic communication existing between the peritoneum and the
pleura, and invading the visceral pleura and lung. When cancer is consecu-
tive to that of the limbs or of tlie head, the propagation takes place by the
venous (■Jianiicls.
Pathological Anatomy. — Cancer of the lung may be lobar or diffuse.
The lobar varirty forms a bulky mass, which may involve or comjjress the
neighbouring organs (tracjiea, oesophagus, arteries, and veins); in tlir
diffuse form th(! growth is (lissimiinated in the form of nodules in the deep
layers, or on the surface of the organ.
214 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Lobar cancer is usually primary and unilateral. Diffuse or noaular
cancer is nearly always secondary, and affects both lungs ; the cancerous
nodules may be superficial (sub pleural) or deep (intrapulmonary). They
are of all sizes ; some are no larger than a pin's head, and the condition is
called miliary carcinosis, from its resemblance to tuberculosis ; other nodules
are as large as a pea or a walnut.
Primary cancer nearly always assumes the encephaloid form. Secon-
dary cancer is a reproduction of the parent growth, which may be scirrhous,
melanotic, colloid, or adenomatous (Marfan). The cancerous mass may
finally become softened ; in some cases it forms a bloody pulp, the elimination
of which may give rise to a cavity.
Microscopic examination in primary cancer shows the alveoli blocked by
spherical or polygonal cells, with large ovoid nuclei. The alveolar walls
are usually normal. " There is no stroma of new formation in cancer of the
lung, and it is the fibrous framework of this organ which takes its place."
The epithelial origin has been definitely shown by Malassez. Cancer arises
in the epithelium ; it is uncertain whether the bronchial or glandular epi-
thelium may not give rise to it.
All the structures in the mediastinum may be invaded by cancer of the
lung. The lymphatic vessels and the corresponding glands (cervical and
axillary glands), especially the bronchial ones, may show simple inflamma-
tion or cancerous change. The pleura is usually i'nvolved in cancer of the
lung ; the result is pleurisy, with effusion, which is very often haemorrhagic
(see Haemorrhagic Pleurisy).
Description. — In a description of cancer of the lung it is necessary to
distinguish the symptoms which properly belong to it from those which
depend on invasion of the mediastinum and of the pleura ; this distincstion,
however, is very difficult, for cancer rarely remains confined to the lung
without affecting the pleura or the glands of the mediastinum.
The symptoms proper to cancer of the lung are somewhat limited. The
patient complains of pain (pain in the side, which may or may not be radi-
ating) of increasing intensity ; the pahi may be brachial, cervical, or inter-
costal, and accompanied by zona. Cough is a usual symptom. Dyspnoea
may be slight, severe, continuous, or paroxysmal, with or without stridor,
depending on the multiplicity of its causes. Compression of the trachea
and the bronchi, compression of the vagus and recurrent nerves, lesions of
thejpleura, and pleural effusion, may all cause dyspnoea.
Haemoptysis is fairly frequent, and some authors have given as charac-
teristic the currant- jelly-like expectoration which contains cancer elements
and elastic fibres from the lung. I have lately seen a typical case of tliis
expectoration, with Dr. Marcano, in cancer of the lung, secondary to that of
the breast. According as the cancer is lobar or diffuse, the dulhiess yields
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 215
more or less precise information ; auscultation may sometimes show tubular
breathing and bronchophony.
When the bronchial glands are invaded by cancer, the symptom-complex,
which we shall study under Tumours of the Mediastinum, is found. I shall
here simply mention two of these symptoms : paroxysmal or intermittent
dyspnoea (compression of the vagus and phrenic nerve) and cough, which
is often analogous to the fits of whooping-cough.
The cancerous mass may also cause compression of one recurrent nerve
(dyspncea and spasm of the glottis), of the oesophagus (dysphagia), or
of the venous channels (oedema of the face and neck and supplementary
circulation).
It sometimes happens that acute, subacute, or latent pleurisy masks
the development of cancer of the lung ; the patient only complains when
dyspnoea, due to effusion or to other causes, has become severe. Pleurisy is
discovered ; thoracentesis ls performed, and fluid, which is most frequently
blood-stained, is drawn of? ; and yet, in spite of the operation, pain, cough,
and dyspnoea continue. I have seen several cases — one, among others,
with Dr. Auburtin. The patient had a considerable pleural effusion. I
evacuated seven pints of blood-stained fluid in four sittings. The im-
provement was of short duration,^ and, though the effusion did not
recur, the cancer continued its progress. In one of the following
sections we shall see the importance ' of haemorrhagic pleurisy in
cancer.
After a duration of from one month to two years, cancer ends in death.
Death which supervenes from increasing dyspnoea and asphyxia is terribly
painful ; injections of morphia are in such cases the only palliative. Rapid
or even sudden death has often been noted. In other cases the patient
dies in a state of asystole, with general oedema, cyanosis, and coma. Some-
times hectic fever supervenes and ends the scene.
The diagnosis of cancer of the lung presents serious difficulties, especially
when it is primary and runs an acute course. We are so used to the slow
progress of cancer, to the gradual breaking-up of the individual, and to the
characteristic colour of the skin, that the diagnosis is often at fault when
cancer runs an acute course. This acute course is not rare in cancer of the
lung. An individual in good health shows symptoms which might quite
well be put down to acute phthisis. He dies in a few weeks, and cancer of
the lung is found post mortem.
In doubtful cases we must never omit to look for cancer in other organs —
e.g., cancerous nodules under the skin, cancer of the liver, rectum, testis, or
uterus. A previous operation or the presence of a scar (breast) may give a
clue. I have twice seen cancer of the lung in patients wiio liad undergone
operation — the one for disease of the left testis, the other for an osteo-
216 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
sarcoma of the knee.* It is also necessary to make sure of the condition of
the corresponding axillary or cervical glands ; this evidence of cancer,
although inconstant, is none the less valuable when it exists.
XIX. BRONCHO-PULMONARY LITHIASIS.
Pathological Anatomy and Pathology. — " Lung stones," or broncho-
pulmonary lithiasis, has been well described by Poulalion. From the histo-
logical point of view, they may be divided into three categories — cartilagi-
nous or cartilaginiform, bony, and calcareous bodies. We must also differ-
entiate the growths and the changes which take place in the thickness of
the broncho-pleuro-pulmonary tissues, and constitute parenchymatous,
cartilaginous, bony, or calcareous concretions, from those which occur in
the Ulterior of normal or accidental cavities in the respiratory system, and
are always calcareous in nature, constituting calculi, properly speaking
(broncholiths).
1. The cartilaginous or cartilaginiform growths are made up of carti-
laginous or other dense fibroid tissue ; they may be situated in the walls of
the bronchi, in the pleura, or in the lung tissue. They have the appear-
ance of cartilage, and are resistant, elastic, whitish, opaline, and of a bluish
sheen.
2. Bony growths are characterized by the existence of osteoblasts and
the presence of newly-formed Haversian canals. These bony calculi arise
in ossified bronchial cartilages (bronchial dilatation, pulmonary phthisis), in
ossifications of the tracheo-bronchial mucosa, in ossifications of the pleura,
developed in the fibrous shell of old pleurisies.
3. Calcareous growths result from calcification of the different tissues
in the respiratory system, by incrustation with particles of tribasic phos-
phate of lime and carbonate of lime. Among the lesions of the lung which
may undergo calcareous transformation we must notice, m the first place,
the caseous tubercle, then infarcts, broncho-pneumonic nodules, miliary
abscesses, pseudo-tubercles of actinomycosis or of the aspergillus, and,
lastly, cysts and tumours of the lung.
The lung may only contain some isolated, calcareous concretions, as is
the case in the caseous nodules of ordinary tuberculosis which is in process of
cicatrization and cure. At other times, on the contrary, the concretions
are in considerable number, and the lung tissue is, as it were, riddled by
them ; this condition is called calcareous granulosis of the lung (Poulalion).
The parenchymatous concretions may become stationary and remain
latent, but in other cases they may undergo a process of enucleation which
* This i:)atient, whom I saw with Dechambre, was suffering from cancer of the upper
left lobe, which presented the appearance of encysted pleurisy.
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 217
causes their migration into the tissues, and generally ends by their passing
into the air-passages.
Intracavitary calculi present the most marked analogy with biliary
and urinary calculi ; they may, like the latter, have as their nucleus of
origin foreign bodies from wathout, or parenchymatous concretions which
have been set free ; they are formed in the bronchial channels, or in cavities
accidentally developed.
Symptoms. — In some cases broncho -pulmonary lithiasis, especially in
its parenchymatous forms, may be latent, and only be discovered post
mortem. As a rule, the presence of calculi in the respiratory passages pro-
duces troubles similar to those which occur in the biliary or in the urinary
tracts. True crises of bronchial and pulmonary colic occur. Sometimes
the expulsion of the concretion takes place without the patient perceiving
it, and he expectorates the calculus while coughing ; at other times, on the
contrary, as happened to a patient in my wards, the expulsion is preceded by
heaviness, dyspnoea, pain, constriction, anguisli, and a feeling of tearing,
either in the sternal region or at the sides of the chest. Thene pains are
almost always followed by obstinate, jerky cough, during which the patient
suddenly experiences a sharp, tearing sensation in the larynx, and increase
of the dyspnoea, followed immediately by the expulsion of a hard body,
which may strike against the back of the incisor teeth. The expectoration
of the calculas being accomplished, the bronchial COlic ends, and the
cough and pain frequently yield at the same time. Sometimes it is only a
case of abortive bronchial colic ; the patient, while coughing, experiences
a painful sensation or feeling of a foreign body rising in the trachea, and
then passing back again into the bronchi and lung. The duration of the
crisis is very variable. It may last a few moments, or even some hours — as
many as forty-eight (Poulalion). The number and size of the calculi brought
up are also variable ; as many as 400 have been counted, and may be as
large as a ])in's head, a millet-seed, or a nut.
Tlie expectoration of calculi is often accompanied by Imemoptysis, which,
tliough generally slight, is sometimes fulminant ; the bleeding may precede the
expectoration of the calculus by some days, but as a rule accompanies it.
We may see fever due to neighbouring inflammation, or to the action of
the calculus on the altered mucosa, with consecutive absorption of septic
products. PLxamination of the chest before, during, or after the crisis
most often yields but trifling information ; bronchitic rales are heard, and
it is only in obstruction of a large bronchus by a concretion that we can
recognize behjw the obstacle more or less extensive absence of breath-
sounds.
Br()ncho-])ulnionary lithiasis may ofcur in the course of tnborculosis,
and favour the development of the latter trouhle.
218 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
In other cases the chronic course of lithiasis simulates phthisis, although
absolutely no tuberculosis is present ; this is known as pulmonary pseudo-
phthisis of calcareous origin (Poulalion). During a more or less lengthy
period the patient suffers from cough, which is at first dry, but later is accom-
panied by mucous or muco-purulent sputum. These symptoms become
worse ; signs of induration, of pulmonary congestion, or of localized bron-
chitis, aiad even those of small cavities, are often found. The general con-
dition becomes bad ; wasting and night-sweats appear. Haemoptysis is
common. The attention, however, is chiefly attracted to the dyspnoea and
the pain ; both come on in more or less intense attacks, until in a more
violent fit of coughing than usual the patient brings up the calculus, with
or without haemoptysis. The symptoms now show marked improvement,
when only one calculus exists ; but the relief is temporary when there are
several calculi, and their expulsion is always preceded by a period of aggrava-
tion. In this form Koch's bacilli are never found in the sputum.
Cure is the rule when there are no complications. As complications, I
may note acute bronchitis, which generally ends favourably ; pleuro-
pneumonia, which is often fatal ; abscess of the lung, which sometimes opens
up the bronchi, or ends in perforation of the pleura and pyopneumothorax.
Sudden death from obstruction of a large bronchus by a calculus has been
noted (Tice).
Diagnosis. — The diagnosis is almost always impossible before expulsion
of the calculus. Cough, dyspnoea, and pain in the chest are quite insufficient
signs, and the rejection of the calculus must be waited for. We must then
ascertain whether the patient is tubercular or not, and whether the con-
cretion is of intraparenchymatous or intracavitary origin. Examination
of the sputum for bacilli and inoculation of the guinea-pig will help to
decide the first point ; as regards the second, histological examination of the
cut section will establish it.
The differential diagnosis must be made from fragments of bone that
are coughed up, but do not come from the respiratory system ; from
portions of the vertebrae in Pott's disease (Chenieux) ; from a sequestrum
from the larynx ; calcareous concretions formed in the ventricles of the larynr
(Pravaz) ; concretions from the crypts of the tonsils ; rhinoliths which have
fallen into the pharynx ; and, lastly, foreign bodies which have reached the
lung from without.
The prognosis of calculous pseudo-phthisis is not grave when the patient
brings up the foreign body ; yet apart from the complications mentioned
above, the prognosis is much affected by the weakened condition of the lung
and the possible development of tuberculosis.
Treatment can only be symptomatic ; surgical intervention appear^
hardly possible, because precise indications are wanting as to the seat of the
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 219
calculus. If calcareous change in tubercles is favourable to their cure we
should assist this calcification by the use of soluble phosphates and by
nourishment which contains much vegetable matter.
XX. HYDATID CYSTS OF THE LUNG AND OF THE
PLEURA.
Pathological Anatomy. — In frequency hydatid cysts of the lung come
next to those of the liver — that is to say, we see them fairly often. As I
have described in detail (see Liver) the life history of the hydatid, I shall
here notice only the characters peculiar to hydatid of the lung.
The cyst usually affects the right base. It is sometimes associated with
a cyst in the liver. The pulmonary cyst is unilocular, the alveolar cyst
being extremely rare. In order to reach the lung, the embryo follows
various routes. It may enter the respiratory tract by aspiration of dust ;
it may be ingested with food and drink, pass from the intestine into the
portal veins, traverse the liver, the subhepatic veins, the vena cava, and the
heart, to be arrested in the lung. The embryo may perhaps enter the
ha?morrhoidal veins, pass tlirough the pudic and the internal iliac
veins, reach the inferior vena cava, without passing into the liver
(Chachereau), and travel through the heart into the lung. In the case
of coexistence of hydatid of the liver and of the lung, it may be asked if
the embryo has not migrated directly from the one organ to the other.
The adventitious covering of hydatid cysts of the lung is very thin ;
it may be completely absent, and this fact will explain why the cyst so
readily opens into the bronchi. Hydatid cysts of the pleura are rare, unless
the pleura has been invaded secondarily by a pulmonary cyst.
Description. — As the lung is less tolerant than the liver, the early
growtli of the pulmonary cyst is rarely quite latent. In the liver, cysts may
be present for a long while and may attain large proportions without pro-
ducing symptoms or results ; enlargement of the right hypochondrium is
sometimes the first sign of the hydatid cyst. In the lung, on the other hand,
it is exceptional for the hydatid to remain quiet long ; indeed, its presence
may be revealed early by important symptoms, of which haemoptysis is the
most striking.
Period of Onset. — Dry, jerky cough may be the only symptom for
weeks. It is the result of a reflex, and simulates the cough of tuberculosis,
with this difference, however — that the cough in tuberculosis is almost
always followed by some ex})ectorati()n.
The pain, which is rarely sharp at this stage, may simulate pleuritic
pain or intercostal neuralgia ; in some cases it is obstinate, and radiates into
the neck, the shoulder, and the epigastrium.
220 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Dyspnoea is present at an advanced stage of the malady, and in com-
plications ; although it is rare during the early growth of the hydatid, it has
been noted in some cases.
Haemoptysis, from its importance and its frequency, deserves careful atten-
tion, and, while it may be either slight or severe, and more or less repeated,
plays a large part in the history of pulmonary hydatids. Early haemoptysis,
arising at the onset of the malady — before any other symptom, indeed — and
late haemoptysis, coincident with the opening of the cyst, are both seen.
Early haemoptysis comes on as a precursory sign in this disease, as in
many pulmonary affections. It is, indeed, remarkable that the first cry
of revolt on the part of the lung against the invader is perhaps a means
of defence. Since phagocytosis is insufficient to meet the attack, the vessels
take part, and it may be said that the lung seeks to get rid of its adversary
by the ejaculation of blood ; it sometimes succeeds, and the haemoptysis,
having no ill results, is then termed " essential."
I have named this early haemoptysis " defensive." It is very frequent
in pulmonary tuberculosis ; tubercular haemoptysis may, indeed, arise in
the course of apparently excellent health, when no suspicion of tuberculosis
exists. Parents who have suffered from haemoptysis may beget tubercular
children, although the former may have had no other sign of tuberculosis
than the haemoptysis, which has left no traces.
We also find early haemoptysis in false pulmonary tuberculosis ; I have
seen it many times in pigeon-feeders affected with aspergillary tuberculosis
{vide Chapter IV., section xvii.).
Early haemoptysis is also seen in patients with broncho-pulmonary
concretions, who are suspected of tuberculosis, until they bring up the
concretions during an attack of bronchial colic. Hydatid cysts of the lung
especially provoke early haemoptysis, as will be seen from the following
examples, taken from my clinical lecture on the subject :*-
A case sent to me by Dr. Leroy :
On May 22, 1898, the first haemoptysis came on, without appreciable cause, and a
so-called pleuritic pain appeared on the right side. Four months later fresh haemoptysis
(about a pint of bright frothy blood) suddenly took place ; obstinate cough supervened,
and the patient was convinced that he had tuberculosis. He was treated without
success, for his strength gradually decreased. At intervals pain reappeared on the
right side ; appetite diminished, and six months later he had lost 32 pounds in weight.
Next year the same symptoms were present : frequent fits of coughing, and further
spitting of blood. Four large hsemoptyses were recorded. On each occasion the
haemoptysis was treated with ergotin, Rabel -water, and applications of ice, with absolute
rest in bed. Each bleeding left the patient still more feeble ; though he had no fever,
he coughed continually. The situation became worse, and the diagnosis of haemoptoic
tuberculosis appeared no longer doubtful.
* Dieulafoy, " Les Hemoptysies des Kystes Hydatiques du Poumon " {Clinique
Medicale de r Hotel -Dieu, Paris, 1905), 16'"'^levon.
I
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 221
A decisive incident, however, revealed the true nature of the affection. On Novem-
ber 12, 1899, the cough became more violent than ever, and he coughed up much blood-
stained sputum and a large piece of hydatid membrane. The thoracic pain, the cough,
the numerous haemorrhages, were due, not to tuberculosis, but to a hydatid cyst of the
lung, which had previously given no definite sign.
The expulsion of hydatid membranes and the attacks of haemoptysis recurred on
several occasions. The .expulsion of hydatid membranes was almost always heralded,
twenty-four hours in advance, by fits of coughing and by more or less abundant haemop-
tysis. On the other hand, some of the haemorrhages were not followed by expulsion
of hydatid membrane. From March 24, 1900, to the beginning of April, 1901, thirteen
large hajmorrhages were counted, without expulsion of pus or of membrane. They con-
tinued during May, but it was not till August 25 that pus and large membranes were
brought up. During the last four months of 1901 the hcPmcrrhages recurred, and were
always followed by the coughing up of hydatid membranes, with or without purulent
sputum. In 1902 haemoptysis, membranes coughed up ; from May 22, 1898, to April 12,
1902, haemorrhage on sixty different occasions, and membranes coughed up on forty-
three. He is now cured.
Case published by Laveran :
A soldier, twenty-six years of age, was in excellent health up to the end of October.
He practised fencing a great deal, and in the latter part of October, during an assault-at-
arms, he suddenly felt sharp pain in the chest, and brought up about a tumblerful of
bright red blood. After a few days he resumed his duties, but soon felt pain on both sides
of the chest, and had fresh hajmorrhage. On December 5 he was sent to a military
hospital, where phthisis was diagnosed, and he was invalided out. Next April the
cause of these haemorrhages was discovered : the patient coughed up pus containing
hydatid membranes, and thus got rid of his hydatid cyst seven months after the first
spitting of blood.
A medical student has published his own case :
After an attack of pleurisy the patient had slight haemoptysis, in April. The sputum
was frothy and tinged with bright blood, while signs of congestion and crepitant rales,
were found at the right apex. During May the patient was treated with quinine,
creasote, etc. Fever app(;ared, and he lost his appetite. On May 25, fresh haemoptysis.
Finally, after a series of troubles, thought to be tubercular, in January 1.3 of the next
year, he found a piece of hydatid membrane, 2 inches square, in the sputum.
Watelet relates the following case :
A man of forty was taken ill with haemoptysis and wasting ; rales in tlic left lung ;
tuberculosis suspected. F'our months later fresh haemoptysis, foetid sputujn, and expul-
sion of enormous hydatid membrane.
Landouzy writes :
A woman had five ha-morrhages three months before the rupture of the pulmonary
cyst. The blood was red and frothy ; the quantity about half a tumblerful on each occa-
sion. She had been considered tubercular.
Fenger and Hollister speak of a patient who had attacks of haemoptysis
for twelve years. Later he brought up the cyst ; pncumotomy became
necessary, and he recovered com})letely.
In a case of hydatid of the lung reported by Delgrange haemoptysis,
which was sometimes triHing, sometimes very profuse, persisted for five
months.
222 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
In his admirable lecture on hydatids of the lung Trousseau has been
careful to say that hsemoptysis has been noted in almost every case, and,
among other examples, quotes Mercier's case :
A man was subject to haemoptysis for several years, but showed no other signs of
tuberculosis ; he was suddenly seized with acute pain in the right side ; examination of
the chest revealed hydropneumothorax. Post mortem hydatid of the lung was foiuid ;
it had caused perforation of the pleura and ulceration of a bronchus.
A gentleman from the Argentine Republic, thinking himself affected with pulmonary
tuberculosis, consulted me at the beginning of 1902. He complained of obstinate cough
for two months and frequent haemoptysis. No sputum. On auscultation, I dis-
covered no trace of tuberculosis, neither rales nor dullness being present. Examination
of the sputum failed us, because the patient brought up none. The appetite was bad,
and the man was wasting. I left the diagnosis open. After an interval of some
weeks I saw the patient a second and third time, and the most minute investigation
revealed nothing. The haemoptysis continued.
One day the patient brought me a bottle containing a cloudy liquid, with a quantity
of hydatid shreds, which he had brought up during the night, after terrible fits of cough-
ing and of breathlessness, which almost amounted to suffocation. The diagnosis was
clear, and I took the offending body to the H6tel-Dieu, telling my pupils the history
of this patient.
Hearn, in his work, which comprises 144 cases of hydatid of the lung,
gives prominence to the frequency of haemoptysis. " In less than a fifth
of my cases," says he, " there is no mention of it."
In Iceland, where hydatid disease is so frequent, Finsen says that it is
almost possible to diagnose pulmonary echinococcus from spitting of blood.
Vegar and Cranwell, in their monograph on hydatid cysts in the Argentine
Republic, say that haemoptysis constitutes one of the most important
symptoms in cysts of the lung.
Widal has reported a case of hydatid cyst of the lung in which daily
haemoptysis without fever and expectoration remained the chief symptom
for four months.
To sum up, haemoptysis, whether early or anterior to the rupture of the
cyst, presents different forms. In some cases haemoptysis is reduced to a
minimum. We see bloody, brownish, or reddish sputum of a gooseberry
or currant colour. This sputum is coughed up, and may recur several times
in the day for weeks or for months, with or without periods of arrest. Some-
times bright red blood is brought up at more or less definite intervals for
months or even years.
On examining the cases, we see that haemoptysis may precede the other
signs. I think that the embryo may, from the moment of its fixation in
the lung, cause haemoptysis, and I believe that haemoptysis may be repeated
when the hydatid cyst is only as big as a pin's head, a small pea, or a nut,
and may go on during the growth of the cyst before its rupture. Such is
the early haemoptysis. It is evident that we must recognize it.
The above details will, I think, suffice as regards early haemoptysis]
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 223
which accompanies the growth in the lung ; subsequently we shall have to
study the late haemoptysis which accompanies rupture of the cyst.
Let us now consider pleurisy — a very rare complication, it is true, but
one which may nevertheless supervene from the first.
It is important to remember that pleurisy may supervene at the onset
of a pulmonary hydatid. I do not speak, of course, of hydatid of the pleura,
which is extremely rare, as we shall see later ; I allude to those cases of
pleurisy which develop in the ordinary way from the onset of the pulmonary
cyst. I do not know its exact pathogeny, but it is certain that pleurisy
may develop in hydatid of the lung, as in that of the liver — e.g. :
A hospital attendant, who had been treated for a month for pleurisy, which was
cured, coughed up four months later foetid sputum and hydatid membranes.
A medical student, Marconnet, was taken ill "mith pleurisy, which preceded the other
symptoms of hydatid. " The numerous attacks of pleurisy," says Marconnet, " from
which I suffered during my disease were assuredly due to the formation of the cyst.
They were, moreover, so strange that they puzzled my doctors. The effusions dis-
appeared as if by magic. If it be admitted that my first pleurisy may have been
primary, and that it was not the result, but the cause, of localizing the hexacanthus,
how can the pleurisies wliich were consecutive to it be explained ? Is it not more
rational to consider that they were all caused by the parasite ?"
Another medical student, Chachereau, who also reported his own case, suffered at
the age of twenty-three from pleurisy, which was the first symptom to appear. At the
end of 1872 he suffered from left pleurisy, with much effusion. Dr. Leonard! recognized
the gra%nty of his condition, and thought of puncture. The pleurisy showed a most
insidious course. The effusion was absorbed rapidly, and the other symptoms of hydatid
made their appearance much later.
From the first, hydatid of the lung may excite general symptoms. Loss
of strength, anorexia, and wasting have been noted in a large number of
cases.
In short, it is seen that, in its first period, hydatid of the lung shows
its presence by symptoms which simulate pulmonary tuberculosis to such
an extent as to be mistaken for it. A patient comes to us with haemop-
tysis, and says that for some time past he has been coughing and wasting.
It is quite natural to suppose the onset of tuberculosis. However, he does
not bring up sputum, and the rales are not clearly localized to the apex
of the lung, while the search for bacilli in the blood couglied up is negative.
This is quite true, and yet, in the face of repeated hamoptyses, cough,
anorexia, wasting, and attacks of pleurisy, we cannot eliminate the idea of
early tuberculosis. Perusal of the reported cases shows that the mistake
has almost always been made. In such cases the sero-diagnosis of tuber-
culosis must not be neglected, for a negative sero-diagnosis is of great value.
Radingraj)liy may sometimes be of use.
Evolution of the Cyst. — We have studied the onset of hydatid of the
lung ; let us now follow the other pliases of its growth. If the growing cyst
reaches the size of the foetal or adult head, and spreads towards the walls
224 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
of the thorax, they may become arched. According to the localization of
the cyst, the arching occupies the lower, lateral, or upper part of the chest.
It simulates in different cases intrathoracic tumour or encysted pleurisy.
Sometimes the cyst, if it be very large, may simulate general pleurisy,
Examples of these different varieties are as follows :
Moutard-Martin says : " In a patient who had akeady had several attacks of ha?mop-
tysis, arching of the lateral and inferior part of the thorax appeared on the left side.
This arching rose as high as the seventh intercostal space. Over this area dullness was
complete, tactile vibrations were abolished, and the normal vesicular murmur was
replaced by tubular breathing. With all reserve, it was thought to be a case of encysted
pleurisy. Thoracentesis was performed, and it was found that a hydatid cyst of the
lung had been pimctured."
" A patient," says Danlos, " presented arching of the lower lateral and posterior
part of the thorax on the right side. This arching reached as high as the fourth inter-
costal space. At this level the intercostal spaces bulged outwards. Percussion gave
complete dullness, and auscultation showed abolition of the vesicular murmur. The
patient had a hydatid cyst of the lung."
In a case which was reported by Debove all the signs of encysted jjleural effusion on
the left side were found — namely, abolition of the thoracic vibrations, dullness on per-
cussion, absence of vesicular murmur, and displacement of the heart. The case was
one of hydatid of the lung.
Landouzy writes : " The patient, who had had violent haemoptysis, showed dijata-
cion of the chest on the left side, ■v^dth bulging below the clavicle. Dullness on percus-
sion, abolition of thoracic vibrations, tubular breathing, and marked deviation of the
heart were found. Puncture confirmed the diagnosis, and 6 pints of liquid were drawn
oil from a hydatid cyst of the lung."
Large cysts may, then, produce bulging of the thorax, displace the heart,
and simulate encysted or extensive effusion. In some cases they produce
other symptoms, of which the most important are pain, dyspnoea, myosis
3n the same side as the cyst (Widal), and pressure signs, such as oedema of
the lower and upper limbs.
Diagnosis. — In the early stage hydatid cyst of the lung, especially if it
be deeply situated, escapes our methods of investigation. It produces no
dullness, no deformity, and no bulging of the thorax. Some rales, due to
the pulmonary congestion around the cyst, may be heard, but they do not
help us in diagnosis. Radiography may furnish some information. Haemop-
tysis must be taken into careful consideration. If, in an individual suffering
from repeated haemoptysis, there is no reason to suspect tuberculosis, asper-
gillosis, calculosis, or bronchiectasis, hydatid cyst of the lung must be
especially thought of. The diagnosis will be almost certain if the haemop-
tysis is accompanied by urticaria, as in Chachereau's case.
The diagnosis of hydatid cysts, when they produce deformity or bulging
of the chest, is also very difficult. To facilitate the discussion, let us divide
them into two categories. In some cases the bulging is so clearly limited
that the cyst forms a tumour. If the bulging occurs at the tense and antero-
lateral part of the chest, hydatid cyst of the liver is thought of ; if it deforms
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 225
the upper region of the thorax, aneurysm or tumour of the mediastinum
Nvill first enter our minds ; if it is posterior and lateral, the idea of an inter-
lobar pleurisy presents itself ; if the thoracic deformity occupies the postero-
inferior part of the chest, basal effusion is diagnosed. In other cases
the cyst does not form a tumour, but by its large extent simulates pleurisy
of the great pleural cavity, and presents most of its signs and symptoms,
such as dilatation of the thorax, absolute dullness, abolition of the vibra-
tions, tubular breathing, and deviation of the heart — in fact, everything
tends to produce mistakes. Aspiratory puncture would remove all doubts.
This is true, but we shall see later the mischief which may result from
puncture. In making a decision, we must inquire carefully into the symp-
toms which have marked the onset of the disease and have accompanied its
progress. Haemoptysis occupies the chief place.
Rupture of the Cyst.— All hydatid cysts of the lung do not grow towards
the walls of the thorax, neither do they acquire a large size. Many cases
are not large enough to betray themselves by any bulging of the chest ; but,
whatever be the size of the cyst, be it large- or small, complications will
certainly appear. They comprise inflammation of the neighbouring regions,
infection and suppuration in the cyst, and its rupture into the bronchi or
into the pleura.
In many cases rupture of the cyst is preceded or accompanied by broncho-
pulmonary lesions, which we must recognize. Pulmonary congestion,
broncho-pneumonia, and pleuro-pneumonia have been observed either
during the growth of the cyst or at the moment of its infection (Walske,
Lorieux). This side of the question has been neglected by some writers on
hydatid of the lung. I shall sum it up by describing a case under my care
at the Necker Hospital :
One of my attendants, wlio had had htrmoptysis several months before, was taken
ill with fever, cough, pain in the chest, and blood-stained sputum. On examining the
patient, we found subcrepitant mucous riiles and faint tubular breathing over the
middle third of the chest behind on the right side. This condition simulated a bastard
pneumonia, or pulmonary infarct. For several days these signs did not change, with
the exception of some friction sounds which blended with the diffuse rales.
The expectoration continued to be abundant, viscid, and hicmoptoic ; but then it
changed in character, becoming muco-purulcnt, and one day the patient coughed up
several shreds of hydatid membranes, which cleared up the diagnosis. The fever fell.
The liydatid cyst had suj)purated, and tlu; neigliljouring lung tissue had I'ecomo aiTcct-ed
by a bastard pneumonia.
These pneumonic attacks (lesions of tli(! jmcumocoi'cus) may appear at
different periods in the evolution of the cyst. They arc as important as
the attacks of pleurisy mentioniMl at the hcsginiiing of this artich?.
As long as the (;yst docs not su[)[)urat(; ru[)ture docs not occur. Kxctq)-
tious to this rule arc extremely rare (Marconnet's case). The cyst may
15
226 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
open into the bronchi (vomica), as most often happens, into the pleura, or
into the pleura and the bronchi at the same time (pyopneumothorax).
Let us study these different modes of rupture.
Rupture into the bronchi is sometimes preceded by a febrile stage,
with bronchitis, pulmonary congestion, incessant cough, and purulent, blood-
stained, or foetid expectoration. At this time the cyst is fissured, but
not yet freely open. If the cyst is small, or if the communication with
the bronchus is of small size, the opening of the cyst does not quite take
the characters of a vomica. The patient, after fits of coughing, brings up
homogeneous, purulent, sputum, Kke currant jelly. Sometimes the expec-
toration is genuinely blood-stained, and booklets, shreds, or hydatid vesicles,
that prove the case, are found in the blood or in the expectoration, which
is sometimes foetid.
If the cyst ls large, and the communication with the bronchus is well
established, the patient is seized with terrible fits of coughing, a feeling of
tearing, and suffocation bordering on asphyxia, which is caused by the
liquid and the membranes that block the ah-tubes. He brings up, as if
by vomica, a large quantity of fluid, which is clear and transparent, like
spring-water if the cyst is not suppurating (Marconnet's case), but muddy,
sero- purulent, blood-stained, and of nauseous odour and taste, if the
ruptured cyst has suppurated. In the fluid of the vomica hydatid vesicles
are sometimes found, from the size of a pin's head to that of a walnut, but
more often membranous shreds of various sizes are seen.
The first vomica is generally the largest, but it is rarely the only one.
We sometimes meet with a series of vomicge which are repeated for days,
weeks, and months. In the space of a year Chachereau had fifteen vomicae,
or at least hydatids were expelled fifteen times. As a rule, I repeat, the
first vomica is the most severe, and the others are rather a purulent ex-
pectoration with shreds of membrane. The breath and the expectoration
are often foetid. So long as the hydatids are not all brought up, the purulent
expectoration does not cease.
In many cases rupture of the cyst is announced or accompanied by a
more obstinate and abundant haemoptysis than the early attacks seen ni
the first period of its growth. Chachereau had fifteen in eighteen months.
They were trifling before the rupture of the cyst, abundant at the moment
of rupture, and persisted for five months after the last vomica. Marconnet
had slight hemoptysis before rupture of the cyst, but almost fatal haemor-
rhage at the moment of rupture. In Habershon's case haemoptysis caused
the death of the patient, and at the autopsy the pulmonary vein was foun4
cut tlu-ough, causing the haemorrhage. _ V
Urticaria fairly often accompanies rupture of the pulmonary hydatid,
like that of hydatids in every region. Arnault has cited a case of genera '
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 227
urticaria after rupture of the cyst into the bronchi. Chachereau had his
first attack of urticaria some days before the cyst opened into the bronchi,
and had ten attacks in succession, which were sometimes so severe that
sleep became impossible. Delageniere quotes the case of a woman who
was seized with urticaria after the cyst perforated the pleura. Urticaria
is, therefore, a symptom which fairly often accompanies rupture of hydatid
cyst of the lung.
New sigas appear after rupture of the cyst into the bronchi. On auscul-
tation, multiple rales and, at times, cavernous breathing are heard. As
secondary infection often occurs in the cyst, fever is not rare, and with it
the usual train of symptoms— viz., sweating, anorexia, wasting — appears.
When we see these wasted, anaemic patients, who spit up pus and blood and
have clubbed fingers (Trousseau), we would not be able to eliminate the
idea of phthisis if bacteriological examination did not rectify the diagnosis.
The diagnosis of the hydatid vomica is quite simple when membranes
and shreds are found in the voided matter. In default of hydatid mem-
branes that present a characteristic shape, it is necessary to search care-
fully for booklets, because the presence of a single booklet makes a doubtful
diagnosis certain. In many cases the vomica does not appear with charac-
teristic symptoms, and we then lack a clue to the diagnosis. Most patients
think they are suffering from bronchitis, and say that for a week, a fort-
night, or longer, they have been coughing up muco-purulent or blood-stained
sputum. They do not mention the shreds of hydatid, which may have
passed unnoticed. These patients are examined, and in one we find signs
of bronchiectasis ; in a second, those of chronic bronchitis, with bronchor-
rh(jea ; in a third, sigas of pulmonary cavity, Avith repeated haemoptysis ;
in a fourth, signs recalling the vomica which follows encysted interlobar
pleurisy.
So far it in sometimes difficult to make a diagnosis. Urticaria, when it
exists, is a point of great value ; but the histological examination of the
expectorated matter must never be neglected, for the presence of hydatid
membrane and booklets can alone give positive information.
Rupture of the cyst into the bronchi is sometimes a mode of cure, but
often the pulmonary fistula, which is a centre of infection, becomes an
inexhaustible source of purulent expectoration and haemoptysis. The
patient continues to cough up membranes and much purulent foetid sputum.
Fever supervenes, with its train of septic symptoms, including diarrhoea,
loss of appetite, wasting, sweats. We sec next true hydatid phthisis pro-
duced by secondary infections. Tuberculosis may also develop as a secon-
dary infection in the cdursi; of hydatid of tlie lung.
Rupture into the Pleura. — Lot us consider rupture of the cyst into
the pleura.
15—2
228 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
I must first, however, discuss an interesting question : Can the hydatid
cyst develop primarily in ths pleural cavity ? Primary hydatid cysts of
the pleura are extremely rare. Laennec, Cruveilhier, Davaine, and Trous-
seau scarcely admit the possibility of the primary development of a hydatid
cyst in the pleural cavity. Davaine, in twenty-five cases of thoracic hydatid,
only once found a primary hydatid of the pleura. Dupuytren and Joffroy
reported a case of pleural hydatid ; careful consideration, says Trousseau,
shows that it was a cyst of the lung which opened into the pleura, because
the patient had had haemoptysis. Vigla, in his work on hydatids of the
thoracic cavity, quotes only one case of pleural hydatid, and it is a very
doubtful case, as it lacks post-mortem verification. Maydl published
in 1891 a memoir upon echinococci of the pleura ; after having analyzed
in detail each of the cases contained in this work, I find that there is no case
of primary hydatid of the pleura, but only of hydatids secondary to those
of the lung or of the liver. Further, frequent as primary hydatid is in the
parenchyma of organs, it is exceptional in serous cavities. The hydatid is
found in the liver and the subperitoneal tissues, but very seldom in the
peritoneum. The hydatid is found in the brain, but very seldom in the
meningeal cavity ; in the heart, but very seldom in the pericardium ; in the
lung, but very seldom in the pleura. Cysts of the serous and of the pleural
cavities have in most cases penetrated these cavities by effraction. A cyst
of the lung may work through the thickened pleura, and thus simulate a
cyst of that tissue (Trousseau).
From these facts we must conclude that hydatid of the pleura is nearly
always secondary to one that starts in a neighbouring organ and per-
forates the pleural cavity. The thickened pleura often opposes this inva-
sion, and when perforation takes place it may consist of a simple slit or a
large tear in the pleura.
In some cases the invasion of the pleura may be insidious, but more often
it is accompanied by dyspna3a and pain. We find signs of dry pleurisy
(rub) or of pleural effusion. The following case is typical :
A boy, of tubercular appearance, was suddenly seized with stabbing pain in the
right lung. On auscultation, friction sounds were heard. The whole right side of the
chest became enlarged, and was absolutely motionless during respiration. The dullness
was absolute. Post mortem, the right pleura was found to be ruptured, and filled with
sero-purulent fluid and membranes from a huge hydatid of the lung, which had burst
into the pleural cavity.
In other cases, which are the most frequent, the cyst of the lung shows
two perforations, which communicate with the pleura on the one hand and
with the bronchi on the other. I have carefully analyzed these cases, and
have found that perforation almost always takes place first into the bronchus,
while the other perforation occurs a little later. The perforation into the
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 229
bronchus is generally a small fissure. It does not produce tlio large vomica
with acute symptoms, and the patient appears to have only foetid bron-
chitis or broncho-pneumonia with gangrene. He brings up purulent, foetid,
blood-stained sputum. Perforation of the pleura now occurs, and pneumo-
thorax appears. If the perforation of the pleura takes place before that
of the bronchi, and the lung is adherent to the pleura, the symptoms of
pneumothorax may not be violent ; in other cases the pneumothorax is
accompanied by terrible pain, acute dyspnoea, and threatening asphyxia.
The subjoined cases give a clear idea of these different modes of per-
foration :
In a case reported by Bucquoy, perforation of the pleura preceded that of the
bronchi. The patient had a hydatid cyst of the right lung. Very abundant effusion
into the right pleura (opening of the pulmonary cyst into the pleura) apjicai'ed. Later,
signs of pneumothorax (opening of the cystic ca^^ty into the bronchi) supervened,
and the patient brought up much foetid purulent fluid by repeated vomica?. The situa-
tion became very serious. Thoracotomy was performed, and the incision gave exit
to infectious, purulent fluid, and to a hydatid cyst as large as an orange.
Danlos relates a case in which the perforation of the bronchi preceded that of the
pleura. The onset of the pneumothorax was dramatic, and followed by death. In
a man aged forty-five years deformity and bulging were present at the lower lateral
and posterior part of the right side of the phest. Hydatid cyst of the lung was diag-
nosed. The patient was seized with fits of coughing, and brought up purulent and
ffjetid sputum (small opening of the cyst into the bronchus). Ten days later he felt
terrible pain on the right side, with dyspncea. On auscultation, amphoric breathing
was heard (perforation of the pleura and pneumothorax). The jiatient died, and the
autopsy revealed a huge hydatid cyst at the base of the right hmg, causing the above
complications.
In a oa.se given by Fouquier the pneumothorax came on suddenly. The patient
died, and the autopsy showed a hydatid cyst of the lower right lobe of the lung, com-
municating on the one hand with two bronchi, and on the other with the pleural cavity
by a rounded opening with raised edges, into which the end of the index-flnger could
easily be introduced.
Summary. — The diagnosis of hydatid of the lung is very difficult before
perforation of the cyst and vomica. Haemoptysis, pleurisy, and attacks of
pneumonia do not clear up the diagnosis. Bulging of the chest, dull-
ness wliich is clearly defined, and previous or simultaneous hremoptysis
not due to tuberculosis, are valuable signs in diagnosis. We know that
great precautions are needed in exploratory punctures, which are, how-
ever, tlie only means of clinclting the diagnosis before tlie rupture of
the cyst.
When a patient has cough, is wasting, and has repeated hfemoptyses and
phniral complications, we think first of pulmonary tul)erculosis. Examina-
tion for Imcilli is negative, and the diagnosis remains in doubt. The patient
later brings up hydatid vesicles or membranes, and the diagnosis becomes
certain.
In some cases, however, even after purulent fluid lias been rejected
230 TEXT-BOOK OP MEDICINE
through the bronchi, diagnosis is very difficult, because the membranous
shreds may escape the patient's notice, and tlie lesion would pass unper-
ceived if we did not find vestiges of membranes or booklets on microscopic
examination. Lastly, in other cases the disease, at a given moment,
assumes the appearances of broncho-pneumonia, as in my hospital atten-
dant, and a hydatid of the lung would not be recognized if membranes
and booklets were not found in the expectoration.
The same remarks apply to the passage of the hydatid into the pleural
cavity and to the question of pyopneumothorax.
As I have discussed the diagnosis in regard to the different complica-
tions which may arise in the course of hydatid of the lung, further reference
is superfluous.
Prognosis. — In this chapter I have reviewed the complications of hydatid
of the lung, and we have seen its gravity. In exceptionally fortunate cases,
the cyst may be cured spontaneously — that is to say, it may undergo necro-
biosis, which is equivalent to cure. In some cases rupture of the cyst into
the bronchi results in cure, but before recovery is definite the patient runs
the risk of most grave complications — viz., at the moment of rupture
haemoptysis, vomicae, and pyopneumothorax ; and later secondary infec-
tions, hectic fever, and tuberculosis.
Treatment. — As medical treatment has no effect on hydatid of the lung,
surgical intervention must be resorted to.
Certain authors have recommended expectant treatment, but this
method has scarcely given good results, as the following statistics prove :
Hearn, in 128 cases of pulmonary hydatid, left to run their own course,
counts 82 deaths — a death-rate of 64 per cent. Madelung, in 19 untreated
cases, records 6 deaths.
Thomas Daviss records 31 deaths in 133 cases of pulmonary hydatid
which opened into the bronchi. Such figures are not encouraging, and
explain the necessity for surgical intervention.
Aspiratory puncture is insufficient and frequently dangerous in hydatid
cysts of the lung. Mirallie has collected 43 cases in which simple puncture
was performed ; 1 1 cures, 22 deaths, and 10 negative results are recorded.
Punctures are frequently followed by sudden or by rapid death. Thus, in
the 22 fatal cases noted above, we find that they may be divided as follows :
In 1 case the patient died after a blank puncture ; in 10 cases death was
sudden — death came on in one minute (Acland, Philippe, etc.), in five
minutes (Holden), in seven minutes (Bristowe), in half an hour (Lansdale
and Holden), in two hours (Hector Mackenzie), in nine hours (Cornil and
Gibier), in thirteen hours (Duffey). In almost all these cases the accident
was accompanied by some attacks of coughing, with cyanosis and asphyxia,
coldness of the extremities, and sometimes rejection of blood and fluid.
DISEASES OF THE LUXG 231
Puncture, therefore, must be abandoned ; it is dangerous even for purposes
of exploration.
Pneumotomy is tlie best method, and is absolutely indicated. It gives
such good results that the recoveries amount to 90 per cent.
XXI. SYPHILIS OF THE LUNG.
Discussion. — Syphilis of the lung is of the highest importance. Too
many mistakes in diagnosis occur from want of care in looking for this malady.
It endangers the patient's life ; but, on the other hand, it gives us an opening
to score a therapeutic success, for we can sometimes restore health in a
few weeks or in a few months to people who appear to be in the last stage
of phthisis.
The chief manifestations in the lung include broncho-pneumonia of
tubercular aspect, cavities simulating phthisis, gangrene, fibrosis of the
lung, and dilatation of the bronchi, without counting mediastinal adeno-
pathies and pleurisy. Before we undertake the clinical study of these
syphilitic lesions, we must consider an important point : At what date may
syphilis attack the lung ? Is it soon or long after infection ? This division
into early and late lesions is clearly marked in such organs as the brain,
the spinal cord, the kidneys, etc. Take, for example, cerebral syphilis.
Its lesions are sometimes late and at other times early. The late lesions,
such as obliterating or dilating arteritis, and gummatous lesions of the bones,
meninges, or brain (general paralysis), appear many years after infection.
We also see early cerebral syphilis which is almost exclusively confined to
the arteries of the circle of Willis. It may, some months after infection,
give rise to endarteritis obliterans, with cerebral softening and hemiplegia,
and to arteritis ectasians, with rupture of an aneurysm, meningeal haemor-
rhage and death from apoplexy.
This distinction between early and late lesions is nowhere more marked
than in the kidneys. The tertiary disease usually takes the form of chronic
nephritis, with or without gummatous, sclero-gummatous, and amyloid
lesions, while early renal syphilis appears some months after the chancre,
and causes acute or hyperacute nephritis, which Is sometimes most dan-
gerous.
It was formerly thought that syphilis only attacked the organs in the
so-called tertiary stage. This view Ls incorrect. Some organs are aff(M'tod
by syphilis at a very early stage, and the lesions, though early, are far from
being benign. They are quite as serious as the lesions of the tertiary stage.
I will, therefore, put the question afresh : Do we find in the lung early
syphilis, that appears within the first few months after infection, and late
232 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
syphilis, that appears only after a long interval ? The answer is categorical.
Syphilitic lesions of the lung are, practically speaking, never early. I
would ask you to remember that I am speaking of the lung, and not of the
bronchi. Bronchitis may be one of the earliest manifestations of syphilis.
Many people, when once infected, take cold with the greatest ease. They
suffer from laryngitis or tracheo -bronchitis ; they cough and expectorate.
On auscultation, sibilant and mucous rales are heard, and the trouble is
put down to influenza or to an ordinary cold, and not to recent syphilis.
Tracheo-bronchitis may recur several times, even during the early years of
Infection, and sometimes arouses unjustifiable suspicions of tuberculosis.
These so-called attacks of bronchitis lead us to send patients to take a cure
at Mont-Dore, Cauterets, Eaux-Bonnes, and Luchon, when we should have
begun by prescribing mercury. Laryngo-tracheo-bronchitis is, then, one of
the early manifestations of syphilis. Lesions in the lungs, on the other
hand, occur late, and not one of the other visceral determinations, as
Mauriac rightly remarks, develops at a later period. This rule appears to
me absolute, and, save for some exceptional cases, it may be said that
syphilis of the lung only appears in the advanced tertiary stage.
After these explanations, let us enter upon our subject. Syphilis of the
lung, as of other organs, presents various forms — gumma (circumscribed
syphiloma), diffuse syphiloma, and fibrosis. These different forms may be
isolated or associated. For the clear arrangement of this question I propose
the classification which I have followed in my clinical lectures at the Hotel-
Dieu.*
Syphilis of the lung may show the following forms :
First Type. — Pulmonary syphiloma, with acute febrile course, simu-
lating acute tuberculosis or tubercular broncho-pneumonia.
Second Type. — Pulmonary syphiloma of slow course, simulating
ordinary chronic tuberculosis and phthisis in the stage of cavity.
Third Type. — Broncho-pulmonary syphiloma, with fibrosis or sclero-
gummatous lesions, simulating chronic pneumonia and cirrhosis of the lung,
with or without bronchial dilatation, pleurisy, and tracheo -bronchial
adenopathy.
Fourth Type. — Syphilitic gangrene of the lung.
Fifth Type. — Syphilitic pneumopathy, complicated by pulmonary
tuberculosis.
Sixth Type. — Hereditary pulmonary syphilis.
* Dieulafoy, " Syphilis du Poumon et de la Plevre " {CUnique Medicale de V Hotel-
Dieu, 1898, lemons 18 et 19).
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 233
1. Pulmonary Syphilis, with Acute Course, simulating Acute
Tuberculosis.
In some cases — which are rare, it is true — syphilis of the lung shows an
almost faithful picture of acute tubercular broncho-pneumonia — i.e., fairly-
sudden onset, acute fever, incessant cough, violent dyspnoea, muco-purulent
expectoration, rapid wasting and profuse sweats, dullness on percussion,
rales and tubular breathing on auscultation. The above symptoms may
be common to syphilitic and to acute or subac-ute tubercular broncho-
pneumonia. The following example was seen by Giraudeau in Hayem's
wards :
Patient, thirty-five years old. She had cough, and for a week fever was continuous.
Temperature up to 104° F. On admission, dull zone, with tubular breathing and sub-
crepitant rales over the middle part of the left lung. Nothing elsewhere. Right lung
healthy. Frequent cough and profuse expectoration. During the next few days,
rapid formation of a cavity. The breathing soon became tubular, and the expectora-
tion muco-purulent. Later, in addition to tubular breathing, large mucous rales
appeared, wasting was considerable, and night-sweats occurred. On February 21 —
that is to say, in twenty days — a cavity had formed in the lung. Cavernous breathing,
pectoriloquy, and bronchophony were audible over the greater part of the middle lobe.
Gurgling was present ; the sputum was ruunmular, and streaked with blood. The
patient appeared to be suffering from acute phthisis.
On February 28 vaginal examination revealed in the right cul-de-sac a rounded
ulcer, which was as big as a sixpence, punched out, and covered by a greyish, adherent
layer. This gummatous ulcer showed the need for specific treatment. The lung
trouble was then thought to be specific in nature, and Gibert's syrup given in doses of
two tablespoonfuls daily. After some weeks, the situation improved, the appetite
came back, the nummular sputum, sweats, and fever disappeared. The cavernous
breathing and gurgling were replaced by rough breathing. The cavity had cicatrized.
As the treatment had caused stomatitis, it was st02:)pcd. Ninety grains of iodide of
potash were prescribed daily, and when the patient left the hospital she had regained
her healthy look, and the gummatous ulcer in the vagina was undergoing cicatrization.
A littl(! while after, this woman came back for treatment, not for the lung, which was
healthy, but for ost(!op(!riostitis of the frontal bone, which yielded to sj)eeific treat-
ment. It was, therefore, undeniable that this woman had been attacked in a short
time with vaginal gumma, sy})hilis of the lung, and frontal ostefjporiostitis. .hidgitig
by the rapid and excej)tionally serious course of the l<'si(in in the lung, she was doomed
to die. She was saved by specific treatment.
I have seen a similar case.
I att<'nded a ])a(ient supposed t^ bo suffering from influenza. He coughed, had
slight fever, and cfmii)lain<'d of j)ain in the chest, esjieciaiiy at the apex of tlu' left lung,
where I found tubular breathing and rules, due to ]))ilmoiiary congestion. This man,
who was up to then in robust health, asked for a blister, which i ijrcscribed, as well as
n draught containing kermes. During the next few days the situation became worse.
TIk- cough was incessant, and at niglit the dyspncea was unusually sc^vere. The spiitmn
soon became muco-jiurulent and nummular. The early rales changed to guiniiiig. ilis
strengtii failed, and I thought of acut<' lul)ereular pneumonia.
The jjrognosis wius very grave. Incidentally, the jiatient told uw. that his left t<>ati3
iiad been affected for some days. I found it enlarged and painful. Orchitis wiw
234 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
present, but not epididymitis. As he had no discharge, I thought at once of tertiary
syphilis. I questioned the patient, who rephed that he had had a cliancre ten months
before. This revelation threw Hght on the subject. Was it not possible that syphilis
was at once the cause of the lesion in the Ixmg and in the testis ? I prescribed iodide
of potash in large doses, and also asked the advice of Foumier. He considered the
orchitis and the lung trouble to be syphilitic, and advised inunction of mercury in
addition to the iodide of potash. The picture changed so rapidly that after a few
nights the dyspnoea disappeared. A fortnight later the fever had subsided, the general
condition was excellent, tubular breathing and gurgling had disappeared, and the only
local sign remaining at the apex of the right lung was slight dullness with some rales,
which finally disappeared. The lesion of the testis was also cured. The case was
undoubtedly acute phagedsenic syphiloma, which rapidly caused breaking-down of the
apex, and was clearly arrested in its course by specific treatment. I have never lost
sight of this man, and I have treated him since that time for a syphilitic whitlow, but
there has never been any further question of pulmonary lesions.
In my clinical lectures, several cases of this acute and subacute broncho-
pneumonic syphiloma with fever will be found. In nearly all these cases it
has simulated acute tubercular broncho-pneumonia : onset fairly sudden,
acute fever and dyspnoea, muco-purulent expectoration, rapid wasting, pro-
fuse sweats, with dullness, rales, tubular breathing, and gurgling, are the
signs common to acute broncho -pneumonic syphiloma and to acute or to
subacute tubercular broncho-pneumonia.
It has been said that syphilitic pneumopathy may occur without fever,
wasting, or any sign of hectic. This is true in a certain number of cases of
slow course, which we shall study later, but not of the acute forms, in which
the diagnosis is extremely difficult. If we carefully think over the acute
cases, we shall agree that patients who suffer from fever, accompanied by
signs of pulmonary softening, purulent sputum, and night-sweats, and pass
into rapid consumption within a few weeks, clinically resemble those who
are suffering from acute phthisis.
In them, it is true, dyspnoea is often severe and out of proportion to the
lesion, but this symptom is not sufficient to decide the diagnosis. The
physical signs — rales, tubular breathing, gurgling — are those of acute
phthisis. It has been said that the localization of the lesions may reveal
the true nature, because the syphilitic lesion is often situated in the middle
part of the lung, and especially on the right side. This special topography
is, indeed, worth remembering : it may lead us to think of syphilis ; still
it is not constant, for in a case of Raymond, and also in one of my cases,
the lesion was at the apex of the lung, which is the usual seat of tuber-
culosis.
Acute syphiloma and acute tubercular broncho-pneumonia have, there-
fore, very many points of resemblance, and hence it is only possible to
make a diagnosis of pulmonary syphilis if the patient present other syphilitic
lesions, such as osteitis or painful periostitis, ulcerating gumma, specific
eruption, or syphilitic testis. If we find some such stigmata of syphilis as
DISEASES OF THE LUNG 235
an exostosis of the tibia, frontal periostitis, the presence of scars, and the
repeated absence of Koch's bacilhis from the sputum, we can give a diag-
nosis of acute syphilitic pneumopathy. In short, if pathognomonic symptoms
of acute pneumonic syphiloma do not exist, it is at least necessary to collect
all the information which may give a clue to the diagnosis. In one of my
patients at the Hotel-Dieu pneumonic syphiloma was diagnosed, thanks
to tertiary syphilis of the shoulder and the back. In the patient whom I
saw with Fournier syphilis of the testis revealed the nature of the pul-
monary lesion. In Giraudeau's patient an ulcerated gumma of the vagina
led him to discern acute s}T)hilis of the lung.
What is the cause of acute syphiloma of the lung ? The syphiloma may
be circumscribed (syphilitic gumma) or diffuse (broncho-pneumonic syphi-
loma). Gummata of the lung may be as large as a lentil or an egg. They
are more or less numerous, and may be situated on the surface oithe lung,
under the pleura, or in the deep parts of the organ. They are indurated
anct greyish in an early stage of their growth, but finally soften and become
converted into a yellowish pulp, which may pass into a bronchus, and leave
in Its place a gummatous cavity, with fihrous walls. When cure sets in,
the walls of the cavity become covered with granulations, the cavity con-
tracts, and is replaced by scar tissue.
Diffuse syphiloma of the lung assumes a special form, and causes a
kmd of sypliilitic broncho-pneumonia, which may be acute, subacute, or
clironic. The acute form, which has been discussed in the examples quoted
above, is somewhat rare. Microscopic examination has given the following
r.'^ults : ^
" Microscopic examination," says Remy, " shows that the tumour is
composed of a number of nodules of broncho-pneumonia in various stages
(catarrhal, fibrinous, and caseous). There is no well-marked general cap-
sule formed by a zone of fibrous tissue, as in the case of gummata. At some
pomte, however, this capsule is seen, but it is formed by the septum of the
lobule, and not by newly-formed tissue. No central artery is found. The
lesions are rather grouped around the l^ronchi, as in broncho-pneumonia.
The lesion as a whole consists in several masses of caseous appearance, which
are surrounded by more active zones. The caseous mass is composed of
pulmonary alveoli, filled with cells, whicli have lost their shape and appear
to be undergoing fatty degeneration. The envelope of the caseous mass is
sometimes formed by a thickened interlobular septum, at other times by
alveoli which are filled with leucocytes, and present thickened walls. Further-
more, we find in the thickness of the broiu-lii, vessels or interlobular septa,
masses of young cells which reveal an inflammatory condition."
Syphilitic broncho-pneumonia has ho.o.n studied in the f not know of a more conclusive case than the following (Dubousquet-
Laborderie and Gaucher) :
A little girl, eight and a half years old, was wasted and cachectic. She coughed
continually, her apjietite wjus gone, her tem|)erature was 102 ' F., and her pulse HO. Her
general condition, in short, wa,s that of a patient in the last stage of phthisis. Cavemou.s
breathing and gurgling were heard in the right supraspinous fossa. I^rge mucous
rales were scattered throughout the whol(. chest. The diagnosis was pulmonary tuber-
culosis in the third stage. Treatment gavgophony tl)o voice is bleating, while
it is diffuse in bronchopliony, and clearly articulate in pectoriloquy.
252 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
("the bleating of a goat") ; and (4) aphonic pectoriloquy*— that is to say,
the clear and articulate transmission of words pronounced by the patient
in a Avhisper (Bacelli, Gueneau de Mussy). These signs are usually most
marked at the lower angle of the scapula, and are of great importance,
but yet not one of them is pathognomonic of pleural effusion. They may
lose their purity and become disfigured if the lung be congested and re-
sistant beneath the effusion (pleuro-congestion),
I shall now say a few words on the correct method of percussion, and
the means used in determining absence or diminution of the vocal fremitus.
If percussion is to give reliable information, it must not be performad
forcibly, as is too often done, for the sound then obtained destroys in a grsat
measure the delicate shades of dullness, or of impaired resonance which
indicate the presence or the absence of effusion. Care must therefore be
taken to percuss as lightly and softly as possible, in order to give a true result.
I may make a similar remark as regards the disappearance of the vocal
fremitus. If the patient be made to count in a high voice, the vibrations
are transmitted — less strongly, it is true — on the side of the effusion ; but
they are still transmitted, and their presence may give rise to error. If,
on the contrary, the patient be made to count in a slightly raised voice,
the vibrations may still be transmitted to the healthy side, but are quite
absent over the effusion.
As the effusion increases (2 to 3 pints), certain signs are modified : the
aegophony becomes less clear, and rather bronchophonic in character ; the
soft tubular breathing on expiration takes a bronchial tone, and is also
audible during inspiration ; auscultation reveals the exaggerated breathing,
called " puerile," on the healthy side ; and the effusion, by its constant
progress, displaces the neighbouring organs.
The displacement of organs is of value in estimating the amount of the
effusion. It has much less value in effusions on the right side, because
the liver is much less mobile than the heart, and is only pushed downwards
when the fluid amounts to at least 3 pints. On the other hand, in effusions
on the left side, displacement of the heart is a sign on which I cannot lay
too much stress. The displacement of the heart is shown by inspection,
palpation, and auscultation. It is not only the apex of the heart which is
displaced, but the whole heart itself, and with the change of position it also
alters its relations to the chest-wall. In order to ascertain the displacement,
we must look for the maximum point of the impulse. My numerous observa-
tions lead me to conclude, aj^proximately, that this maximum point reaches
the left border of the sternum in effusions of 20 ounces ; it reaches the right
border of the sternum with an effusion of 40 ounces ; and lies between the
* LatJnnec had already jjointed out this phenomenon, and Bacelh has given the
conclusions which may be drawn from aphonic pectoriloquy as a sign of pleiu"al effusion.
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 253
sternum and riglit nipple with an effusion of 60 ounces. This is the moment
at which thoracentesis must be performed.
When these effusions are on the left side, dullness replaces the normal
tympanitic sound in Traube's space. The semilunar, or Traube's, space, is
situated at the left base, and corresponds in part to the pleuro-parieto-
diaphragmatic cul-de-sac. Its upper limit is the fifth or sixth costal
cartilage in front, and the ninth or tenth ribs behind, while its lower limit
is the edge of the thorax. At its middle part — that is to say, in the nipple
line — the vertical height is about 4 inches, and its width about 4-| inches.
The costal wall and its pleura, the diaphragm and its pleura, the colon and
the stomach correspond anatomically to the semilunar zone ; the lung
only touches the upper limit (Jaccoud). In the normal state percussion
cf this zone gives a tympanitic note ; on the other hand, m a large left
effusion the diaphragm is pushed down, and dullness replaces resonance.
It is true that normal resonance may also disappear, at least in its upper
part, as the result of adhesions.
When the effusion is very large (5 pints and more), the skodaic note in
the clavicular region disappears, the dullness becomes absolute over all the
affected side, the displacement of organs reaches its maximum, the whole
mediastinum is pushed back, and the obstruction in the pulmonary cir-
culation, without doubt, leads to pulmonary thrombosis, and perhaps to
sudden death, which sometimes occurs in large effusions. On auscultation,
we find total absence of all normal or abnormal sounds, or else tubular
breathing, which may be so loud as to resemble cavernous or even amphoric
breathing (Landouzy).
Paresis of the thoracic muscles on the affected side is more or less marked,
but constant. It is accompanied or followed by muscular atrophy, which
may begin with the onset of pleurisy and may remain after it. These
muscular atrophies affect the intercostal and pectoral muscles, the latis-
simus dorsi, the serratus magnus, etc., and it is easy to appreciate them,
either at first sight or by the respiratory troubles which they cause. These
muscular changes explain in part the modifications in the respiratory type,
the smaller amplitude of the chest (on the affected side), its relative im-
mobility on inspection and palpation, and the respiratory restraint which
results. They also enter largely into the external deformities, as well as
into those of the skeleton which accompany and survive pleurisy.
Functional Symptoms. — As soon as the fluid reaches a certain amount,
the [)atient lies on the affected side, in order to give free play to the healthy
lung. He experiences a sensation of distress or of heaviness, but dyspnoea
Is rarely seen.
Dys[)n(ra is not a usual symptom of pleurisy with effusion. 'i'hc
ellusion, even when it amounts to '6 i)ints, causes little acceleration of the
254 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
respiration rate. I do not speak, of course, of the early pain in the side,
which is often accompanied by acute dyspnoea, and I make exception if
congestion of the lung is also present. In all other cases of acute, subacute,
or latent pleurisy, however, dyspnoea is not marked, even with an effusion
of 3 pints ; and, as we shall see in a moment, when discussing the indications
for thoracentesis, we should be quite wrong in waiting for dyspnoea to
decide the prognosis and the treatment of pleurisy.
The conclusion from this absence of dyspnoea, even when the fluid is
considerable, is that dyspnoea indicates the presence of complications.
When the respirations in pleural effusion exceed thirty, the reason is either
that the fluid is very abundant, amounting to about 5 pints, or that com-
plications are present. On careful search, we shall find that the pleurisy is
secondary, and has appeared in the course of Bright's disease or cardiac
mischief. Other inflammations, such as double pleurisy, bronchitis,
pneumonia, pericarditis, inflammation of the chest, or congestion of the
lung, will be discovered.
I must dwell for a moment on congestion of the lung, which so fre-
quently accompanies pleurisy. This fact has been emphasized by Potain.
Congestion of a part of the lung often accompanies pleurisy, especially in
its period of formation ; as a result, the signs of effusion are somewhat
modified by those due to the affected lung — segophony is not pure, but
becomes broncho-segophony ; tubular breathing, instead of being distant
and muffled, becomes more harsh ; the quality of the dullness and the shades
of the thoracic vibrations are modified. When we are not familiar with
these points, we may miss an existing effusion and refer the signs to conges-
tion of the lung ; or, on the other hand, we may fancy the fluid to be abundant
when it is as yet scanty. I shall consider this point again, under Diagnosis.
In acute pleurisy the fever is moderate and sometimes absent : the
temperature does not exceed 102° F., as a rule ; the defervescence may be
rapid or slow, and occurs at ill-defined times, in some cases with symptoms
of crisis.
Course — Duration — Termination. — Pleurisy is a disease of surprises.
Its course is insidious, and the extreme irregularity of its habits is not
the least important point in its history.*
I was therefore very surprised, at the Academic de Medecine, to hear
that pleurisy is a cyclical f disease. I have only to consult our case
records to prove that pleurisy is quite the opposite of a cyclical malady.
In pleurisy we cannot foresee the succession of symptoms, the temperature
curve, the time of defervescence, or the moment when the effusion appears
* Dieulafoy : " Des Irregularites de la Pleurisie Aigue," Ga^tte Hebdomad., 1878,
No. 3.
•j- Academie de Medecine, April, 1892.
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 255
or is absorbed. In one case pain and fever are marked, and the effusion
appears between the twelfth and the fifteenth day. In another the disease
is insidious, and effusion exists for a month or six weeks, when the patient
comes to the hospital with some distress, which often scarcely merits the
name of dyspnoea. I have several times seen fever persist, although the
effusion diminished. Binet gives a remarkable example.* In many cases
fever disappears with or without symptoms of crisis, the patient considers
himself cured, and still the effusion increases. In fact, pleurisy is so irregular
in its course that it pr^ents a different appearance in each patient. It
is not possible to say whether the febrile period will be of long or of short
duration, whether the effusion will be abundant or scanty ; at what time
defervescence will occur, and whether it will coincide or not with absor2)tion
of the fluid ; whether this absorption will be slow or quick ; and whether, in
spite of the fall of the fever, the fluid will not continue to increase. Do not
these clinical considerations justify the assertion that pleurisy proceeds in
quite a different way to cyclical diseases ? We cannot, therefore, speak
of a cycle in pleurisy. This question will be referred to under the Indica-
tions for Thoracentesis.
If the effusion is slow to absorb, the insufficiency of the haematosis and
the lack of appetite often cause weakness and anaemia. In exceedingly rare
cases sero-fibrinous pleurisy has ended by vomica. When pleurisy ter-
minates favourably, the fluid is absorbed ; the displaced organs recover their
former position ; the lung resumes its function ; and on inspiration and
expiration we hear a grating friction sound, or hruit de cuir neuf, which
indicates absorption of the fluid and presence of false membranes on the
layers of the pleura. This redux friction may be heard at several spots
in front and in the axilla. It is sometimes so marked that it may be felt
on palpation. These signs remam long after the pleurisy. Impaired
resonance and weak vesicular murmur often persist months after recovery.
The immediate prognosis is not grave. We must, however, not forget
that large effusions may determine thrombosis of the pulmonary vessels or
cardiac embolism, and induce syncope, rapid asphyxia, and death. This
important point will be discussed under Thoracentesis. Convalescence is
usually protracted, and many patients, even though taken ill while in
excellent health, remain weak, and for several months carry the stamp of
their disease.
Pleurisy at times leaves false membranes and adhesions, which affect
the functions of neighbouring orgaiLS (diaphragm, lung, and pericardium),
and may ultimately give rise to encysted effusions. Another important fact
as regards prognosis is that the most frank pleurisy Is often the begimiing
of tuberculosis, which becomes evident months or years later.
♦ Archives de Midecine, April, 188-4, p. 4UG.
256 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Diagnosis. — At first, before efEusion appears, diagnosis may be difficult.
Pleurisy should not be confused with lobar pneumonia, for the latter begins
with a violent rigor, very high temperature, intense dyspnoea, crepitant
rales, and rusty sputum. The diagnosis, however, may be difficult, for the
friction rale of pleurisy somewhat resembles the rale of pneumonia. Inter-
costal neuralgia and hepatic colic may simulate the pleuritic pain in the
side, but they differ in the absence of fever and of physical signs. Febrile
pleurodynia shows more analogy with pleurisy, and it may coincide with
a partial dry pleurisy. This question has been discussed under Inflammation
of the Chest.
Pulmonary congestion, massive pneumonia, and spleno-pneumonia
(Grancher) have several signs in common with pleural effusion. In the
case of pulmonary lesions, however, the dullness is less complete, the thoracic
vibrations are less affected, the neighbouring organs are not displaced, and
the aphonic pectoriloquy is less clear. In spite of all these distinctive signs,
I admit that an early diagnosis is difficult in some cases.
It is also important to recognize the diseases which may be associated
with pleurisy — e.g., the coexistence of pulmonary congestion and pleurisy
(pleuro-congestion), for the presence of the former modifies the signs of
efEusion. In consequence of the congestion, the distribution of the fluid
in the pleura is modified. The congested lung becomes more dense, and
does not allow itself to be flattened. It sinks in t)ie fluid, raising the level,
so that, without careful examination, the effusion would appear very abun-
dant, when it may really be quite scanty. The limits of the dullness, the
nature of the tubular breathing, the characters of the voice, and the fre-
quent presence of bronchial rales are the most important jioints.
We must distinguish between effusion due to pleurisy and that due to
hydrothorax. Hydrothorax is not rare in the course of acute or chronic
nephritis, and sometimes occupies both pleurae. It is sometimes associated
with oedema of the extremities and of the lung. This is chiefly the case in
acute nephritis. At other times hydrothorax is an isolated manifestation
of chronic nephritis, just as oedema of the larynx or of the lung may be.
The general rule is : hydrothorax due to nephritis causes more severe
dyspnoea than pleuritic effusion does, because hydrothorax in Bright's
disease is nearly always associated with oedema of the lung or with uraemic
dyspnoea. The discovery of symptoms of " Brightism " and of albu-
minuria will complete the diagnosis.
It is still necessary to distinguish effusion due to pleurisy from hydro-
thorax consecutive to heart disease.
The diagnosis of effusions into the pleura presents other difficulties, as
we shall see. For example, a patient suffers from dyspnoea. He is examinedj
and on one side of the chest signs of a large effusion are found. The c
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 257
ness is complete, or nearly so, the thoracic vibrations are diminished, and
aegophony, aphonic pectoriloquy, and tubular breathing, or even cavernous
and amphoric breathing, are heard. A patient who presents these signs,
or some of them, may have pleurisy with effusion, just as he may have a
cyst in the liver, the spleen, or the kidney, which has pushed up the diaphragm
and encroached on the thoracic cavity. Another patient may have cancer
of the lung, or malignant hypertrophy of the thoracic glands, etc. Vergely
has clearly shown these points in the case of a patient who presented all
the signs of pleural effusion and in whom an adeno-carcinoma was found.
yEgophony, aphonic pectoriloquy, and blowing breathing are certainly of
great value, but these signs may exLst without any large effusion in the
pleura. False membranes, tumours, flattening of the bronchi, and con-
densation of the Imig tissue, may modify the normal conditions of ausculta-
tion to an extent not yet well defined, and may sometimes simulate
pleural effusion. In a doubtful case the surest sign of pleural effusion on
the left side is displacement of the heart. When the effusion is on the
right side, depression of the liver should be taken into consideration. We
shall see, when we study hydatid cysts of the liver and of the spleen, upon
what signs a diagnosis must be based if these cysts simulate pleural effusion.
When pleurisy has been recognized, it is also necessary to diagnose its
cause, to ascertain whether it is sero-fibrinous, hsemorrhagic, or purulent,
and whether it is associated with tuberculosis which is latent or is already
at work.
We cannot say without exploration whether an effusion is sero-fibrinous
or htcmorrhagic. We often expect to draw off scrum, and are surprised to
find blood-stained fluid.
Clinical Varieties. — Pleurisy presents numerous clinical varieties, a fact
which it is important to remember.
1. Latent Pleurisy. — Acute pleurisy does not always begin witli the
acute symptoms mentioned above. The pain is sometimes trifling, and the
symptoms of onset are so slight tliat in hospital we frequently see people
wh(j have been at work without Ijcing able to fix the start of their illness.
It is not rare to see latent cases in which fever, pain, and dyspnoea are
absent, while the effusion reaches considerable proportions unnoticed by
the patient, but these cases may be accom[)anied by fever of the inter-
mittent ty})e. It usually indicates infective changes in the fluid.
'2. Rheumatic pleurisy may be dry, or accompanied by effusion ; it
may be simple or double ; it appears, changes, and disappears with great
mobility (see Rheumatism).
In many cases })leurisy is provoked by a neighbouring or by a remote
lesion (hydutid cyst of the lung, of the liver, etc.).
Treatment. — In acute pleurisy two chief elements — pain and clTusion
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258 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
— demand relief. For pain, we employ wet-cupping, leeches, injections of
morphia, antipyrin ; later, if the effusion makes rapid progress, what
line of treatment must be followed ? Blisters have only a very limited use
in the treatment of pleurisy. Many persons have three, four, and five
blisters, and are exposed to the risk of cystitis, erysipelas, or of a crop of
boils, without gaining the least benefit. As I believe that blisters have no
real effect on the effusion, I abstain from prescribing them.
I think that other medical means, such as bleeding, purgatives, diuretics,
and sudorifics, have quite a secondary place in the treatment of pleural
effusions. The more I see, the more I recognize that these means are
useless and sometimes harmful. We may therefore discuss the value of,
and the opportunity for, surgical intervention, or thoracentesis.
Thoracentesis. — To my eminent teacher. Trousseau, belongs the honour
of having clearly stated the indications and operative technique of thora-
centesis. In spite of keen opposition. Trousseau so popularized this opera-
tion, which had been previously neglected, that he may justly be con-
sidered as its inventor. He only punctured the chest when the effusion
threatened the patient's life, and the operation was performed with Rey-
bard's trocar.
In 1869, however, when I designed the aspirator and applied the method
of aspiration to the treatment of pleural effusions, the technique of thora-
centesis was so simplified that the old method was gradually abandoned,
and it must be admitted the new one was soon abused. As thoracentesis
by aspiration has been universally adopted, I shall describe my published
method.
Indications. — On the question of thoracentesis, the first point for dis-
cussion is that of the indications. Should we operate in spite of fever, or
wait for defervescence ? Should we employ aspiration in moderate effusions,
or reserve it for large ones ? How far should we consider the complications
which may arise ? These questions, which have been often debated and
differently decided, are reduced to the following proposition, which sums
up the question of opportunity : Given acute pleurisy with effusion, two
cases may present themselves — in one thoracentesis is urgent, in the
other it is debatable. When is it urgent, and when is it debatable ? The
discussion should proceed on these lines.
The urgency of thoracentesis must be based only upon the estimation
of the quantity of fluid effused. The presence or the absence of fever
or of dyspnoea are secondary considerations. We must, before all, con-j
sider the amount of the effusion. We cannot rely upon dyspnoea, for it
a faulty guide. Large effusions are sometimes associated with slight dis-j
tress, and patients may have three or four j)ints of fluid in the pleura, anc
still be able to walk about.
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 259
Trousseau says that a nursing woman, who carried her child, walked
from Saint-Eustache to the Keeker Hospital without feelmg much fatigue.
Six pints were drawn ofE by thoracentesis. A carman of whom Andral
speaks went on driving his horses, and felt but slight discomfort, although
he had a very large effusion. We see, says Landouzy, people who walk
several miles to hospital, and complain of stomach-ache, or of attacks of
fever, although they have enormous effusions. I have often seen similar
cases. I have performed thoracentesis in a student who came regularly to
the hospital, and felt very little distress, in spite of an effusion amomiting
to 4 pints. Dyspnoea is quite deceptive. If we wait until dyspnoea
appears before evacuating an effusion, we shall delay until the patient's
life has long been in danger from the quantity of the effusion before our
decision has been made.
With still more reason, thoracentesis should not be delayed until the
patient has cyanosis of the face and of the fingers, as some authors would
advocate. The cases of sudden and rapid death caused by large effusions
have not all been published. It is a pity, for we should perhaps be less
severe on thoracentesis, and should see its indications better.
Trousseau saw sudden death in the course of pleurisy on three occasions.
One of his patients had such slight distress that thoracentesis was post-
poned, but next morning the patient died. Landouzy has reported a case
in which dyspnoea was absent. This fact did not prevent sudden death
from jjleural effusion. Dujardin-Beaumetz's patient had neither dyspnoea
nor cyanosis, and yet his death was sudden. Oulmont quotes the case
of a man who was talking with some friends in his garden. He went to
lie down, and fell dead from an effusion in the pleura.
Two patients whose hLstories have been reported by Binet and
Lcgrand had no dyspnoea. One suffered so little that he refused thora-
centesis, and asked that it might be put off. Two hours later the effusion
proved fatal. The other patient, who was in apparently good health, also
died suddenly from the same cause.
After such information, is dyspnoea a necessary indication for the urgency
of thoracentesis ? And we know these mishaps are not the only ones ; the
majority are never published. I have collected forty cases, which I brought
before the Academic. How many would there be if we could make a
complete list ?
These cases are, for the most part, copies of one another. At every turn
we see that the patient who dies suddenly has been suffering from an effusion,
causing only insignificant dyspncca — so insignificant, in fact, that in many
cases thoracentesis has been rejected, or imprudently put off till next day.
I think that we must finally dismiss the inexact indications upon which
the question of urgency in thoracentesis has been based. The duration of
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260 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
the pleurisy matters little. It is not a matter of importance whether such
troubles as fever or dyspnoea be present or absent. The amount of the
effusion is the key of the situation.
At the risk of repeating myself on this important point, I say that
dyspnoea is a false sign and a treacherous guide when we have to decide
upon the urgency of thoracentesis. To wait for dyspnoea and, a fortiori,
to wait for cyanosis of the face and of the fingers, is gratuitously to antici-
pate a catastrophe. If we search in the hecatomb of patients who have
died suddenly because puncture was not performed in time, we shall find
many examples which show clearly that a large effusion may prove fatal,
even though it has caused but slight dyspnoea. It is much more likely to
kill if dyspnoea be intense, while precious time is lost in applying blister
after blister.
These cases of sudden or rapid death may result from various causes.
Sometimes they are due to clots (thrombosis or embolism) which arise in
the heart, the large vessels, or even in the lung itself. If the clot is formed
in the large pulmonary veins, or in the left side of the heart, it often causes
cerebral embolism, with its results — viz., apoplexy, hemiplegia, aphasia,
etc. If the clot is formed in the right heart or in the pulmonary artery, it
may produce rapid asphyxia and death, as in cases quoted by Paget, Smith,
and Blachez. The patients suffered from left pleurisy, and died suddenly
from syncope. At the autopsy the clot hat/ 'originated in the trunk of the
pulmonary artery, and reached into the smaller vessels.
In a certain number of cases death has supervened suddenly from
syncope, the effusion being situated more often on the right side than on
the left, but it is not easy to explain the reason.
Louis was therefore wrong in stating that simple pleurisy is not a cause
of immediate death, " A patient may die suddenly from acute pleuritic
effusion " (Trousseau). These accidents can be set down to the effusion,
and therefore, I repeat, the urgency of thoracentesis must be based solely
upon the amount of the effusion. But, it will be asked, at what moment
does urgency arise ? Is it when the effusion amounts to 4 or 5 pints ?
And, further, how can the quantity be estimated ? How can we ascertain
that it reaches 3 pints or more ?
My analysis in cases of sudden death shows that death has never been
caused by an effusion of less than 4 pints. Once only (Blachez) the pleura
contained 3 pints of serous fluid. This exceptional case ought not to be
included, and I estimate that, in a well-made adult, when the effusion reaches
about 4 pints, the urgency of thoracentesis is clear.
We must consider the estimation of the amount of fluid. Upon what
signs and symptoms are we to rely ? Careful study of the signs of pleurisy
shows that m small effusions tubular breathmg is muffled and limited to
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 261
expiration ; in moderate ones (2 to 3 pints) it has a bronchial tone, and is
present during both inspiration and expiration ; in large effusions (4 pints
or more) the breathing is in some cases cavernous, but in others it is
inaudible. These auscultation data, however, are not absolute— that is to
say, thev are insufficient for the estimation of the amount of fluid present.
I would say the same concerning measurements with the cyrtometer
(Woillez). This method, though excellent at times, is often faulty. We
must, therefore, associate the preceding signs with the more exact informa-
tion furnished by the extent of the dullness and by the displacement of
organs.
Let us take, for example, a left pleurisy. When the dullness and the
absence of fremitus reach behind as high as the spine of the scapula, the
resonance in Traube's space has disappeared, and a dull note replaces the
skodaic note in the clavicular region, and especially when the heart is dis-
placed, so that the maximum of the apex-beat is situated at the right edge
of the sternum or between the sternimi and the right nipple, although at
this moment the pleural cavity may not be filled to its maximum, such
signs in an adult denote that the effusion is about 4 pints. Thoracentesis
is then urgent. Operation is imperative, and we must not forget that pro-
crastination is an unfortunate formula which costs patients their lives.
When the effusion is situated on the right side, the problem is rather
more difficult, because there is no displacement of the heart. Nevertheless,
percussion and examination of the vocal fremitus give similar information
to that which I have just mentioned. I may add that depression of the
liver, when present, is a sign of great value. The liver is only pushed
down by large effusions, which I estimate at about .3 pints. The estimation
of the effusion is therefore rather more difficult on the right side, but it
is quite as important, for the statistics given above show that sudden death
is more frequent in right than in left pleurisies.
The discussion so far has referred only to simple pleurisy. Tiie same
principles are applicable to cases with complications. The direct or
indirect compHcations of pleurisy, such as pulmonary congestion, okl
adhesions, valvular lesions of the heart, or pericarditis— in short, all the
lesions which impair the pulmonary circulation or narrow the field of lu-cma-
tosis— are not a contra-indication to thoracentesis. On the contrary, they
demand it as .soon as the effusion readies large proportions ; only the
evacuation of the fluid in such a case demands precautions, which will be
indicated later. The estimation of the quantity of fluid is sometimes
dillicult, as witness the very numerous cases in which the more or less con-
gested lung makes the amount of fluid appear larger than it really is. These
facts have been emphasized by Potain. It ls really only by the moit
delicate differences in auscultation and percassion that we can clinically
262 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
distinguish the part due to congestion of the lung from that due to efEusion.
The worst that could happen in such a case would be to overestimate the
quantity of fluid. But where would be the harm ? Is it not better to
withdraw 2 pints of fluid when the urgency is not absolute than to expose
the patient to sudden death by not performing thoracentesis in time ?
I have just discussed " thoracentesis of urgency." Apart from urgent
thoracentesis, in which the surest guide is the quantity of fluid effused, the
operation is disputable in all other cases. Some admit it, others reject it,
and certain authorities, indeed, consider it harmful. Let us discuss these
different opinions.
As long as the temperature is raised — that is, as long as the acute stage
of pleurisy exists — it is better to wait for defervescence before deciding.
If the absorption of the effusion takes place naturally, and appears to be
rapid, it is useless to intervene. If, however, the effusion remains stationary,
or absorption appears slow and difficult, the fluid must be drawn off. Fluid
cannot remain long in the pleura with impunity. The displaced organs
become fixed in their vicious positions ; the flattened and adherent lung
acts badly; two of the chief functions in the economy — i.e., hsematosis and
circulation — are compromised, without counting the passage of the inflam-
mation into a chronic state and the liability to purulent changes (Trous-
seau). Thoracentesis, performed at the right moment, may shorten the
malady by some weeks, and cause the fall of the residual fever which often
accompanies effusions that are slow to absorb.
Operation. — Up to 1869 only Trousseau's method was in use. He
punctured in the sixth or seventh intercostal space, and 2 inches from the
outer border of the pectoralis major — that is, in the axilla. A small
incision was first made in the skin in order to prepare the way for the pas-
sage of the trocar, which was at once thrust into the chest. The tube of
the trocar was armed with goldbeater's skin, which, by acting as a valve,
prevented the entrance of air into the chest during inspiration. The fluid
escaped from the chest first in jerks, then in drips, and during the opera-
tion the patient was generally seized with fits of coughing, which were dis-
tressing, and sometimes " violent, irrepressible, and very sharp." Trousseau
considered that this cough favoured the outward flow of the fluid, and in
some persons it lasted for part of the day. Let me add that towards the
end of the operation the fluid was commonly coloured red by admixture
with blood.
Thoracentesis thus performed, although not a very difficult operation^
required some skill, and at times some boldness, on the part of the surgeon,]
and some resignation on that of the patient. It was, therefore, reservec
for urgent cases, and performed by a restricted number of physicians.
When I invented the aspirator, and performed aspiration for effusions
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 263
in the pleura, the old technique was replaced by a needle-prick so trifling that
hardly any mark remained on the skin after the operation, and the fluid,
instead of being forced out by jerks, with distressing attacks of coughing,
passed into the aspirator from the thoracic cavity unknown to the patient.
Thoracentesis was thus brought within reach of the least experienced
physician. It became the most easy and the least painful of all operations,
and the most junior student has to perform it in my wards.
My method is as follows :
The patient sits up in bed, with his arms held forward. I mark the
exact spot upon the skin, which has previously been washed with a solution
of sublimate, and insert the needle behind in the seventh or eighth inter-
costal space, in a line with the inferior angle of the scapula. This point ls
lower and more posterior than in the old procedure. It has the advantage
of attacking the fluid in a more dependent position.
Thoracentesis should be performed with an aseptic No. 2 or No. 3 needle,
and not with a larger instrument. The permeability of the needle is
proved by means of a silver wire. The needle is connected with the aspirator
by indiarubber tubing ; a vacuum is created in the bottle, and the puncture
is then made. For this purpose, the operator with his left index-finger
finds the intercostal space, so as to define the rib above with the dorsal
surface of the finger and the rib below with its palmar surface. He then
uses the extremity of the index-finger as a guide, and holding the aspirating
needle in the right hand, penetrates the chest wall witli a sure thrust.
The needle is pushed in about 1 inch, the tap corresponding with the aspirator
is opened, and the fluid flows through the indicator tube into the bottle. If
the fluid does not appear, the needle has not been sufficiently pushed home.
It is pushed on boldly, the previous vacuum indicating the exact moment
at which it meets the fluid. The aspirator, once filled, is slowly emptied,
and this temporary delay is beneficial to the lung, which does not lend
itself to too rapid expansion. This manoeuvre is repeated several times,
according to the capacity of the aspirator, and the flow is stopped after
2 pints of fluid have been drawn off. The needle is withdrawn, and the
operation only takes eight or ten minutes. Scarcely any trace of the punc-
ture is to be found on the skin, and no dressing is needed.
When the operation is properly performed, the patient should suffer
neitlier fits of coughing nor pain. If pleurisy is associated witli other
lesions, and the field of haematosis is narrowed by cardiac or by pulmonary
lesions, if pleural adhesions are thouglit to exist, and especially if during
the operation the patient complains of a feeling of tearing or pain in the
interior of the chest, it is better to stop the flow, and repeat the opera-
tion next day. These precautions, however, which are rightly very neces-
sary in pleurisy with complications, are rarely required in simple |)leurisy.
264 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
What must be our line of action as regards the fluid remaining in the
chest ? If the effusion is very large and exceeds 4 pints, we remove 2 pints
next day or the day after, and so on until the effusion is drained. If, how-
ever, the quantity of fluid has been primarily estimated at about 3 pints,
and 2 pints have already been withdrawn, is it then necessary to repeat the
operation ? I think that it is not advisable. In effusions estimated at
about 3 pints I have often removed two-thirds only, and have found that
recovery went on rapidly, the residue being more quickly absorbed after
part of the fluid had been withdrawn. I think that a repetition is only
indicated when the fluid remabiing in the pleura amounts to 2 pints or
more.
We must not forget that in some cases the fluid, after evacuation,
reforms rapidly and obstinately. We must then perform thoracentesis as
often as may be necessary, carefully examining the patient for some days
after the operation, as the fluid may form again insidiously, and cause
sudden death. If thoracentesis is performed in time, patients should not
die from pleuritic effusion.
In performing thoracentesis, the choice of the aspirator is indifferent.
However, the rackwork aspirator appears to me the most convenient. The
choice of the needle is important, and I recommend exclusively No. 2
needle, the calibre of which measures only r2 millimetres in diameter.
Several objections have been made to this needle — that it permits but a slow
flow of fluid, that it is easily blocked, and that its sharp point may injure
the lung. What foundation is there for these objections ?
The small bore of the needle retards the flow of fluid, but this is bene-
ficial to the patient, for the slow flow allows the lung to expand gradually,
and prevents painful fits of coughing.
The hypothesis that so fine a needle may easily be blocked is hardly
ever realized, and, supposing it does happen, we need only withdraw the
needle and make a fresh puncture.
Another objection to the needle is that its point may wound the lung.
In order to prevent this accident, a special trocar has been invented (Castiaux).
I have never seen the lung wounded by the needle. The lung, which is
compressed and pushed back by the fluid, expands slowly, and does not
meet the needle quickly. Further, a simple manceuvre prevents every
chance of this. We need only withdraw the needle gradually as the fluid
flows out, and to make it turn, so as to bring it almost parallel with the
intercostal wall.
Consecutive Accidents. — Congestion and oedema of the lung, albuminous
expectoration, slow and sudden asphyxia, syncope, hemiplegia, apoplexy,
more or less rapid death, and purulent changes in the fluid, have been seen
after thoracentesis.
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 265
Aspiration has more than once been accused of these mishaps, an accusa-
tion which Reybard's trocar did not escape. Let me at once say that these
accusations have no foundation.
The abuse of thoracentesis has arisen from aspiration. I know this
fact, and regret it ; but as regards its abuse, there is at times a question, if
not of inexperience, at least of imperfect knowledge of the technique. It
is not sufficient to have in hand a needle and an aspirator ; it is also necessary
to know how to use them.
I shall analyze, therefore, the accidents imputed to aspiration, seek
their cause, and discuss their worth, hoping to prove that, with precise
indications and proper technique, thoracentesis by aspiration is the most
innocent of all operations.
1. Albuminous Expectoration — Asphyxia. — Dyspnoea and asphyxia,
which I place in the first group, arise as follows : Immediately or a little
while after thoracentesis, the patient, who is seized with cough and distress,
brings up frothy and blood-stained albuminous sputum, and the fine rales
of pulmonary cedema are heard on auscultation. In mild cases the symp-
toms rapidly improve, but in other cases the complication is very formid-
able. The cough is paroxysmal, the dyspnoea increases, and the patient
brings up as much as 3 or 4 pints of expectoration, which in the receiver is
divisible into several layers, the upper frothy and yellowish, the lower more
dense and albuminous. The intensity of the dyspnoea, the duration and
the quantity of the expectoration, are variable, and the patient only regains
his normal condition at the end of twelve or of twenty-four hours. Lastly,
in some exceptional cases (I know only of six) the results have been fatal,
and asphyxia has come on so rapidly after thoracentesis that patients have
died in a few minutes.
Since 1853 these cases of dyspnoea have been studied and variously
interpreted. How can we explain the albuminous expectoration and the
asphyxia ? No wound of the lung has been found post mortem, and sup-
posing that puncture of tiiis organ may have allowed the fluid to pass into
the bronchi, it would also have allowed air to pass from the bronchi into
the pleura, causing symptoms of hydro-pneumothorax. Wounds or spon-
taneous perforation of the lung, therefore, cannot be blamed. We must
look to acute oedema of the lung as the cause of alltuminous (^\i)('(i()ruti()ii,
dyspmjea, and asj)hyxia (llerard) ; but the cause of the acute oedema still
remains to be explained.
The method of aspiration has been blamed. It has been said that
asjdration lowered the tension in the pleura, and allowed the fluid to liow
out too quickly. How little foundation exists for this accusation is seen
from the reports, which show that in sixteen cases of thoracentesis followinl
by albuminous expectoration (Terillon's thesis), the operation had been
266 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
performed twelve times with Reybard's trocar, and only four times by
aspiration. In the six fatal cases, the operation was performed three times
with the trocar and three times with aspiration. Aspiration, therefore, is
not directly responsible, since most of the accidents have supervened apart
from it.
If these accidents have nothing to do with the operative procedure, to
what, then, are they due ? In six cases in which operation was followed
by death, five were cases of complicated pleurisy. In the first (Gombault),
the opposite lung was partly fibrous and bound down by old pleuritic
adhesions ; in the second (G-irard), the patient was suiTering from acute
rheumatism with double pleurisy ; in the third (Behier), tubercular
broncho-pneumonia was also present on the right side ; in the fourth
(Dumontpallier), the patient had bronchitis and adhesions of the left lung,
in addition to right pleurisy ; in the fifth (Bouveret), the asphyxiated
patient had old tubercular pleurisy, with adhesions and 7 pints of fluid.
Let us analyze the cases in which thoracentesis has been followed by
oedema of the lung (Terrillon's thesis) and albuminous expectoration. Here
also complications were present in most cases. Thus, in Cases 13 and 17
(Lasegue), the patients had aortic and mitral lesions, oedema of the
lower limbs, etc. ; in Case 3 (Bucquoy), hypertrophy of the heart, with
mitral and aortic murmurs ; in Case 15 (Lancereaux), the patient was four
months pregnant, and subject to chronic bronchitis-, with night-sweats ; in
Case 7 (Marotte), the patient was suffering from pleurisy as well as from
pulmonary tuberculosis.
I find that the accidents due to thoracentesis, when pleurisy was not
associated with any complication, have been caused by withdrawing rapidly
and at one sitting too large a quantity of fluid — 10 pints in Case 6 (Marotte),
7 pints (Worms), 5 pints in Case 18 (Faussillon), and 4 pints in other cases.
The benign, grave, or fatal cases of pulmonary oedema and albuminous
expectoration have, therefore, always been associated either with com-
plications or with the immediate withdrawal of too large a quantity of
fluid, and most often with these two causes combined. These accidents,
then, are not directly referable to exaggerated lowering of the pleural
tension produced by aspiration, since the same accidents supervene with
Reybard's trocar wlien the tension is the same inside and outside the
chest.
When, however, aspiration is badly performed, trouble follows ; but it
is not a question of the quality of the vacuum, but of the quantity. Acci-
dents do not occur because 2 pints of liquid have been withdrawn with a
proper vacuum, but because 4 or 5 pints Lave been drawn at once with
an incomplete vacuum or with none at all. It is not aspiration which is
at fault, but the way in which it is done. A patient has had 6 or 7 pints
i
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 267
of fluid in his chest for five or six weeks. The heart and the pulmonary
vessels are displaced, the lung is flattened, the circulation is hampered.
These organs are suddenly deprived of 6 pints of fluid which has for a long
time impeded their functions, and the blood at once rushes into the pul-
monary vessels, the air into the alveoli, and yet we are astonished that
accidents supervene. What astonishes me is that they do not occur more
often. It is not aspiration, nor a too perfect vacuum, which must be blamed
for these accidents. It is aspiration prolonged without measure, or the
emplojTnent of too large a trocar. It is, in short, the ill-advised method,
which, without holding to principles that should never be departed from,
allows a large effusion to be drawn off too rapidly at one sitting. I repeat
again that the secret of preventing accidents consists in using a No. 2
needle and in limiting the quantity of fluid withdrawn at a sitting to 2 pints.
I have always carried out this plan, and in the 180 cases which served
as a basis for my discussion at the Academic de Medecine, we find that the
patients suffered no mishap. Pulmonary congestion, albuminous expec-
toration, and threatening asphyxia were never seen.
We may, then, draw the general conclusion that thoracentesis, properly
done, never causes trouble ; while thoracentesis, if imprudently rejected or
postponed, exposes every patient suffering from a large effusion to the risk
of sudden death.
2. Early or Late Syncope. — In some cases patients die from synco23e one
or two days after operation. Analysis of these cases proves that the acci-
dents resulted from various causes which were in every case independent
of thoracentesis, and included clots in the heart or the pulmonary vein,
phlebitis, and thrombosis, and gangrene of the pleura (Besnier).
3. Purulent Changes. — The accusation that serous fluid may become
purulent is certainly one of the gravest accusations which has been brought
against thoracentesis. This accusation has been brought up durhig the last
disciLssion at the Academic, but it has no foundation. If we puncture in
the early stage of pleurisy, and do not examine the fluid carefully, we may
conclude the effusion is benign, because the fluid is clear and citron-coloured ;
then, if a fresh puncture is made later, thoracentesis is ^vrongly accused of
having caused infection, because we forget that we have punctured at two
different stages of the disease, and that thoracentesis has nothing to do
witii this change.
A similar remark holds good with regard to the pathogenic agents in
the fluid of sero-fibrinous pleurisy. Fluid containing the pneumococcus
or the staphylococcus may, on the first ]nincture, be scro-fibrinous, and may
become purulent from the nature of the disease, and not from thoracen-
tesis.
The question of this purulent change in pleuritic effusion htllowing
2G8 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
thoracentesis appears clear, in my opinion. Aseptic thoracentesis cannot
cause sero-fibrinous fluid to become purulent, and if the change has occurred,
it is not the operation which should be blamed, but the operator.
II. HOW TO TELL IF AN ACUTE SERO-FIBRINOUS PLEURISY IS
OR IS NOT TUBERCULAR— CYTO -DIAGNOSIS
— SERO-DIAGNOSIS.
Discussion. — As we have studied the symptoms, course, and treatment
of acute pleurisy, let us now consider the tubercular nature of these cases.
We are often consulted by patients who have been attacked while in good
health by acute sero-fibrinous pleurisy. The case appears innocent, and it
has the characters of primary pleurisy. The conditions under which it has
developed appear to stamp it as pleurisy a frigore, and yet, learning from
experience, we doubt the benignity of the disease, and ask ourselves whether
the condition is not really tubercular — a fact which greatly modifies the
prognosis.
How can we solve this problem, which sometimes is very difficult ? Are
we in a position to say that the case is tuberculous or not ? We must now
discuss this question.*
When I commenced my medical studies, acute pleurisies were classed as
primary and secondary. The former class was said to result from chill,
whence the name " pleurisy a frigore." It was called idiopathic, meaning by
this that it was not secondary to any other pathological process. It was
also called " frank pleurisy," which excluded the idea of any original taint.
This primary form served as the general descriptive type of acute pleurisy.
In opposition to this primary form, writers described secondary pleurisies
which supervened in the course of some other disease, such as pneumonia,
rheumatism, 3right's disease, etc., or were consecutive to neighbouring
lesions of the thoracic and abdominal organs. In this incongruous group
pleurisy due to tuberculosis occupied the chief place, but primary pleuro-
tuberculosis was not yet well known, and tubercular pleurisy was chiefly
considered as a complication of phthisis.
The question of tubercular pleurisy has been gradually elucidated, and
it is evident that all cases do not resemble one another. The first category
includes cases supervening in phthisis when lesions exist in the lung and
bacilli are present in the sputum. Pleurisy appearing under these condi-
tions is almost certainly tuberculous ; but this fact is of minor importance
in the present discussion, since we know in advance that the patient is
tubercular.
* Dieulafoy, Clinique Medicate de V Hotel- Dieu, 1905, le9ons 1 et 2.
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 269
In the second category let us place cases supposed to be tubercular.
The lung appears free, it is true, yet the patient is suspected of tubercu-
losis. One is of tubercular stock ; another has previously had obstinate
bronchitis, haemoptysis, fistula in ano, or so-called rheumatism, which is
only tubercular pseudo-rheumatism (Poncet). Some patients in their
infancy have had suppurating glands in the neck, which have left scars ;
coxalgia, which has left slight lameness ; or adenoid hypertrophy, with larval
tuberculosis of the tonsils.*
In short, the cases belonging to this category have been preceded at a
more or less distant date by previous tubercular lesions. Sometimes they
follow a prodromal phase that is of indefinite duration, and is characterized
by loss of strength and wasting. Clinically, I repeat, these cases are
suspicious of tuberculosis.
Quite different are the cases of tubercular pleurisy which now require
notice. We find no trace of tuberculosis, either in the past or in the present.
The patient has been attacked with pleurisy while in good health, either
without appreciable cause or following a chill, just as a patient is seized
with tonsillitis or with coryza. The onset and course of the disease, the
appearance of effusion, the results of thoracentesis (if it has been per-
formed), and convalescence itself, recall the picture of so-called pleurisy
a frigore. Appearances, however, are often deceptive, for we shall find
that the man who recovers from pleurisy suffers some years later from more
or less advanced pulmonary tuberculosis. The pleurisy from which he
recovered was the initial manifestation of the tubercular infection which
has developed later. Another patient who has been completely cured of
pleurisy dies six months or a year later from tubercular meningitis. These
cases, moreover, are not isolated. On the contrary, they are frequent, and
have thrown douljt upon the existence of pleurisy a frigore.
Landouzy in 1884 deprived pleurisy a frigore of its ancient privileges.
" Every pleurisy," says he, " which does not stand the test is tubercular,
although the patient may be robust." Kelsch and Vaillard sustained the
accusation, and the course of events fitted in so well in this respect that
pleurisy a frigore has lost part of its importance.
Landouzy's opinion, however, aroused sharp protests, and facts in
opposition to his opinion were sought for. Cases of acute pleurisy a frigore
were published. It was said they had no connection with tuberculosis,
since they recovered without sequelae. Partisans arranged themselves into
camps, and pleurisy a frigore continued to be admitted by many
physicians.
We have to see on wliicli side the truth lies. Lot us carefully examine
* Diinilafov, " 'i'lilxTCulosf! Ijiirvrt! dcs Trois Aniygflali-s " {Aradhnif de MCdecine,
8('anco du 'M Avril, 18SJ5 ; ut " Maiiuol de I'ttthologio lutorao," t. ii., p. l'J7).
270 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
the evidence, for it is important in prognosis to know whether pleurisy is
tubercular or not.
Let us first consider the cases of sudden death in patients suffering from
pleurisy a frigore, and see whether post-mortem examination discloses
tubercular lesions.
The following case (Landouzy) might be quoted as a type of pleurisy
a frigore.
A healthy baker went out while in a profuse sweat to buy some wine. Whilst
walking he felt that he had. caught a cold, but continued his work. Pain in the side,
respiratory distress, and fever appeared. The j)leurisy ran its course. Some months
later he died suddenly, while under Landouzy's care. Post mortem, much serous
fluid was found in the right pleura, and the right lung showed small foci of latent tuber-
culosis. This case, although apparently one of pleurisy a frigore, was really tubercular.
Kelsch and Vaillard have published the following cases :
A healthy trooper was taken ill with acute pleurisy. He died suddenly while talking
Avith his comrades, just as he was going to the Val-de -Grace Hospital. At the autopsy
a large effusion was found in the right pleura, which was studded with tubercular
granulations.
Another soldier, who was suffermg from right pleurisy, was reading by his bed,
when he suddenly fainted and died. A large right-sided effusion was foimd post
mortem ; the pleura was studded with tubercular nodules. These cases of serous
pleurisy, say Kelsch and Vaillard, " supervening in strong men without any tuber-
cular taint and having only the usual signs of pleurisy, would certainly have been
considered as inflammatory if sudden death had not revealed their true nature."
In days gone by, at the Saint-Antoine Hospital, I saw the two following
cases, which have been published by Binet and Legrand :
A man in good health was taken iU with right pleurisy, which he attributed to a
chill. For several days we followed the spread of the effusion, which finaUy reached
about 4 pints. Although dyspncea was absent, we decided on thoracentesis about
11 a.m. The patient protested, and the operation was postponed tiU evening; but
an hour later the man got up, and died from sjTicope before help could reach him. At
the autopsy, as I wished to know the exact amount of the effusion, I performed thora-
centesis on the corpse, and drew off 4 pints of yeUowish fluid. Latent tuberculosis had
been present ; at the apex of the lung we foimd a cretaceous tubercle.
The second of my cases refers to a robust man who had no tubercular history. His
trade exposed him to sharp changes of temperature, and especially to local chiUs : he
carried blocks of ice on his back. The pleura and the lungs were therefore much exposed
to cold. He came under my care for pleurisy. At the right side we found an effusion,
estimated at about 6 jjints. Two pints were dra-mi off by puncture on three successive
days. He felt very well, but the hquid continued to reform. Some days later he got
up, but had gone only a few steps when he fell down, his face cyanosed, his lips blue,
and died in a few seconds. At the post-mortem, as I wished to know exactly the
quantity of effusion causing his sudden death, I performed thoracentesis on the body,
and drew off 71 ounces of fluid. I then discovered that the pleurisy, which appeared
to be a frigore (contact with the ice-basket), was really tubercular; I found tuberculosis
of the pleura and a tubercular nodule in the Ixmg.
A person may apparently regain his health after acute pleurisy, but
some months later he is carried off by acute phthisis or by menmgitis, show-
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 271
ing the tubercular nature of the pleurisy. In 1884 I saw the following
case :
A mechanic, aged twenty-eight, came imder my care for pleurisy a frigoie of three
weeks' standing. There was nothmg to make me think of tuberculosis ; it was a typical
case of pleurisy. On the left side I foimd a large effusion, which I estimated at 4 pints.
1 began by drawing off 2 pints of sero -fibrinous fluid. A few days later I drew off
2 pmts more. Everything went well — the patient regained his health ; bat six months
afterwards he came imder my care with signs of meningitis, and died in a few days.
At the i)Ost-mortem we foimd that the pleurisy was cured, only a few adhesions remain-
ing, but tubercular meningitis and some tubercular granulations in tho lang were
present.
In his anatomical and experimental researches on tuberculosis of the
pleura, Peron arrives at the following conclusions : " Acute pleurisy, called
' frank,' is usually tubercular in nature, and is in many cases due to dis-
crete infection of the pleura."
Clinical medicine teaches us that many patients who are a^jparently
suffering from primary pleurisy are really affected with tuberculosis,
because, although they may be cured of pleurisy, the tubercular infection
invades the lung, meninges, peritoneum, or other parts of the body
some months or years later. Clinical medicine, however, also teaches us
that there are other patients in whoih acute pleurisy, with large effusion,
may recover without leaving any tubercular taint ; the patient, after
having recovered his health, lives for ten or twenty years, but yet neither
he nor his descendants show any signs ol tubercular infection.
Many statistics may be consulted on this subject. Fiedler, in Germany,
reports 92 cases of sero-fibruious pleurisy which he punctured : of this
number, 17 died in hospital from tuberculosLs, 8 died after leaving, 66
left the hospital either tubercular or suspected of tuberculosis, and 21
were in good health at least one or two years later. The statistics of
Barrs and Bowditch in England, and those of Mayor and Ricochon in
France, give results which are not in agreement, but still the tubercular
element occupies the largest part. For some years I questioned my
colleagues (Brouardel, Grancher, Vcrgely, Lepiiie, etc.), in order to learn
their opinion and the result of their observations. Vergely sent me four
reports, referring to patients with pleurisy who were punctured fifteen,
twenty, and twenty-two years previously ; they remained in good health,
as did their children. Lepine has furnished me with six cases, seen a great
number of years ago, and never followed by tubercular miseliicf.
Since my first work on thoracentesis by aspiration, which dates back
more than thirty years, I have punctured a great many cases. I have lost
sight of nearly all the hospital patients, but have been able to follow up
many of those treated in ])rivatc, and I can quote cases of persons who
suffered from acute pleurisy and recovered without any signs of tuberculosis.
272 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
I owe the following notes to Dr. Lamarre (of Saint-Grermain) :
The forage-store at Saint-Germain was formerly situated in the Rue d' Alsace,
nearly a mile from the quarters. The square of the Chateau is about half-way on the
road from the forage-magazine to the barracks. When Lamarre was appointed
Assistant Physician to the Samt- Germain Hospital, the outer walls of the trenches of
the castle had just been raised to the height of 3 feet. This wall became a natural
lounge for the soldiers who carried forage on their backs. They used to come from the
store, and, while in a sweat, they leant their backs against the wall, so as to rest their
load on the top. Suddenly, however, an epidemic of acute pleurisy a frigore broke
out in the regiment, while no cases were seen among the civil population. The mischief
always affected the right side. The men made good recoveries, with or without
aspiration, according to circumstances.
They were clearly, says Lamarre, cases of pleurisy a frigore. The angle of the
Chateau square where the soldiers rested was sheltered except from the cold north-
east wind, which lashed the right side of their chests. At the request of Lamarre
and of the Surgeon-Major of the regiment, the Colonel forbade the men to stop at this
dangerous spot, and no more cases of pleurisy occurred.
The regiments on guard duty, however, change every six months, and fresh cases
of jjleurisy, due to the same cause, occurred in the regiment which had just marched
in. It was again necessary to prohibit the men on fatigue duty from stopping and
resting against the wall. This experiment (for this fact has the value of an experi-
ment) occurred several times, ■with the same regularity.
By confining ourselves to clinical facts we see, then, that the cure of
acute pleurisy, without any residue of tuberculosis, is not so rare. These
facts furnish an argument for those who defend acute pleurisy a frigore :
" You see clearly," they say, " that these cases of pleurisy are not tuber-
cular." Moreover, they add : " Since pleurisy a frigore exists in animals,
why should it not exist in man ?" Trasbot, in an interesting paper, has
shown that pleurisy a frigore is common in horses, dogs, and sheep, and
may have nothing to do with tuberculosis. In support of this opinion, the
following facts have been quoted : In 1871 a line regiment of Cuirassiers
who had just been supplied with clipped horses were picketed in the open,
often without blankets, and in a few weeks thirty cases of pleurisy, nearly
all fatal, occurred among the animals. This fact was so striking that the
military authorities at once prohibited the purchase of all clipped horses.
Duvieusart saw 100 cases of pleurisy, with 60 deaths, in a flock of
400 sheep which had just been shorn during a very cold February. These
animals were not tubercular, and the pleuritic fluid, injected mto guinea-
pigs, never caused tuberculosis.
Rousseau saw several healthy dogs attacked by pleurisy, after havuig
in the depth of winter followed a stag in a pond for almost an hour. In
all these cases, adds Trasbot, there was no question of tuberculosis.
I quote Trasbot word for word : " The three domestic species — horse,
dog, and sheep — in which pleurisy is most often met with are precisely
those in which tuberculosis is most rare. . . . Thus, the facts drawn
from extensive clmical observation in different species of animals are in
J
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 273
formal contradiction to the idea that pleurisy may in these species be a
form of tuberculosis. This proposition, which is derived from clinical data,
is also absolutely confirmed by experiment. The injection of the fluid
from sero-fibrinous pleurisy in horses or in dogs has never caused tuber-
culosis in guinea-pigs or rabbits."
It appears undeniable, then, that simple pleurisy a frigore is frequent
in animals. Veterinary medicine shows the power of chills in causing
pleurisy among animals. But let us limit our study to human medicine,
and state the question afresh : Does there exist in man true pleurisy a
frigore which is not tubercular ? and if it exists, by what means can it be
distinguished from the tubercular form ?
Laboratory Researches. — To answer this question, an appeal has been
made to the multiple resources of the laboratory.
Inoculations. — It was thought that the introduction of pleuritic fluid
into the peritoneum of guinea-pigs would furnish important information,
as the iiioculation would transmit experimental tuberculosis to the animal
if the fluid were tubercular. The method of inoculation certainly gives
valuable information, but in a fairly large number of cases it leaves the
tubercular or non-tubercular nature of pleurisy in doubt ; its value Is abso-
lute when the result is positive, but a negative result does not prove that
pleurisy may not be tubercular. AH observers are agreed that tubercular
pleurisy may give negative results after inoculation of pleural fluid. A
negative result is easily understood, because the fluid may have very little
virulence, and the bacilli may be so disseminated that the few organisms
introduced into the peritoneum are rapidly destroyed.
Injections of tuberculin furnish information of undeniable value.
According to the official figures from the clinics in Prussia, patients
suffering from apparently simple but really tubercular pleurisy are nearly
as sensitive to injections of tuberculin as frankly tubercular patients are.
Injection with tuberculin, even if carried out according to Grasset's rules,
is not always exempt from harm.
Cultures. — The application of culture methods to the search for the
tubercle bacillus in effusions has only recently been successful. If we are
to obtain positive results, a culture medium that is extremely favourable
to Koch's bacilli should be employed. Glycerinated blood-agar, as used
by Bezan9on and Griffon, is the best medium.
The mixture of aseptic rabbit's blood with agar furnishes soil on which
the microbes develop in abundance, although they will not grow on the usual
media. If glycerine is previously added to the agar-agar, glycerinated
blood-agar is obtained, on the surface of which it Is only necessary to place
the suspected litpiid, whether it be pus, cerebro-spinal fluid, removed by
puncture, pleuritic fluid, etc.
18
274 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
We may use, in place of ordinary culture -tubes, Erlenmeyer's flasks,
at the bottom of which a layer of the mixture of the blood and glycerine
agar is allowed to settle.
The tube is carefully sealed and placed in the oven at 37° C. After three
or four weeks, colonies, which increase in number and have the following
characters, are seen to appear. At first the colonies are smaller than a
pm's head, but they soon become larger, growing in prominent mulberry-
shaped masses of a chocolate colour. Under the microscope, preparations
show bacilli, isolated or in clumps, which are usually of a twisted form.
The number visible to the naked eye is proportionate to the amount of
fluid sown, and especially to the richness of this fluid in bacilli.
The results obtained by this procedure are not constant, but it is an
excellent control measure, often used in our clinic.
Sero-Diagnosis. — What may we expect from sero-diagnosis ? Let me
first remind the reader that it is the sero-diagnosis of tuberculosis. Speaking
generally, sero-diagnosis supposes two factors ; whether the case be one
of typhoid, pneumonic, or tubercular infection we need : on the one hand,
a homogeneous culture in a fluid medium, in which the microbes are
separated one from another ; and, on the other hand, serum from the
infected patient, which, on addition to the culture, produces agglutina-
tion of the microbes.
In 1898 Arloing tried to find a sero-diagnosis for tuberculosis, comparable
with Widal's method in typhoid fever. The problem was solved when he
obtained homogeneous cultures of Koch's bacillus in a fluid medium. In
order to obtain the conditions most favourable to success, we must employ
a culture of tubercle bacilli twelve days old. A small quantity of the
culture is placed in a very small tube. This culture is mixed with blood-
serum from the finger of a patient who is thought to be suffering from
some tubercular lesion. The mixture is so made that it represents one
part of serum to five parts of culture, or one part of serum to ten parts of
culture, etc. The tube is then shaken, to favour mixing, and the effect
is watched. If the result is positive, agglutination occurs after an interval
of one to five hours. The upper layers of the mixture become clear, while
flakes accumulate at the lower part of the tube and give to this layer a
muddy aspect, contrasting with the limpid nature of the upper layers.
Microscopic examination will confirm the result of the agglutination, and
the Koch's bacilli appear in masses instead of being isolated.
Sero-diagnosis is applicable in tubercular pleurisy. Courmont found
that a positive reaction may be obtained by mixing cultures of Koch's
bacilli either with blood-serum or with pleuritic fluid in dilutions of 1 to 20,
1 to 10, or 1 to 5.
The agglutinating power of the blood is not always equal to that of the
I
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 275
serum ; it may be more or less marked, and may exist while that of the
serum is absent, or vice versa.
Courmont in the following table has summarized the results of positive
and negative reactions with pleuritic fluid and with blood-serum ;
-r. .,. .. r>o I ^ case, 1 in 20
/■Positive reactions, 23 cases
i\
In 31 cases with I "^ (74nercent) j 6 cases, 1 in 10
pleui-itic fluid 'I ^ V ■> [16 cases, 1 in 5
iNegative reaction 8 cases, 1 in 5 (26 per cent.).
/Positive reactions, 18 cases
(3 cases, 1 in 20
9 cases, 1 in 15, 1 in 10
6 cases, 1 in 5
INegative reactions 4 cases (19 per cent.)
The results obtained at the Hotel-Dieu confirm the value of sero-
diagnosis in tubercular pleurisy ; we must, nevertheless, remember that the
procedure is sometimes at fault.
Cyto-Diagnosis. — Cyto-diagnosis is based on the examination of the
cellular elements found in the fluid of pleurisy and of serous effusions in
general. A few words of explanation are necessary. Certain cells respond
by an offensive and defensive reaction against the attack of the patho-
genic agents, but the same cells do not always react to different provoking
agents. The polynuclear neutrophUes, or microphages (Metchnikoff),
engulf the streptococcus or the pneumococcus. The large mononuclear
cells, or macrophages, have a more powerful action ; they absorb, and
sometimes succeed in destro3dng, the tubercle bacillus ; they readily digest
large cells, such as red corpuscles and polynuclears. It was therefore
natural to suppose that the presence of a particular cell in the fluid would
indicate the nature of the pathogenic agent. From this idea cyto-diagnosis
has arisen.
In 1900, under the name of " Cyto-diagnosis," Widal and Ravaut first
published their valuable work, of which the chief features are as follows :
In a case of pleurisy we desire to know the cellular elements in the
fluid. For this purpose we draw off, with a sterile syringe, some pleuritic
fluid, and centrifugalize it, A sediment forms at the bottom of the tube ;
we pour off the fluid, so as to leave in the tube only a little liquid, which
forms a cloudy emulsion with the cellular debris. A drop of this emulsion
is placed on a slide and stained with thiouin, eosin - ]ia)inatin, or with
Erlich's tri-acid mixture.
On microsco])ical examination, we see cells of various kinds — red cor-
puscles, polynuclear leucocytes, large mononuclear cells, lymphocytes,
isolated endothelial cells, and endothelial plaques. These elements, how-
ever, do not exist indifferently in all cases. A slide does not at the same
time show numbers of polynuclears, lymphocytes, and endothelial cells.
18-2
276 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Except for the red corpuscles, which exist in most pleuritic fluids, one speci-
men will contain chiefly lymphocytes, while the polynuclear and the
endothelial cells are absent, or in very small numbers. Another specimen of
fluid contains almost nothing but polynuclear cells, while the lymphocytes
and endothelial cells are absent, or very few in number. Lastly, a third
specimen contains chiefly endothelial cells and plaques — the lymphocytes
and polynuclear cells are absent, or few in number.
The preponderance of one or other variety of cell in the pleuritic fluid
constitutes the cellular formula for this fluid, and leads to the cjrto-diag-
nosis. From this point of view, Widal and Ravaut have described three
kinds of pleurisy, each with its own cyto- diagnosis.
The first variety comprises effusions in cardiac disease, Bright's disease,
and cancer, as well as those due to irritation or to compression by neigh-
bouring organs. No infective agents are present, and consequently we
find no phagocytosis, but only the processes of transudation and desquama-
tion ; the condition is a kind of congestive oedema. To use an old expression,
it is here less a case of exudate than of transudate ; it is by transudation
that the liquid carries away the endothelial cells from the serosa into the
fluid. Accordingly, these so-called mechanical effusions have a special
formula ; the fluid, as a rule, contains neither lymphocytes nor polynuclear
cells (at any rate, in the first stage). Endothelial cells from the serosa
are almost exclusively met with.
These cells are very large in comparison with the size of the red cor-
puscles and the leucocytes. They may be isolated or agglomerated, bilobed,
trilobed, or fused in large endothehal plaques with polycyclical edges.
After staining with eosin-ha^matin, the nucleus is seen to be much darker
than the protoplasm. The outline of the cells is almost circular ; in the
endothelial plaques, however, the outline of the cells disappears at the
points where the protoplasm is fused. These plaques, which vary in size
and in number, are characteristic of mechanical effusions. Widal and
Ravaut met with them in twelve cases. The post-mortem examination of
three patients with this variety of pleurisy, and the negative results of
the intraperitoneal inoculations in guinea-pigs with pleuritic fluid from
seven similar cases prove that tuberculosis is not in evidence. These
endothelial masses are not only characteristic of mechanical pleurisy, but
their presence in the fluid excludes the hypothesis of tuberculosis. They
are not found in the fluid in recent cases of tubercular pleurisy, no doubt,
" because the tubercular neomembrane prevents the patchy desquamation
of the endothelium." Similar observations have been made in my wards :
the fluid in every case of tubercular pleurisy, though very rich in lympho-
cytes, did not contain endothelial plaques. A similar assertion may be
made, especially with regard to the first stages of mechanical effusions,
I
DISEASES OF THE PLEUEA 277
but later the lymphocytes may abound. The presence of the plaques
suffices, nevertheless, to specify the diagnosis.
In the second variety of pleurisy the fluid has quite a different cellular
formula. This variety includes acute infective pleurisies. The patho-
genic agents, which . include the streptococcus, the pneumococcus, the
Bacillus typhosus, etc., after causing cellular reactions of attack and defence,
may no longer be present, but the phagocytes or polynuclear leucocytes
exist in abundance. We also meet with large mononuclear cells, which
may be large leucocytes, or may be derived from the serous membrane ;
while we may also recognize the presence of endothelial cells, which are
isolated or have remained absolutely normal.
With regard to these cases, Widal and Ravaut give the following
information : In three out of seven cases of pleurisy in typhoid fever,
the relative abundance of large polynuclear leucocytes characterized the
formula of the effusion. In a case of sero-fibrinous streptococcal pleurisy,
there were only neutrophile polynuclears, with deformed nuclei. In sero-
fibrinous pneumococcal pleurisy, the formula gives rather the impression
of attack and defence. This formula is characterized by the presence of
red corpuscles and of a few lymphocytes, but especially by the abundance
of the polynuclears and by the presence of a greater or less number of
large mononuclear cells, some of which are really macrophages and engulf
the polynuclears. It is quite exceptional to meet with two or three endo-
thelial cells fused together.
Some odourless fluid was withdrawn by exploratory puncture from one
of my patients who had pleurisy on the right side. The fluid was examined
by Apert, and contained only polynuclears ; neither lymphocytes nor endo-
thelial plaques were met with. The absence of lymphocytes excluded acute
tubercular pleurisy ; the absence of endothelial plaques put mechanical
pleurisy out of court. A few days later turbid foul-smelling liquid, like
dirty water, was withdrawn. The fluid, which was rich in polynuclears at
the first puncture, now contained only a few cells in the shape of granular
masses, which did not stain well ; they were dead leucocytes in process of
granulo-fatty degeneration. Aerobic and anaerobic cultures of the liquid
revealed a varied microbic flora. In aerobic cultures the Staphylococais
(dbus appeared. In anaerobic cultures, colonies in the form of whitish
points, composed of a small micrococcus en masse, appeared. The leuco-
cytic formula of this foetid pleurisy was the same as in other infectious
varieties. In short, polynuclear and mononuclear elements characterize
acute infective pleurisies ; lymphocytes, when met with, are less numerous,
and it is exceptional to find endothcilial masses, with two or three nuclei,
l^^ig. 14 represents the cellular formula. We see several polynuclear
leucocytes and one large uninuclear cell.
278 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
We now come to the third variety, which is the most important
of all, and corresponds best to acute pleurisy a frigore. On micro-
scopic examination of the pleuritic fluid, we see that the cellular
formula is characterized "by the almost exclusive presence of lympho-
cytes, which are confluent and mixed with a relatively large number
of red corpuscles. At times we perceive here and there mononuclear cells,
as well as lymphocytes, which at first sight seem to be the only leucocytes
in the specimen." The polynuclears, when met with, are not numerous ;
they are perhaps the result of secondary infection. The endothelial cells
must be very rare, because in seventeen cases Widal and Ravaut never met
with them.
I have examined the cellular formula of these cases, employing prepara-
tions made with fluid from seven patients in the Saint-Christophe and
^
?$u
Fig. 14. — PoLYNtr clear LEtrcocyTEs,
Sainte-Jeanne wards. Numerous lymphocytes and some red corpuscles
are met with ; neither polynuclears nor endothelial plaques are seen.
This description corresponds to that given by Widal and Ravaut.
This cellular formula, or pleural lymphocytosis with red corpuscles,
indicates that the case is tubercular. Histological examination of the pleura
and inoculation of the peritoneum in guinea-pigs with the pleuritic fluid
confirm their tubercular nature. 'The following case was related to me
by Widal, and is a strikmg example :
A youth was taken ill with the symptoms of pleurisy a frigore — i.e., repeated rigors,
stitch in the right side, and cough, but no expectoration. On the ninth day he was
admitted under Widal, with the signs of abundant effusion on the right side. Thora-
centesis was performed, and 4 pints of yellow liquid were withdrawn. The liquid
showed a typical lymphocytic formula, indicating pleuro -tuberculosis. On the follow-
ing day the temperature varied between 102° and 104° F. Four days after the puncture
the patient suddenly sat up, choked, and died in a few seconds.
Post mortem : The left lung looked like an infarct engorged with blood ; this conj
dition seemed to depend upon an extensive pulmonary embolism. Tubercles were nol
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 279
present in either lung. The pleural cavity contained 3 pints of sero-fibrinous fluid.
The pleura was much thickened. No tubercles were visible to the naked eye, but
histological sections showed everywhere tubercular tissue. Many giant cells were seen
in the fibroas tissue of the inflamed serous membrane. Fig. 15 represents these
lesions. In this section of the thickened pleura tissue is infiltrated with numerous
cells. We see a giant cell, containing numerous nuclei, arranged like a crown at
the periphery of the cell.
The entire pleura was really a tubercular membrane studded with giant cells, but
the lung was unaffected. The condition was primary tuberculosis of the pleura. The
fluid produced tuberculosis in guinea-pigs.
This case sums up the whole question ; it would formerly have been con-
sidered as a case of simple pleurisy a frigore, when it was really tubercular.
The cytoscopic examination of the fluid was undertaken, but lymphocytes
alone were found ; the diagnosis of tubercular pleurisy was verified by the
Fio. 15, — Section of Pleura.
histological examination of the pleura and by the results of inoculation of
guinea-pigs with the pleuritic fluid.
We have, therefore, several methods of ascertaining the tubercular nature
of acute pleurisy, but I much prefer cyto-diagnosis, because it is simple and
expeditious.
In acute pleurisy (the patient being in good health) abundance of lympho-
cytes and absence of endothelial plaques from the fluid point to tubercular
mischief. Cytoscopic examination of the fluid is as necessary as bacterio-
logical analysis of the sputum in a doubtful case of pulmonary tuberculosis.
In every case of pleurisy cyto-diagnosis is necessary. Every report in
which cyto-diagnosis is wanting is incomplete. In my wards this fact is
never neglected.
We must not be satisfied even though the diagnosis is clinically evident,
because surprises may happen. Pleurisy, considered to be tubercular
280 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
because it has supervened in the course of phthisis, may not be tubercular ;
pleurisy, considered influenzal because it has occurred in the course of
influenza, may be tubercular ; the influenzal infection has here favoured the
development of pleurisy. Cases of traumatic pleurisy, which might have
been referred to the trauma alone, are really tubercular, the injury having
awakened the latent germs. I have so far considered tubercular pleurisy,
which is acute or of recent date. The leucocytic formula of the fluid may be
quite different in a case of tubercular hydropneumothorax, which results
from gross tubercular lesions in the lung. Under such conditions the lympho-
cytosis is not the chief point : " old deformed polynuclears with much divided
nuclei are seen, as well as cells with vesicles in their protoplasm, and some-
times also amorphous masses, which appear to be derived from the endo-
thelium." The diagnosis in this variety depends chiefly on clinical research.
Nattan-Larrier has devised an ingenious method, which consists in the
injection of | c.c. of pleuritic fluid into the mamma of a female guinea-pig
which is suckling. The mamma acts as a living culture medium. The
bacilli begin to appear in the milk after five to ten days. When we wish to
examine the milk, the animal is put on its back, and the mammary gland is
squeezed with the fingers of the left hand ; a drop of milk exudes from the
nipple. The drop is spread out over a slide in a thin layer. The films are
fixed with alcohol, stained with Ziehl's fuchsin, and decolourized with
30 per cent, nitric acid ; the ground substance is stained with Kiihn's blue.
We see even as early as the fifth day that some bacilli are engulfed by the
macrophages, or are isolated between the leucocytes. A few days later the
bacilli are more numerous, and their recognition is more easy. This method
has been extended to other fluids (peritoneal effusion, cerebro-spinal fluid,
etc.). It has been used in my wards at the Hotel-Dieu, and I have proved
the correctness of the results. By this method the daily search for bacilli
allows us to follow the course of the inoculation, and reveals tuberculosis as
soon as it begins to develop in the gland. We also see that the glands become
larger in a few days and that the inguinal glands swell ; the mamma is there-
fore the starting-point of widespread lesions.
Let us return to the origin of our discussion. The original question was :
Are we in a position to know whether acute sero -fibrinous pleurisy is or is not
tubercular ? The answer is an affirmative one.
Henceforth it will be possible for us to estimate correctly the so-called
" essential " pleurisy. We shall see from the first that most cases which
answer to the description of so-called frank pleurisy a frigore are really tuber-
cular ; cyto-diagnosis stamps them, and lymphocytosis unmasks their origin.
We shall see, further, that there are infectious agents capable of causing
acute pleurisies which have nothing to do with tuberculosis. An individual
suffers from sero-fibrinous pleurisy with effusion, as he might from pneu-
I
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 281
monia ; the pneumococcus is the provoking agent. Another person has
acute pleurisy with effusion ; here the streptococcus is the pathogenic agent.
In a third person, who also has acute pleurisy with effusion, we find fcetid
or non-foetid infection of the pleura by aerobic, or by anaerobic, germs, etc.
This group of acute pleurisies, which I might further enlarge, has nothing
to do with tuberculosis. Bacteriology has classed them according to their
pathogenic agents ; cyto-diagnosis includes them in the same cellular formula;
they are cases of pleurisy with polynuclear and mononuclear cells.
The pathogenic diagnosis of pleurisies which were formerly indefinite is
now so clearly elucidated that we may ask what place can be assigned in
medicine to " essential " pleurisy, in which cold was considered the only
cause. Ought this variety of pleurisy to surrender its place in our nosology
for ever, after having occupied the chief place ? Should it be definitely cut
out, or should a place still be reserved for it ? The future will tell us.
Curability of Tubercular Pleurisy. — Let us now approach another side
of the question. How can we explain the fact that acute pleurisy, called
a frigore, but recognized as tubercular, may recover without leaving any
traces ? This very curability was the chief argument against tuberculosis.
Our reply is that if these cases recover it does not say that they may not be
tubercular. The disease is sometimes limited to the pleura (primary pleuro-
tuberculosis), the lung is free, and the rest of the organism is healthy ; as the
serosa is well armed for defence and the virulence is feeble, it is not surprising
that pleurisy may recover without the infection of other parts.
Further, recovery is not special to tuberculosis of the pleura ; other sero-
membranes have the same privilege. Tuberculosis of synovial membranes,
from simple arthritis to tubercular pseudo-rheumatism, is cured fairly often.
Tuberculosis of the pericardium (Rendu) belongs to the same category.
Cases of recovery from tubercular peritonitis with ascites are no longer
reckoned. Cases of ascites, formerly catalogued under the terms "essential,"
or " a frigore," are certainly cases of tubercular peritonitis, which are
attenuated and readily curable. Some recover under medical treatment
without the help of surgical intervention, some after puncture, with or
without consecutive injections, while others are cured by laparotomy. The
cure of one of these cases formerly caused much stir. On March 20, 1840,
at a time when no one dared to touch the peritoneum, my uncle, Paul
Dieulafoy, of Toulouse, was bold enough to inject tincture of iodine into the
peritoneal cavity after removal of the fluid. This operation was successful,
and since then other cases have been reported.
I have often recognized this curability in simultaneous tuberculosis of
the pleura and the peritoneum.
Tubercular pleurisy is therefore perfectly curable ; indeed, it may be said
that it is sometimes quite benign in nature. Peron, who studied this question
282 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
from the anatomical and experimental point of view, comes to the same
conclusion : '* In tubercular sero-fibrinous pleurisy, which assumes the
clinical bearing of acute tuberculosis, the infection is at its minimum ; the
reaction of the organism is considerable."
Griffon, in collaboration with Bezan9on, has just verified this idea
experimentally by measuring the degree of virulence of the pleuritic fluid in
several patients under my care. Their researches show that the effusion in
frank pleurisy which tuberculizes the guinea-pig, a most sensitive animal,
is generally benign in a more resisting animal, such as the rabbit. Only one
of my patients had pleuritic fluid of sufiicient virulence to cause experi-
mental tuberculosis in an inoculated rabbit. The affection was of long dura-
tion, with high fever, and this patient has come back to my wards suffering
from pulmonary tuberculosis, which is secondary to the pleurisy.
The curability of tubercular pleurisy suggests some reflections. When
we speak of cure in tubercular pleurisy, are not our thoughts limited to the
pleura ? What will happen later to the lungs after the pleurisy is cured ?
Is the patient destined to become tubercular ? This is the whole point of
the question. The answer is somewhat difficult. It is said, with good reason,
that definite cure without sequelae results when the disease is limited to the
pleura and the lung is free. This statement is true, but how can we say that
the lung is absolutely free in an individual who is, suffering from primary
pleuro-tuberculosis ? Do we not know, as Potain has taught, that acute
pleurisy is often accompanied by an inflammatory condition of the lung ?
What is the nature of the pleuro-congestion ? A small focus of tuberculosis
may exist in the lung without showing any symptom, and yet this latent focus
may become the origin of tuberculosis. Rapidly fatal miliary tuberculosis of
the lung may appear to be primary, though it is really consecutive (the autopsy
shows this) to a small tubercular focus that was insidious in its growth.
The same arguments apply to tubercular pleurisy. An individual while
in good health is taken ill with acute pleurisy. Cyto-diagnosis shows that the
disease is tubercular, and everything points to primary pleuro-tuberculosis ;
the most minute examination, according to Grancher's scheme, reveals no
lesions in the lung, and yet the apparently primary mischief in the pleura
may well be consecutive to a small focus in the lung which has infected the
pleura. We have the proof of this in the case quoted above.
Landouzy's patient while in good health was seized with apparently
primary tubercular pleurisy ; he died suddenly, and the autopsy revealed a
small focus in the lung. My two patients who died suddenly had both been ]
taken ill with apparently primary pleurisy. At the autopsy we found aj
small focus in the lung, which had given rise to infection of the pleura.
These cases prove that true primary pleuro-tuberculosis, associated with j
no pre-existing lesions in the lung, and secondary pleuro-tuberculosis, setup
DISEASES OF THE PLEUEA 283
by a small latent focus in the lung, may both assume the symptoms of so-
called frank pleurisy. In many cases it is not possible to distinguish
them ; clinically, they may show no differences, and cyto-diagnosis includes
them in the same cellular formula.
These two varieties of tubercular pleurisy, however, are not comparable
as regards prognosis ; one is less grave than the other. In the primary form
the lesion in the pleura may recover without producing general infection of
the lung, or of the other organs. If the lung is already affected, although the
lesion is small, the prognosis is not so good, for we have to cure tuberculosis,
both of the pleura and of the lung. The prognosis in acute cases of long
duration is evidently uncertain.
Treatment. — I would refer the reader to the preceding section ; I have,
however, some remarks to add. Acute pleuro -tuberculosis is generally
accompanied by much effusion. Perhaps this effusion is a mode of defence ;
perhaps the lung which is compressed by the fluid has less tendency to be
infected from the pleura. If this hypothesis be true, it would be better not
to perform thoracentesis too hastily ; but yet, on the other hand, we know
how dangerous it is to allow too much fluid to accumulate in the pleura :
sudden death may be the consequence, whatever be the theory employed to
explain it. It is therefore necessary to perform thoracentesis in good time.
There is another question which is also of importance. In the case of
acute tubercular pleurisy the fluid may reform rapidly, even when it appears
to have been drained away by thoracentesis. I have found that this rapid
and obstinate reproduction of fluid is much less marked in acute infective
pleurisies that are not tubercular. I have often in tubercular cases had
occasion to draw off 4 or 5 pints of sero-fibrinous fluid by two or three
successive punctures. The effusion seemed to cease for the moment, and the
patient was considered cured ; but yet the fluid reformed without fever,
dyspnoea, or pain, and in a few days amounted to 3 pints or more. The
patient must be kept under observation, even if the acute phase appear to be
ended ; and we must not forget that fluid may reform rapidly after puncture,
and cause sudden death, if we be not forewarned.
I have just given my recommendations in the acute phase of pleurisy,
but treatment does not stop there. The patient is convalescent, but the
tubercular lesion lies hidden, though health is apparently regained. What
will happen in this case ? Will it be cured without leaving any scquolno, or
may it not rather be the first stage of tubercular infection, which will later
attack the lung or the other organs ? We know nothing of this, but we do
know that the patient has tuberculosis, and we should place him under the
best therapeutic and hygienic conditions.
An individual who is convalescent from acute pleurisy should for a long
while take care of himself, even though he be considered as cured of active
284 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
disease. Tubercular infection lies in wait for him. Years must pass before
he can be considered free from all risk of tuberculosis.
Special attention must be paid to hygiene. The patient should avoid
all causes of over-fatigue. Nourishment should be substantial and varied ;
food and diink which excite the appetite should be chosen. As regards
residence, preference should be given to high altitudes, and life should be
passed in the open air. All kinds of exercise are permissible, provided they
are never carried to excess.
As regards tonic and constitutional remedies, cod-liver oil should be given
in increasing doses — e.g., 2 to 4 ounces daily — if it is well tolerated ; many
patients will swallow a tumblerful of cod-liver oil before meals. In order to
render it less disagreeable, it may be cooled by placing the glass in ice.
In patients who do not take cod-liver oil well we should recommend fatty
foods, such as cream or bread and butter. Oysters, caviare, sardines in oil,
tunny fish, smoked fish, and meat should form part of the diet. Raw meat
and meat-juice are of benefit in cases of tuberculosis (Richet and Hericourt,
Josias and Roux). Injections of cacodylate of soda should also be given.
III. HEMORRHAGIC PLEURISY.
General Considerations. — For many years while I was occupied with the
histological examination of fluid from acute pleurisies, I had seen that my
specimens contained some thousands of red corpuscles per cubic millimetre.
With 1,500, 2,000, and 3,000 red corpuscles per cubic millimetre the
colour of the fluid was not sensibly altered ; the colour only becomes rosy
when the fluid contains 5,000 to 6,000 red corpuscles per cubic millimetre.
I have called these pleurisies histologically hsemorrhagie, in order to
differentiate them from true hsemorrhagic pleurisies, which are quite distinct.
Fluid which is very rich in red cells may remain histologically hsemorrhagic
without becoming hsemorrhagic in the true sense of the word.
In this section I shall leave out hsemorrhage into the pleura from injury,
and shall only take count of hsemorrhagic pleurisy from the medical aspect.
It is customary to include various morbid conditions under the term
" hsemorrhagic pleurisy." Hsemorrhagic effusions into the pleura which
are consecutive to tubercular or to cancerous lesions are the most frequent.
These effusions are sometimes only symptomatic, and develop as a complica-
tion in the course of cancer, or of pleuro-pulmonary tuberculosis ; at other
times they attract attention from the first, and appear as the prodromata
of hidden tubercular or cancerous lesions. In some cases hsemorrhagic
effusions into the pleura appear independent of tuberculosis or cancer ; they
seem to be simple hsematomata of the pleura. This simple hsematoma,
however, must be extremely rare, and the more I study the question the more
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 285
I believe that the hsematoma is only a benign or curable haemorrhagic
tubercular pleurisy.
We do not see therefore one, but several kinds of haemorrhagic pleurisy.
The fluid is reddish or blackish, and contains fibrin, haematin, red cor-
puscles, and dissolved elements ; the composition depends upon the nature
of the pleurisy and on the abundance and the age of the fluid.
I may say in advance that the haemorrhagic nature of the pleural fluid
usually comes as a surprise ; thoracentesis is performed, and the fluid is
found to be haemorrhagic. It is practically impossible to afflrm before
thoracentesis that pleurisy is haemorrhagic. What are the signs and
symptoms which would lead to such a diagnosis ? In the great majority of
cases haemorrhagic pleurisy is just like the sero-fibrinous form ; I see no dis-
tinctive signs between them : the course may in both cases be acute, sub-
acute, or latent. On palpation the same modifications of the vocal fremitus ;
on percussion, the same character of the dullness ; on auscultation, the same
tubular breathing and aegophony, as well as aphonic pectoriloquy which has
been given as a distinctive sign between sero-fibrinous and purulent or
haemorrhagic effusions. I have found aphonic pectoriloquy in most of
my cases, and it was very clearly marked in a case of haemorrhagic pleurisy
described by Jaccoud, and hence I repeat the haemorrhagic nature of the
fluid is a surprise. We perform thoracentesis, thinking to draw off sero-
fibrinous fluid from the pleura, and we are often astonished to find it
haemorrhagic.
Under some conditions haemorrhagic pleurisy may simulate empyema ;
the general symptoms which lead to this error in diagnosis are due to the
tubercular or to the cancerous lesions which have set up pleurisy. The
patient is feeble, has an earthy colour, and shows oedema of the lower limbs
and of the chest-wall ; thoracentesis is, performed with the idea that pus will
result, but here again we are much astonished to withdraw blood-stained
fluid. We make this mistake because we are too accustomed to consider
ffidema of the che.st-wall as a sign of suppuration ; it is, indeed, a valuable
sign, but it is not limited to purulent effusions. It is also met with in
haemorrhagic and even in some sero-fibrinous effusions.
Htemorrhagic pleurisy may at times be suspected beforehand — e.g., when
the trouble develops in a cancerous patient. Whether the cancer be
primary or secondary, we may prophesy in such a case that the effusion k
perhaps haemorrhagic. I say perhaps, for effusion of cancerous origin is
sero-fibrinous in at least one-third of the cases.
In short, the diagnosis of the haemorrhagic nature of the fluid rests upon
no certain sign ; its existence may be suspected and reservations made as to
the qualities of an effusion which shows unusual characters, but it is impossible
to affirm the haemorrhagic nature. After these few remarks it will be
286 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
evident that the study of haemorrhagic pleurisies is surrounded by difficulties ;
therefore, in order to facilitate the description, I shall divide them into four
groups :
First Group. — These cases supervene in the course of hepatic cirrhosis
and of Bright's disease, or appear as a pleural haemorrhage in the course
of scurvy and the eruptive fevers. In this group I shall also place haemor-
rhage from the opening of an aortic aneurysm, or from the rupture of an
atheromatous aorta. This group, then, contains the most dissimilar
varieties.
Second Group. — This group comprises the tubercular pleurisies. Three
varieties must be distinguished. In the first variety the condition forms
part of an acute tuberculosis ; in the second variety pleurisy supervenes
in the course of ordinary chronic tuberculosis ; in the third variety
haemorrhagic pleurisy appears as the first symptom of tuberculosis : it is the
result of local or primary tuberculosis of the pleura.
Third Group. — To this category belong cancerous pleurisies, whether
the cancer be j)rimary or secondary.
Fourth Group. — Simple haematoma of the pleura forms the fourth group.
First Group.
Description. — The most dissimilar effusions are found in this group.
Does cirrhosis of the liver deserve the place assigned to it in the pathogenesis
of haemorrhagic pleurisy ? I think not. In Moutard-Martin's remark-
able work two cases of haemorrhagic pleurisy are, in my opinion, wrongly con-
sidered as dependent on cirrhosis of the liver. One of them is taken from
Laennec's famous memoir, in which the lesions of atrophic cirrhosis were
first described. A patient with atrophic cirrhosis had also haemorrhagic
pleurisy on the left side. Laennec, however, did not say that the pleurisy
resulted from the cirrhosis ; I am more inclined to believe that the pleurisy
was tubercular in nature, for at the autopsy " the deep layer of the pleura
contained innumerable greyish tubercles." The other case which has also
been considered as dependent on cirrhosis of the liver may, I think, have
been due to independent lesions of the pleura ; for if we look up the details of
the autopsy we shall agree that it is difficult to admit atrophic cirrhosis in a
liver of " normal size, which showed remarkable friability, and broke up on
pressure with the finger into a pulp."
I do not deny, of course, the haemorrhagic form of pleurisy in the course
of hepatic cirrhosis, for I have seen several cases ; but I think that it is rare as
opposed to the sero-fibrinous form, which is fairly common.
I also regard haemorrhagic pleurisy associated with Bright's disease as
exceptional, though Bright's disease predisposes on the one hand to effusion,
and on the other to haemorrhage.
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 287
In pleuro-pulmonary inflammations of infectious origin (influenzal
pleuro-pneumonia, typhoid fever), the fluid is sometimes hsemorrhagic.
In the hsemorrhagic forms of the eruptive fevers haemorrhagic effusion is
sometimes met with, but it is here a case of haemorrhage into the pleura
rather than that of an inflammatory condition, properly speaking.
Haemorrhagic effusion may also result from opening of an aortic
aneurysm, or from the rupture of an atheromatous aorta. Several cases
have been published ; the following case is given by Ribail :
A man, thirty-five years of age, suffering from palpitation, breathlessness, and
angina pectoris, came into the Beaujon Hospital, under Gombault. The diagnosis of
aortic aneurysm, with aortic insufficiency, was made. A month later the patient felt a
sharp pain on the left side. Pleural effusion was recognized, and punctures gave
issue to 12 ounces of bloody fluid on the first, 16 ounces on the second and third occa-
sions. The patient died suddenly from angina pectoris. Post mortem, the left pleura
was found covered by a clot, which was continuous with the clot in an aortic aneurysm.
Second Group.
Description. — This group includes haemorrhagic pleurisies of tuber-
cular nature. I shall divide them into three varieties. The first variety
is associated with acute granular tuberculosis, or with acute tubercular
broncho-pneumonia. The lesions in the pleura and in the lung appear
together ; the general symptoms are usually very marked : fever is acute,
temperature is very high, dyspnoea is severe and continuous, or sometimes
paroxysmal. The estimation of the quantity of fluid is very difficult, because
the signs of pleurisy are distorted by the subjacent lesions in the lung.
The dyspnoea is sometimes so violent and the quantity of fluid appears
so large that thoracentesis is performed ; 1 or 2 pints of haemorrhagic fluid
are withdrawn, but practically no relief follows, because the dyspnoea, like
all the other symptoms, is due rather to the lung trouble than to the effusion.
The effusion, however, either from its early appearance or its abundance,
sometimes appears to be the chief lesion. The patient experiences some relief
after the evacuation of the fluid, and may even ask for a second or a third
operation; but the severity of the general symptoms, the elevation of
the temperature, the persistent or rapid reappearance of dyspnoea after
evacuation of the fluid, the wasting and the signs found on auscultation,
prove that the effusion is associated with acute tuberculosis of the lung and
pleura. The sputum must be examined for bacilli. The prognosis is nearly
always fatal in these forms.
In the second variety haemorrhagic pleurisy is associated with tlio
ordinary chronic forms of plitliisis, and I am surprised tliat Moutard-Martin
has stated that it never coexists with chronic tuberculosis. I have collected
several cases which, on the contrary, prove that the chronic as well as the
acute forms of tuberculosis may cause haemorrhagic pleurisy.
288 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The pathogenic diagnosis is very simple. The patient presents both the
symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis and of pleurisy. Fever, pain, and
dyspncBa may be absent ; the mischief may end after one or more punctures,
because it has been only an incident in the course of the tuberculosis, just as
sero-fibrmous pleurisy may be.
In the third variety — and I draw special attention to this point — pleurisy
appears as the initial symptom of tuberculosis. It is the result of primary
tuberculosis of the pleura. Tuberculosis may commence in the pleura, just
as it may in the synovial membrane, testis, prostate, eye, skin, pericardium,
etc. ; remain localized for a lengthy period, and recover without becoming
general.
As we have seen in the section on sero-fibrinous pleurisy, it often
happens that pleurisy is met with m an individual who recovers, but shows
signs of pulmonary tuberculosis some months or years later. In this case
pleurisy, though simple in appearance, was only the result of tuberculosis,
which showed itself by effusion, and then became generalized throughout the
Imig.
Hsemorrhagic pleurisy, therefore, may result from local or from initial
tuberculosis of the pleura ; and just as persons have haemoptysis long
before other signs of tuberculosis, so others have hsemorrhagic pleurisy as
the first symptom, and, if I may use the expression, these people " reject
their hsemoptysis into their pleura." These cases may present all the signs
of sero-fibrinous pleurisy, and the haemorrhagic nature of the fluid is only
recognized on puncture ; thoracentesis is performed once, twice, three, or
four times, the fluid is drawn off, the pleurisy cured, and the case thought
to be one of simple hsematoma of the pleura ; but yet signs of pulmonary
tuberculosis appear a few months later, and show the error in diagnosis.
These considerations show that the pathogenic diagnosis of this variety
may be fairly easy or very difficult. It is easy if the patient has signs of
acute or of chronic pulmonary tuberculosis ; if the pleurisy arises during
apparently good health, the diagnosis cannot be settled either by the quality
or by the quantity of the fluid, or by the course of the pleurisy, which may
be acute, subacute, or latent. In such a case the various methods of labora-
tory research given above must be employed.
In a patient under my care for diabetes and haemorrhagic pleurisy, the
lymphocytosis demonstrated the tubercular nature of the pleurisy.
This form of pleurisy, when accompanied by fever, becomes much more
serious, and the gravity arises from the lesions in the lung. Nevertheless,
the condition may recover perfectly after one or several punctures. Ii
have pubhshed cases, and Lereboullet has quoted others. The patient is]
sometimes definitely cured, in which case it is probable that the haemorrhagicj
pleurisy was the result of local tuberculosis of the pleura ; at other times
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 289
the patient, after recovering from pleurisy, subsequently develops tuber-
culosis in the lung.
Pathological Anatomy. — The lesions show some peculiarities. Some-
times the lesion is found at the same time in the lung, in the pleura, beneath
the pleura, or in the false membranes ; at other times it is limited to the
pleura or the false membranes. The walls of the vessels show coagulation
necrosis, and Kelsch thinks that the haemorrhage is due to this change.
Numerous vessels are obstructed by hyaline thrombi ; the vessel walls are
no longer distinct, and are surrounded by fibroid networks.
The newly-formed membranes are generally stratified and rich in vessels,
friable if yomig, thick and firm if old. These membranes are composed of
granulation tissue, and of deeper layers that are made up of lymphatic cells,
connective bundles, and fibrous tissue (Malassez).
Third Group.
Description. — Pleurisy in the course of pleuro-pulmonary cancer is
not always hsemorrhagic ; the fluid is sero-fibrinous in at least one-tliird of
the cases, and this fact must carefully be borne in mind, for it would be
wrong to reject the hypothesis of cancer because the effusion was sero-
fibrinous. The haemorrhagic form alone, however, must now occupy our
attention. Haemorrhagic pleurisy in cancer may arise quite suddenly, like
acute pleurisy, or have an insidious onset, so that the patient finds some
difficulty in fixing the date. These different varieties are found, moreover,
in sero-fibrinous, haemorrhagic, purulent, tubercular, or cancerous pleurisy.
From the clinical point of view I shall divide haemorrhagic pleurisy in
cancer into two varieties.
In the first variety, pleurisy appears in an individual who has obvious
cancer. We find in one patient cancer of the stomach, oesophagus, intes-
tines, rectum, omentum, liver, kidney, bladder, prostate, testis, eye, skin,
or of one of the vertebrae ; in another patient we see cancer of the uterus or
of the breast. Cough, thoracic pain, continuous or paroxysmal dyspnoea
and currant- jelly expectoration, appear during the course of these cancers.
Pleural effusion is then discovered, and thoracentesis gives vent to haemor-
rhagic fluid. In such a case the pathogenic diagnosis is clear — viz., secondary
cancer of the lung and of the pleura ; and it may be stated that the hajmor-
rliagic pleurisy is of cancerous origin.
In some cases we do not witness the evolution of tlie cancerous lesions,
but the patient shows traces of a more or less recent scar, resulting from an
operation for epithelioma of the nose or of tlie lip, for cancer of the breast
or of the testis, or for osteo-sarcoma. Pleurisy then aj)pears and thora-
centesis yields haemorrhagic fluid. The lung and the pleura have evidently
been attacked by secondary cancer.
19
290 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE .
The pathogenic diagnosis, however, is not always so simple. In the
cases wliich constitute the second variety, hsemorrhagic pleurisy is not
preceded by otherwise appreciable cancerous lesions. Primary cancer may
afEect the pleura and only give rise to symptoms of pleurisy, which may be
acute or insidious in its onset. The pathogenic diagnosis is sometimes
difficult.
If hemorrhagic pleurisy, consecutive to mediastino-pulmonary cancer,
were always accompanied by special symptoms, such as dysphagia, aphonia,
oedema of the arm or of the face, and well-marked collateral circulation, which
are so common in tumours of the mediastinum, and if the patient suffering
from pleurisy showed supraclavicular glands, currant- jelly expectoration, and
violent attacks of dyspnoea, which are seen in cancer of the lung, the patho-
genic diagnosis of the pleurisy would be signally simphfied ; there are
cases in which nothing leads us to suppose the existence of cancer of the
mediastinum or of the lung. There are also cases in which cancer of the
pleura is primary, or associated with early cancer of the lung, which may
pass unnoticed ; the pleural effusion is then the chief feature, and we find
hsemorrhagic pleurisy which presents much difficulty as to its origin.
The following signs and symptoms helped me to make a diagnosis in a
case of hemorrhagic pleurisy, consecutive to primary cancer of the lung, in
a man twenty-two years old :
Pain constitutes an important symptom; it is frequent, sometimes
sharp, persistent, unhke the " stitch in the side " of common pleurisy. It
may be worse at the base of the thorax, and radiate to the shoulder, the
arms, and the wrists, so that patients beheve themselves to be suffering
from rheumatism. Acuteness and radiation of the pain are fairly frequent
symptoms in pleuro-pulmonary cancer. Neuralgia of the brachial plexus
was the cliief symptom in one of Behier's cases. One of Lancereaux's
patients complained of " a sharp pain in the left side of the neck, and in the
shoulder on the same side," and later swelhng of the joints of the left arm
supervened. In several of my cases I have noted pains in the joints, so
that I have asked myself whether pseudo-rheumatism may not be one of
the manifestations of cancer. These pains are not found in hemorrhagic
tubercular pleurisy.
Dyspnoea is one of the usual symptoms of cancerous pleurisy. It may
be continual or paroxysmal, and is relieved by thoracentesis, but the relief
is only of short duration. This dyspnoea is found in most of the cases of
cancerous pleurisy, and I have seen it cause terrible agony on three occa-
sions ; it depends chiefly upon the cancerous lesions in the mediastinum
and the lung. Similar dyspnoea is not found in chronic tubercular hsemorj
rhagic pleurisy. Some cases of hemorrhagic pleurisy, associated witr
acute tuberculosis of the lung and of the pleura, may be accompanied bj
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 291
acute dyspnoea ; in these cases, however, the fever is liigh ; this does not
happen in cancerous pleurisy.
Permanent displacement of the heart is seen in left cancerous pleurisy,
at first on account of the fluid, and later because the growth in the pleura
and the lung may help to cause deviation. Further, the heart sounds are
heard all over the chest, as though they were transmitted to the ear by
soUd lung, which is a good conductor of sound.
Acceleration of the pulse has often been observed, and the pulse-rate
may be 100 or 120, although fever is absent. It may be asked whether
this acceleration is not due to the pressure of the growth on the pnsumo-
gastnc nerve. In one of my patients who had continuous tachycardia I
found a cancerous nodule of the size of a hemp-seed in the interventricular
septum of the heart.
The nature of the fluid drawn off by thoracentesis may furnish evidence
in favour of cancer. The fluid is often brownish or blackish, blood forming
a tenth or a twelfth part. The fluid contains very httle fibrin, in contra-
distinction to the effusion in tubercular pleurisy, which usually contains a
large amount. In some cases (Fraenkel, Quincke) agglomerated or isolated
polymorphous epithehal cells, with a large nucleus and vacuoles, have been
found in the fluid.
Nattan-Larrier has studied the cases of cancerous pleurisy in my wards,
and has worked out their cytological formula. In addition to red corpuscles,
two different types of cells may be met with : (1) Masses of cells which are
large, thick, and have polycyclical outHnes ; masses of cells, disposed in
layers, of variable size and indefinite outlines, protoplasm refracting and
vacuolated ; irregular nuclei, which stain unequally. (2) Isolated cancer
cells, which are easily recognized by their inequality in size, by the fact that
they are larger than the leucocytes or the endothehal cells, by their ovoid
or irregular shape, by their clear outUne, by their refracting protoplasm,
which is studded with basophile granules and clear vacuoles, and by their
multiple nuclei, which are irregularly placed and stain imequally. I have
noticed the existence of polynuclear cells in cancerous pleurisy with much
effusion. Eosinophile polynuclear cells are never met with in the fluid from
these cases of hsemorrhagic pleurisy.
Bard has laid stress on the characters of the serum after centrifugaliza-
tion. The serum is said to remain coloured with hajmoglobin in cancerous
pleurisy, while it is colourless in other hajmorrhagic affusions. This hajmo-
lytic action, which is easily recognized with the naked eye, is made certain
by the addition of tincture of guaiacum and turpentine (blue coloration
of the laky serum by this reaction). These findings have been confirmed
by all authorities.
In some cases the pleuritic fluid is composed of nearly pure bloud.
" 19-2
292 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Thoracentesis is performed, and fluid which has the aspect of arterial or
of venous blood is drawn off. In one of my patients puncture gave exit to
a fluid having the appearance of arterial blood, and caused me at first sight
to think that it might be a case of intrapleural hgematoma, due to rupture
of an atheromatous or a dilated aorta. Lymphosarcoma, colloid cancer,
epithelioma, and endothelial carcinoma, may cause such intrapleural
haemorrhages. The blood does not clot, but remains fluid.
The rapid and persistent reproduction of haemorrhagic fluid after
thoracentesis is common to tuberculosis and to cancer ; it is, however, much
more marked in the case of cancer. Thus, in one of my cases thoracentesis
was performed thirty-three times in five months, and 44 pints of haemor-
rhagic fluid withdrawn. In one of Desnos' cases thoracentesis was per-
formed thirty times in six months, in a woman with cancer of the pleura,
and 80 pints of haemorrhagic fluid were withdrawn. I have, however, seen
cases in which the fluid of pleuro-pulmonary cancer may dry up after a few
punctures ; and, on the other hand, I have seen cases of tubercular haemor-
rhagic pleurisy in which the fluid formed with such obstinacy that six, ten,
and fifteen punctures were necessary. It would, therefore, be wrong to
base an absolute opinion upon the drying up, or upon the obstinacy of the
haemorrhagic fluid, in order to banish the idea of cancer.
The youth of the patient is no argument agaujst the hypothesis of can-
cerous pleurisy, for this lesion has been found in patients who were only
eighteen years, twenty-four years, twenty-three years, twenty-two years,
and ten years of age respectively. One of my patients was only twenty- two
years of age.
Fourth Group.
Description.— Under the term " pleural haematoma " we must include
cases of haemorrhagic pleurisy, which are not due to tuberculosis or to
cancer. The anatomical process is in some points comparable to chronic
hydrocele and to pachymeningitis ; the condition is a haemorrhagic pachy-
pleuritis.
In some cases the haematoma, according to Wintrich, is said to be genuine
pleurisy, in which the intensity of the initial inflammation determines
haemorrhage into the pleura. A typical case of simple haematoma may
be thus described : A patient has haemorrhagic pleurisy. The symptoms
sometimes resemble those of simple pleurisy, but at other times the appear-
ance of the patient and the general symptoms may lead us to fear tuber-
culosis or cancer of the jjleura. Thoracentesis is performed, and haemorrhagic
fluid drawn off. In simple haematoma the liquid is fibrinous, and the ten
dency to reaccumulation is shght. The condition sometimes yields to a single
puncture, and we are rarely obUged to aspirate more than two or three
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 293
times. The relief is notable, and the general condition shows progressive
improvement.
The diagnosis of simple haematoma must not be hastily made, even though
the conditions have yielded to thoracentesis. In some cases, as I have
already said, hsemorrhagic pleurisy is the only indication of local or primary
tuberculosis of the pleura. Hsemorrhagic pleurisy may recover after
thoracentesis, when a favourable prognosis holds good ; on the other hand,
a pleural hematoma is thought to have been cured, and the error is
recognized some months later, when undoubted signs of tuberculosis appear.
The more I see, the more I believe in the rarity of pleural haematoma ;
the condition is nearly always tubercular. In my wards at the Necker
Hospital I had a patient with every sign of pleural hsematoma. The fluid,
which dried up after a single puncture, did not cause inoculation tuber-
culosis in guinea-pigs. The patient, who had never had any sign of
pulmonary tuberculosis, left the hospital in good health. If I had lost sight
of him, I should have thought that it was a case of simple haematoma, but
he came back to me a year later with pulmonary tuberculosis. The ao-called
pleural haematoma was therefore haemorrhagic tul^ercular pleurisy.
Treatment of Haemorrhagic Pleurisies.
The treatment is very simple. Revulsives, bhsters, and other medical
means, such as diuretics and purgatives, etc., give here no more benefit
than they do in sero-fibrinous pleurisy.
What line of treatment must be adopted in a case of haemorrhagic
pleurisy ? One treatment alone is rational — viz., aspiration of the fluid.
Pleurotomy, customary in empyema, should not be employed in these
cases.
The rules for aspiration laid down under simple pleurisy are in every
way applicable to haemorrhagic effusions. The pleura is punctured with a
No. 2 or No. 3 needle, care being taken never to withdraw more than 2 pints
of fluid at one sitting. In this way we can avoid fits of coughing, attacks
of dyspnoea, intrathoracic pain, and other much more serious troubles which
sf)metinies ac(;ompa?iy thoracentesis when too large a quantity of fluid has
wrongly been withdrawn at one sitting. As I have discussed the important
question of thoracentesis fully, further notice is needless. The evacuation
of 2 pints of fluid at a sitting, which represents the maximum amount in
simple pleurisy, is usually too high in the haoniorrhagic variety. After
evacuation of 20 to 30 ounces, the patient often experiences dragging pains,
and I have been several times obliged to stop the flow after 10 or 15 ounces.
The patient rarely experiences the marked relief which follows the
evacuation of the fluid in simple pleurisy. This fact depends much on the
condition of the pleura and of the lung, as well as of their respective lesions.
294 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
I have always seen that the relief is more marked in cases of tuberculosis
than of cancer.
When the fluid reaccumulates rapidly, we are obliged to perform thora-
centesis repeatedly, and the patient finally clamours for it, because the
operation gives momentary relief to his distress.
I recently treated a lady who had been sent to me from Lisbon. She
begged me to perform thoracentesis every four or five days. I succeeded
in lessening her terrible dyspnoea by means of repeated punctures and
injections of morphia. Thoracentesis is only to be performed when there
is necessity, and only the surplus in the pleura should be drawn off. As
the fluid is sometimes very rich in blood cells, thoracentesis is a form of
bleeding, and repeated punctures cause weakness.
In certain cases of hsemorrhagic pleurisy the fluid yields after one, two,
or three punctures ; this happens in simple haematoma of the pleura, and in
some cases of tubercular pleurisy. In cancerous pleurisy the fluid is repro-
duced with more obstinacy. In some malignant cases, however, we succeed
in drying up the fluid. All hsemorrhagic pleurisies may, then, be curable.
The tuberculosis is but little curable, the cancer is incurable. Under
some circumstances the fluid which contained much blood at the first
puncture contains less in the following ones ; it loses its tint and becomes
serous. These changes are seen both in tuberculosis and in cancer, as I
have reported. These very important facts show us that it would be wrong
to take the drying up or the decoloration of a hsemorrhagic fluid as the
basis of a favourable or of an unfavourable prognosis as to the cause of the
haemorrhage. The evolution of hsemorrhagic fluids in the pleura gives us
imperfect information as to the cause and the nature of the lesion which
produces the haemorrhage.
Hsemorrhagic pleurisies only become purulent (a change which is very
rare) if organisms of suppuration produce secondary infection. In the
contrary case, whatever be the number of the punctures, the fluid does not
become purulent, either in simple hsematoma or in tubercular and cancerous
pleurisy.
I have performed more than thirty punctures on the same patient, but
the hsemorrhagic fluid did not become purulent.
Thoracentesis is the only means available in cancerous pleurisy. The
dyspnoea is commonly so acute that we are obUged to give several injections
of morphia daily.
The commonplace treatment by tonics and constitutional remedies, such
as arsenic, lecithin, and preparations of coca and kola remains.
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 295
IV. TRAUMATIC HiEMOTHORAX.
Traumatic haemothorax demands the physician's attention, and therefore
deserves notice in a text-book of medicine.*
Resume of a Case. — On September 24, 1906, man, aged twenty-two, admitted to
the Hotel -Dieu, under De Deuke, for a stab in the back. Pain in chest and dyspnoea
were severe two days later ; he was therefore transferred to my care. The woimd,
which had healed over, was in the fifth left intercostal space, about an inch from the
spine. Inspection showed slight bulging, ynth absence of vibrations, and dullness at
the left base. Traube's space was resonant.
Soft tubular breathing on expiration, aegophony, and pectoriloquy pointed to
pleural effusion. No signs of pneumothorax. Heart not displaced ; cough frequent ;
dyspnoea somewhat marked ; temperature 103° F. (this fact attracted my notice). No
haemoptysis ; no blood-stained sputum. Diagnosis : traumatic hasmothorax.
Exploration in order to examine the fluid, and also to see if the pleura were infected .
20 c.c. of fluid, almost as red as pure blood, withdra^Ti.
During the first week in October the only change was an increase in the amount of
effusion, and during the next week it was clearly abundant. The dullness now extended
higher, vocal fremitus was absent over the lower two-thirds of the chest, and the heart
was displaced to the right. The increase in the effusion was not due to blood, but
resulted from serofibrinous pleurisy, as proved by punctures. On October 18 the
fluid had lost its former red tint. Friction sounds above the effusion proved pleurisy
following hfemothorax.
On November 1 the fluid had partially absorbed ; friction sounds wore present in
the axillary region. The fluid, on puncture, was pale yellow and fibrinous. Patient's
appetite was good, his general condition excellent, and he left for Vinconnes on
November 11.
He came back a week later for slight dyspnoea. There was a good deal of fluid,
and on puncture 200 c.c. of sero-fibrinous liquid were drawn off. A fortnight later he
went out well.
The nature of the fluid withdrawn at the different punctures was determined in my
laboratory. As aerobic and anaerobic cultures on solid and fluid media showed tho
absolute sterility of the Hquid, the fever clearly did not depend on infection of the pleura.
At the first puncture (September 27) the fluid, which was almost blood-red, contained
2,100,000 red and 4,000 white corpuscles. The fluid was put in a tube ; twenty-four
hours later we found a red sediment, containing blood cells, and amounting to a fifth
of the contents of the tube. The supernatant fluid was not laky, but pale yellow ; it
was not fibrinous, and showed no trace of coagulation. No clot had formed in this
tube on December 10. We were surprised that tho sediment formed one-fifth and tho
serum four-fifths. Did this excess of serum come from clots in the pleura ? If this
were so, some of the blood effused must have clotttid.
Puncture, October 18 : the fluid was quite different. It was no longer red, and its
rosy tint showed how quickly the red cells had been absorbed. The proportion of
red to white cells was only 35,000 to 0,200.
Eosinophiles
Lymphocytes
Macrophages
Colls from tho pleura
Nucleated red corpuscles : 1 or 2<
Per Cout.
. 35
. 35
, 20
, 10
* TiiewMoy, Clinique Medicale de V Hotel-Dieu, llUKi. I !">« et 12"'" l<'(M)n.
296 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The deposit, on standing, was not red, but of a rose colour, and its amount about
one-thirtieth of the total contents. Flakes of fibrin were floating in the yellow fluid.
On November 11 the fluid resembled that of an ordinary pleurisy, and contained
13,000 red to 8,500 white corpuscles. It was practically a " histologically hsemor-
rhagic " pleurisy. No deposit appeared on standing ; a thin layer of sediment, with a
rosy tint, appeared only after centrifugalization.- The fluid was sero -fibrinous, and
clotted in the tube.
Blood-counts showed :
Red Corpuscles. White Corpuscles.
November 1 .. .. 3,200,000 .. 5,000
November 11 .. .. 3,840,000 .. 4,400
November 22 .. .. 4,200,000 .. 6,000
The eosinophiles amounted to 10 per cent.
Pathological Physiology. — Does the blood effused in hsemothorax
remain fluid, or does it form clots ? Trousseau and Leblanc, from experi-
ments on the horse, have shown that clotting occurs if blood be allowed to
flow into the pleura after section of an intercostal artery. Trousseau hence
concluded that similar coagulation might take place in haemothorax in man.
This view has recently been opposed by Tuffier and MiUan, who state
" the bloody effusion in the pleura does not clot in cases of traumatic
hsemothorax." We can decide the point by consulting the pubUshed cases
of traumatic haemothorax (C. de Gery).
Case 1. — Very severe haemothorax on the left side. - Six pints of bright blood
drawn off. Later, 4 pints of blood, " mixed with clots, which at times stopped the
flow," drawn off by thoracentesis.
Case 2. — Young woman wounded by a revolver bullet. Hsemothorax formed
quickly ; repeated haemoptysis occurred ; weakness was extreme, and syncope im-
minent. Two inches of the eleventh rib resected. Blood gushed out, and blackish
clots, as large as oranges, were expelled on expiration.
Cases 3 and 4. — Haemothorax, Resection of ribs ; fluid blood and clots removed.
These quotations prove that Trousseau was right. The blood may clot in
the pleura, just as it does in the peritoneum, the pericardium, the meninges,
and the joints. This fact has an important practical apphcation ; the clot
may plug the wound in the lung. The results of Trousseau's experiments
may be stated as follows :
Haemothorax was produced by making a penetrating wound of the lung
in a horse. The animal was killed, and the wound in the lung examined.
" A clot of fibrin filled up the wound in the lung like a sword in its scabbard."
This protecting clot sometimes formed half an hour after the injury, and on
attempting to draw the clot out it was necessary to break it, because it was
embedded in the interlobular cellular tissue by numberless fibrinous radicles^
which broke on traction.
If the post-mortem was not performed till forty-eight or seventy-
two hours after the injury, the wound was closed by a remarkable
process.
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 297
The woimd in the hmg was inflamed, and the pleura itself was also
affected to a variable extent. A plastic exudate was adherent to the serous
membrane, and blended with the fibrinous nucleus of the wound, intimately-
adhering to it. The whole track of the injury was thus obhterated by
fibrinous clot, and the edges were covered by a fibrinous disc, adherent to
the pleura, to the lips of the wound, and to the plug of clot.
The effusion of blood, therefore, in traumatic hgemothorax may form clots
in the pleural cavity ; yet, strange to say, the same blood, when drawn of?
and placed in a test-glass, does not clot, or at least coagulation is imperfect
or delayed. The study of cases clears up this point.
In my own case, the bloody fluid did not coagulate in the tube, which was kept
in the laboratory for two months.
In Sacquepee's case the fluid from the pleura was set aside, and behaved like de-
fibrinated blood ; it did not clot, although it was kept for two months.
Patel and Leriche ptmctured the pleura four days after a wound, and drew off
7 ounces of blood. The fluid had not clotted by night.
In a case published by Gaultier and Fran^ais puncture was performed on the tw(mty-
first day. Three pints of bloody fluid were drawn off. The fluid did not begin to clot
till six hours later, and the clot did not retract till twelve hours later, while fresh blood
from the patient's finger clotted normally at the end of half an hour.
Milian quotes a case in which the fluid was drawn off sixteen days after the injury.
It clotted at the end of an hour, and the retraction of the clot expressed yellowish
senjm.
These examples prove that we have not yet exact knowledge as to the
properties of the fluid in heemothorax. As a rule, the fluid does not clot,
though it may do so, and in the latter event coagulation is delayed.
The blood in haemothorax remains aUve, haematolysis does not occur, and
the serum does not become laky, but remains of a straw colour. All authori-
ties agree upon this point, as the following examples prove :
In my case, hsematolysis was quite absent, the red corpuscles were intact, and the
exuded serum kept its yellow tint for six weeks. In Tufiier and Milian's case " it was
not possible to find blood cells in process of mortification. The red corpuscles and the
leucocytes preserved their normal shape and their usual reactions ; they took stains
perfectly, and, in fact, remained alive. The serum exuded in vitro after retraction of
tlie clot was yellowish, and did not show the least tinge of red. This fact shows that
hiematolysis did not occur in the effusion, and that the intact red corpuscles wore
d<^stin(;d to be absorlx^d." In Sacquepee's case " the serous fluid above the red sedi-
ment had a vfiry marked ycillow colour ; it showed no colouring due to hyemoglobin, and
Wius not laky ; \\w same characters obtained in all the samph^s taken."
The, ])()int is therefore decided, and we may state that hcematolysis does
not occur in traumatic haemothorax.
C'ytological oxamiiKiiioii of tlu^ blood gives intor(^stiii<^' information.
When I gav(^ the cellular forimila in my case, I mentioned that llie cftsino-
philes were as high as 35 per cent. The eosinophiles in the hlood weri^ 10 per
eont., while normal blood only shows 2 to 4 per cent.
298 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Other cases show this enormous predominance of the eosinophiles. In
Sacquepee's counts they amounted to 33 per cent.
I do not wish here to discuss eosinophilia in hsemorrhagic pleurisies,
and in traumatic hsemothorax. Burnet thus writes on pleural
eosinopliilia :
" The affinities for stains between the eosinophiles and the red blood-
corpuscles would lead us to suppose that the eosinophile is a polynuclear cell
charged with red corpuscles. Klein describes a case of hsemorrhagic pleurisy,
with marked eosinophiha in the exudate and in the blood. He holds that the
eosinopliiles are not leucocytes normally charged with haemoglobin, but
phagocytes which have ingested degenerated red corpuscles."
Widal and Faure-BeauUeu arrive at the following conclusions upon
pleural eosinophilia : " Our cytological findings lend support to Dominici's
idea that the eosinophiles may be of lymphatic origin. We conclude from
our researches that the pleural eosinophilia takes place in situ, and that the
blood eosinopliilia results from the migration of cells which have their origin
in the morbid focus."
However this may be, it is certain that my patient had 35 per cent, of
eosinopliiles in the effusion, and 10 per cent, in his blood.
The absorption of the red corpuscles may be very rapid in hsemothorax.
The colour may change from red to rose in a week or a fortnight. The
number in my patient fell from 2,100,000 to 35,000 in three weeks. In
Tuffier and Milian's case the red corpuscles fell from 390,000 to 22,500 in
sixteen days. " As we know by blood-counts that the number of corpuscles
diminishes daily in the effusion, and as, on the other hand, we know that
these red corpuscles are not destroyed, they can only be absorbed." The
method of this rapid absorption of the red corpuscles in hsemothorax has
been repeatedly discussed. We can eHminate hsematolysis because the red
corpuscles remain intact, and do not lose their haemoglobin, as the yellow
tint of the serum proves. How, then, do they disappear ? Do the eosino-
philes absorb the red corpuscles ? " It is probable that the polynuclear and
mononuclear cells destroy the red corpuscles, and carry away the debris. On
the other hand, the endothehal cells do not remain inactive ; we often find
perfectly intact corpuscles in their protoplasm, while others are swollen, pale,
and surrounded by a vacuole. A certain number disappear, therefore, by
intracellular digestion. These two modes, however, do not appear sufficient
to produce such a rapid effect. Other unknown causes doubtless play some
part " (Sacquepee).
It is strange that the number of white cells increases, while the number of
red corpuscles rapidly diminishes. In my patient the white cells rose from
4,000 to 8,500. The polynuclears first disappear ; the lymphocytes are found
in the fluid for a Ions while.
I
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 299
Symptoms. — We may now commence our clinical study of traumatic
hsemothorax. Gross injuries of the chest, the heart, and the great vessels
demand surgical treatment, and are therefore foreign to our subject, which
embraces only those forms of haemothorax that are amenable to medical
science.
We shall here consider the course of haemothorax apart from complica-
tions, wliich will be dealt with later.
A patient has been wounded in the chest. The injury may involve all the
layers of the chest-wall, or may not be visible externally (fracture of ribs) ;
the bleeding may come from some vessel in the wall or from a wound of the
lung, but yet in each case the blood very readily finds its way into the pleura,
and forms a haemothorax.
The initial symptoms vary somewhat with the nature of the wound and
with the amount of bleeding. The injured man may become pale, complain
of pain and distress, and lose consciousness. The injury, however, may be
almost unnoticed, and the only sign may at first sight be the external
bleeding.
The wound of the lung may show itself by early haemoptysis. In some
instances the patient brings up blood-stained sputum, but in others we find
frothy bright red blood, which is coughed up at intervals. One of my
patients, with a bullet wound, had a severe attack of haemoptysis, which was
followed by slighter attacks. In Sacquepee's case the haemoptysis lasted for
several days. The case reported by Connelsville is exceptional : the patient
died from haemoptysis in a few minutes, and it was found post mortem that
a fragment of rib had pierced the lung.
It would be reasonable to suppose that a wound of the lung would always
be followed, if not by abundant haemoptysis, at least by blood-stained
sputum. Our supposition does not hold good ; slight or profuse haemoptysis
is far from being frequent. My patient who was stabbed in the chest did not
bring up any blood. Haemoptysis was noted only eight or ten times in forty-
four cases of traumatic haemothorax collected by de Gery. It is true that
haemothorax is not always associated with a wound of the lung ; the blood in
the pleura may come solely from the chest- wall, in which case the absence of
haemoptysis is readily explained.
When blood invades the pleural cavity, dullness, absence of vocal fremitus^
tubular breathing, and perhaps aegophony enable us to determine the
presence and tlie amount of tlie effusion. Cough, dyspnoea, weakness, and
Itallor vary with the severity of the case.
Haemothorax may not be accompanied by fever, but in some rases, from
the third to the fifteenth day, the temperature rises to 10.3° or 101° F., and
remains high for some time. We may then ask whether the pleura has not
been infected by the foreign body. The fever leads us to fear pneumonia or
300 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
empyema, and we are the more anxious in that the injured man has more
pain and more distress while the fluid in the pleura increases.
Such an attack naturally awakens our attention, but fortunately it does
not, as a rule, indicate any serious complication. When my patient had a
temperature of 103° F. four days after the injury, we were not greatly sur-
prised ; cultures of the fluid remained quite sterile, and we therefore con-
cluded that the attack of fever indicated absorption of the blood and the
onset of secondary pleurisy.
We know that fever may last some time in cases of hsemothorax, quite
apart from infection, and we now admit that absorption of the red corpuscles
gives rise to fever, and to effusion of serous fluid in the pleura.
The same condition obtains in subarachnoid haemorrhage, when blood
passes into the ventricles of the brain and into the subarachnoid space of the
spinal cord. The blood, as Prus says, may have a very irritant action upon
the parts with which it comes in contact. " The recognition of Kernig's
sign and the haematolytic reactions in subarachnoid haemorrhage show that
the extravasated red corpuscles undoubtedly cause inflammatory changes."
Further, whatever truth there may be in these hypotheses, it is certain
that fever in haemothorax may coincide with absorption of the red corpuscles,
with the gradual decoloration of the haemorrhagic effusion, with the appear-
ance of serous fluid, and with the subsequent discavery of pleural friction
sounds. The following cases prove this point :
In my patient the temperature was 105° F. on admission, and the attack
was of short duration. We found soon after an increase in the pleural fluid,
which coincided with the rapid decoloration of the original effusion, the
fibrinous condition of the newly-formed fluid, the marked diminution in the
number of red corpuscles, and the appearance of friction sounds. In
Sacquepee's case the fluid is said to have remained stationary for some
time, although the number of red corpuscles diminished.
" We must conclude that a large amount of serous fluid passed into the
pleura, and thus compensated for the absorption of the solid part." In
Tuffier and Mihan's case the patient had fever, the serous effusion increased
in amount, and the specimens showed progressive diminution in the red
corpuscles. Friction sounds were heard later in the axilla.
Secondary pleurisy may appear early or late, but it is impossible to fix
the exact moment of its onset, for the same signs (dullness, absence of
fremitus, tubular breathing, aegophony) are common both to serous effusion
and to haemothorax.
Unless we are on our guard, we may wrongly suppose that more blood is
being poured out into the pleura, when a serous effusion is really being
formed. In order to gain information as to the relative importance of the
bloody and of the serous effusion, we may take samples of the fluid, which
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 301
are placed in small tubes. On comparison of the samples, the presence of
pleurisy is shown by the rapid attenuation of the red tint of the lowest
layer, which coincides with the diminution in the number of red corpuscles,
and by the appearance of fibrin in the serous layer. Friction sounds later
make the diagnosis certain.
We may fear that the fever is due to infection of the lung, or to com-
mencing empyema ; we have, however, a simple means of deciding this
point : " Make cultures of the fluid. If you find them sterile, you can
eUminate any idea of infection."
Complications. — I have first sketched the course of an uncomplicated
case of traumatic hsemothorax. The prognosis is nearly always good, and
recovery results in a few weeks, without the need for surgical intervention.
Let us now pass on to the complications of haemothorax, and first consider
the condition known as " hsemopneumothorax." Air may enter the pleural
cavity either through a woimd of the chest- wall or of the lung. This double
channel of entrance might lead us to suppose that pneumothorax would be
a frequent comphcation of chest wounds. I am of opinion, however, that
tliis complication is somewhat rare. It was not seen in the cases quoted
above, and was found in only twelve out of forty-four cases collected by
De Gery. It may perchance pass unnoticed, because we can only make
a summary examination in a patient who is fainting from loss of blood.
The presence of pneumothorax makes the situation worse : distress,
suffocation, weakness of the pulse, and lipothymia are more marked when
this complication is present. Consideration for the patient does not always
allow us to make a complete examination, and we cannot try for a succussion
splash ; yet the tympanitic note on Ught percussion over the upper part of
the chest is usually sufficient, especially if amphoric breathing is also
present.
In some cases we may hear the air entering and leaving the chest at each
respiration.
Let us now consider suppurating haemothorax. In some patients the
pleura is infected, and the fluid becomes purulent, as in the following
examples :
Haemothorax occurred on the right side from a bullet-wound (Grecnleaf). A
little blood wa.s drawn oflf by thoracentesis. Empyema supervened ; P^stlander's opera-
tion was performed, and the patient linally recovered.
Case. rejHjrtcd by dhrisUnitch. — A boy was shot at close range with a revolver. He
wius kept quiet for three, days. On the fourth day effusion, fever, and dyspnoea. On
the sixth day ho nearly died from suffocation. Foul-smelling bloody Huid was with-
drawn on jjuncture in the seventh space. Resection of the fifth and sixth ribs. On
incision of the pleura and the lung much pus and blood came out, thd the empty focus.
During the next few days pus was repeatedly brought up in large quantities. The fa-tor
of the breath and of the s()utum continued, the dyspncea was very acute, the general
condition became grave, and the patient died after an illness of nearly three months.
A caN-ity was found between the middle and lower lobes on the right side. Tho fluid
in it was horribly foetid. The walls of this interpleural cyst were irregular, soft, and
covered with putrefying debris with a gangrenous odour. A blackish slough wa-s present.
Multiple sections of the lung tissue around the cavity showed very marked fibrosis.
There was no trace of tuberculosis.
334 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Case 2.— A woman, aged sixty-three, had been taken ill a month before with pain in
the right side and shivering fits. Acute dyspnoea, cough, and abundant diarrhoea,
accompanied the onset of the disease. As the situation did not improve in spite of
treatment, she was admitted under Chauffard. She had extreme dyspnoea, ^the
respirations were forty-five a minute, and the evening temperature was over 103° F.
Examination of the thorax showed behind, on the right side, slight dullness over the
lower two -thirds, abolition of the vesicular murmur, and. faint tubular breathing on
expiration. These signs somewhat simulated those of pleural effusion, and yet punctures
in different intercostal spaces gave no result. The diagnosis of pleurisy was, therefore,
abandoned, and spleno -pneumonia was thought of. Some days later cavernous,
breathmg was heard over the middle of the right lung ; mterlobar pleurisy was suspected,
and aspiratory puncture gave exit to 3 ounces of foul sanious pus. Bacteriological
examination of the pus revealed micrococci, streptococci, and rods. Some days later
foul-smelling pus was brought up. The tubular breathing, recognized at the level of the
interlobar space, took an amphoric timbre. Antiseptics were injected into the focus.
The infection contmued its ravages, and the patient died in about two months. At
the autopsy a gangrenous pocket was found in the interlobar fissure. This primary
lesion was accompanied by secondary foci of suppurative broncho -pneumonia in the
lower lobe of the lung. In these two cases immediate operation would probably have
warded off these complications.
In another list of complications I place those of long duration which
supervene long after the interlobar vomica. In some patients the improve-
ment which follows the vomica is neither genuine nor lasting ; we try several
methods of treatment, and, fearing operation, we temporize. The patient
continues to cough and to spit ; the interlobar cavity goes on secreting and
does not fill up ; the fever reappears ; the breatliing is hampered ; the patient,
who intoxicates himself in small doses, has no appetite, and wastes ; the
fingers become clubbed, and, although he is not tubercular, he yet appears
to be so.
In this picture I allude especially to a patient under my care at the
Laennec Hospital :
. A man, thirty-five years of age, was admitted into Leprae's ward for left inter-
lobar plem-isy, which was followed by vomica. For a long time he had brought up
purulent and foetid expectoration, accompanied by cough and dyspnoea. He left the
hospital and came under my care five months later. At this time he had fever, and
brought up two spittoons full of foetid pus daily. I found a zone of dulhiess, which
began at the spme of the left scapula, and extended obliquely from above downwards,
and from within outwards, as far as the axilla. The resonance, above and below, was
almost normal. Auscultation of this zone revealed the signs of cavity — viz., cavernous
breathing and gurgling somids. I had to content myself with placing a trocar in the
cavity, and daily gave injections of alcohol. The patient became worse and succumbed
four months later. At the autopsy I found the left interlobar fissure converted into a
cavity filled with foetid pus, the walls being thickened and fibrous. The fibrosis had
reached the adjacent Imig tissue, and dilated bronchi were present in the fibrous and
lardaceous parenchyma. No tuberculosis. This case proves that a cavity, if left to
itself, in interlobar pleurisy may remain infected and cause fibrosis of the lung and
bronchiectasis. Such a gloomy result would not happen to-day, as immediate surgical
treatment would lead to cure.
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 335
Diagnosis. — Such may be the results and consequences of interlobar
pleurisy if left alone ; it is necessary, however, to diagnose and to treat the
condition in order to avoid the catastrophes of which I have just spoken.
In my opinion the medical treatment of interlobar pleurisy is futile. Our
part as physicians is to diagnose interlobar pleurisy, to follow out its course,
to distinguish the cases in which it is spontaneously curable, when a vomica
has occurred, to decide upon surgical intervention, and, lastly, to point out
to the surgeon the exact field of operation. Our part is still considerable,
for interlobar pleurisy is one of those numerous medico-surgical diseases in
wliich the hfe of the patient is in our hands. It is not sufficient, during the
first phase of the disease, to reUeve the pain, cough, and dyspnoea by sedative
draughts, by injections of morphia, or other appropriate means ; we must
endeavour to make a correct diagnosis, and once the disease is diagnosed we
must come to an immediate decision.
Diagnosis, however, is not easy in these cases. The disease begins ^vith
pain in the right or left side, accompanied by fever, cough, and dyspnoea ;
this onset is common to pneumonia, pleurisy, broncho-pneumonia, and
inflammation of the chest. The first few days pass, and the diagnosis is
uncertain ; the idea of lobar pneumonia is put aside, because rusty sputum,
crepitant rales, and tubular breathing are absent ; the idea of pleurisy is
practically ehminated, because neither friction sounds nor the later signs of
effusion are found. Percussion, however, reveals regions in which the reson-
ance is not normal. On auscultation, rales, friction sounds, and sometimes,
too, ill-defined tubular breathing are heard, and we then fall back on the
elastic diagnosis of pleuro-congestion. We feel, however, that this is not
the truth, and we always hope that more definite signs will permit us to
locahze the lesion.
During the onset of interlobar pleurisy this indecision is by no means
wrong, for, as I said above, we lack the exact elements for diagnosis.
The pleuritic focus, which is deeply hidden between the lobes of the lung,
cannot yet reveal itself ; the adjacent lobes of the lung take their part in the
congestive process, and attract our attention by causing tubular breatliing,
rales, and dullness. It is only about the eighth or the tenth day that the
mterlobar effusion becomes more abundant, and takes its share in the
symptoms. Fresh signs are now seen ; the dull zone is marked off from more
resonant areas. If the disease occupies tlie horizontal part of the fissure, it is
behind, towards the upper third or middle of the lung, that we find a band
of dullness, suspended, as it were, between more resonant regions. If the
mischief affects the obUque portion of the fissure, we find the band of
dullness in the axilla, with more resonant regions above and below it.
Theoretically, exploratory punctures should help us in the diagnosis. If
aspiratory puncture in the suspected region gives exit to purulent fluid, the
336 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
diagnosis is clear. This method has often been put into practice ; in several
cases it has been performed six or eight times in the same subject, but most
frequently to no purpose. The conditions are quite different when it is a
question of puncturing a purulent effusion in the great pleural cavity, or an
interlobar effusion. In the former case the aspirating needle, after passing
through the walls of the chest, at once enters the fluid without encountering
the lung in its passage. It is quite different in interlobar effusion ; the coUec-
tion being fairly deeply situated, is surrounded by a more or less considerable
thickness of lung, and the needle buries itself in the lung, when we expect it
to enter the fluid collection. Read the cases again, and you will see that,
in spite of several punctures at different levels, the focus is not found m many
cases. Aspiratory punctures, therefore, in the case of interlobar pleurisy,
do not give to the diagnosis the support which might be expected. Radio-
scopic and radiographic (Tufiier) examination is a method which ought not
to be neglected, for it may peld valuable information.
In some cases the diagnosis of interlobar pleurisy can be made before the
vomica ; in others it only becomes evident after the vomica. Moreover, at
this time the symptoms given by auscultation change, and m place of a
dull and silent zone we now find cavernous breathing, large rales, and
curclino".
" I have not finished with the inherent difficulties of diagnosis in interlobar
pleurisy. The following case gives much information :
A man, fifty-seven years of age, was admitted for fever, cough, and pneumonic
expectoration, which was slightly fc^tid. He said that, after a chill, he had been taken
ill two months ago .vith a violent rigor, chattering of the teeth, and pam m the right
side. Had he had pneumonia ? I am not certain, for he had, so he said, no rusty
sputum. However this may be, the disease went on, with fever, cough, pain in the
chest, and expectoration. About twenty-five days after the commencement of the
illness, at six o'clock in the morning, he felt something bui'st in 1^J^«1^«^*' ^^,^' j\^^'^
hours, brought up about 5 ounces of foul-smelling, puinilent fluid. He had had a
vomica. During the next few days the cough and the expectoration contmued and
three weeks after the vomica the patient, who was feverish and wasted, and was still
bringing up 5 oimces of pus daily, came into hospital. , . ., i • ^„+^i
Examination showed the locahzation of the lesion. At the level of the horizontal
interlobar fissure, on the right side, we found a zone of dulhiess, limited above and
below by more resonant regions. Over the dull zone, auscultation ^^^^^^f .^"^ular
breathing and rales. We had no doubt as to the diagnosis, and concluded that our
patient had emptied an interlobar pleurisy by vomica. As the fever and the general
ill-health persisted, I asked Cazin to open the infected cavity. The operation was
performed, and we were then convinced that the purulent focus in the interlobar fissure
was but a lobar abscess of the lung, situated at the upper part of the middle lobe, m
contact with the interlobar pleura.
The admirable lecture of Trousseau on the diagnosis of lobar and
interlobar vomica helps us to appreciate the difficulty in diagnosis. As
Trousseau says, abscesses of the lung are extremely rare, and what some
DISEASES OF THE PLEUEA 337
authors have taken for lobar are really interlobar abscesses. In any case,
whether it be a question of vomicae consecutive to lobar abscess or inter-
lobar pleurisy, the indications for treatment are identical.
Treatment. — As I have abeady stated, medical treatment is purely
illusory. There is an infected cavity filled with fluid, which must be
evacuated. In the fortunate but rare cases the vomica itself accomplishes
the evacuation of tliis focus, and in a few weeks spontaneous recovery occurs.
It is, however, preferable not to wait for the vomica, and in every case, if the
fever persists, and the compUcations of infection continue, in spite of the
vomica, we should operate ; and if the operation is performed at the proper
time, secundum arteni, we shall be on the road to success. Moreover, in the
eight patients whose history I have traced in my chnical lectures, six who
have been operated upon recovered ; the two who had not been operated
upon succumbed.
IX. MEDIASTINAL PLEURISY— MEDIASTINAL SYNDROME.
Discussion. — Under some circumstances false membranes and adhesions
shut off the pleura ; the pleurisy is then said to be partial or encysted.
Encysted pleurisy m.ay occur in the great pleural cavity, which is divided up
by septa ; it is, however, in the interlobar, diaphragmatic, and mediastinal
regions that pleurisy finds conditions naost favourable to encystment.
Speaking generally, there is absolute difEerence between pleurisy of the
great pleural cavity and encysted pleurisy. This difference depends on
several causes. When pleurisy develops freely in the great pleural cavity,
the liquid spreads between the chest-wall and the lung. The lung escapes by
allo\\ing itself to be depressed, thus averting the pressure, while the neigh-
bouring organs are displaced ; the symptoms are slight, and dyspnoea only
becomes severe when the effusion is considerable.
The conditions in encysted pleurisy are quite different. When pleurisy
develops in an interlobar space, between the contiguous surfaces of two
pulmonary lobes, the latter, being in contact with a closed cavity, readily
become infected, and for a time the pulmonary trouble masks the pleural
miscliief. Later, when the effusion has formed, it is deeply hidden, and
so partly escapes our means of investigation ; the symptoms, therefore, are
not comparable with those of pleurisy of the great pleural cavity, in which
the lluid is in direct contact with the chest-wall.
When the pleurisy is diaphragmatic, the picture again changes, for the
relation of the diaphragm and the endings of the phrenic nerve give rise to
>i><''ial symptonLs.
Ijastly, when pleurisy is confined to the mediastinal region, the clinical
picture depends upon the importance of the organs compressed l)y the
338 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
membranes and the mediastinal fluid. In order to grasp the cHnical course
of events, I will recall briefly the chief anatomical points.
The mediastinum is the region between the two lungs. It extends from
before backwards, from the sternum to the vertebral column, and from
above downwards, from the sternal notch to the diaphragm. This region,
which corresponds to the median part of the thoracic cavity, may be divided
into an anterior and a posterior mediastinum. This distinction, however, is
fictitious, and this division into two mediastina " holds good only at the
root of the lung, because above and below, between the sternum and the
vertebral column, no such separation exists " (TiUaux).
We find in this region the heart and the great vessels, the trachea and the
large bronchi, the oesophagus, the pneumogastric, plirenic, splanchnic and
recurrent nerves, the large azygos vein, the thoracic duct, the glands, etc.
All these organs are covered by a layer of pleura, which separates them from
the lungs. The mediastinal pleura, like other serous membranes, is therefore
formed of two layers : one of which covers the organs in the mediastinum,
whHe the other covers the contiguous surfaces of the lungs. It is in the virtual
space which exists between these two layers that the false membranes and
the fluid of mediastinal pleurisy are encysted. Mediastinal pleurisy may be
situated on the right or on the left side ; it may be divided into several
varieties, according as it affects the anterior or the posterior mediastinum,
and the upper or the lower part of the mediastinum. These subdivisions are
scarcely apphcable chnically ; in the few cases, however, which I shall relate,
we shall see that we are deahng chiefly with posterior pleurisy.
What happens when effusion and false membranes accumulate between
the layers of the mediastinal pleura ? The membranes and the fluid form a
tumour, and push back the lung and the organs of the mediastinum. The
fact that the lung is pushed back matters httle— it is a common condition m
all pleural effusions— but if the organs of the mediastinum are displaced or
compressed, the condition is very difierent. The heart is but httle affected
by mediastinal pleurisy, but tliis is not the case with the other organs. If
the trachea is displaced or flattened, dyspnoea, stridor, and sucking-in result.
In the case of the oesophagus dysphagia appears, solid foods can no longer
pass, and Uquids can only be swallowed with difficulty. If the great azygos
vein is compressed as it receives the small azygos and seven or eight right
intercostal veins, blood-stasis results, and the collateral circulation shows
itself by a network of distended veins over the chest. If the pneumogastric
nerve is stimulated by the presence of fluid and of pleuritic membrane^
the patient is seized with fits of coughing and severe attacks of suffocatio^
If the recurrent nerve is hampered by the exudate, laryngeal troubles,
such as hoarseness, dysphonia and spasms of the glottis, at once supervene.
I propose to call this collection of symptoms the mediastinal syndrome,
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 339
which points to the existence of a tumour in the posterior mediastinum.
This syndrome is apphcable to mediastinal pleurisy, and existed in two
patients, whose history I will now sketch :
Clinical Cases.— A young man admitted for intense dyspnoea, with stridor and
8ucking-in. Inspiration was accompanied by a loud scraping noise, while the sucking-
in was evident in the supra- and substernal regions.
Examination over the posterior mediastinum gave valuable information. We found
pain on pressure and dulhiess on percussion ; we discovered that the stridor was most
marked m the posterior mediastinum, from which point it spread to both lungs
The disease had begun suddenly, five weeks before, with rigors and distress.' Some
days later attacks of suffocation had supervened with fits of coughing, which resembled
whooping-cough ; but expectoration was absent.
The voice became raucous and dull, but not aphonic. About four weeks after the
onset of the disease the patient noticed that solid food passed with difficulty • he said
that " it seemed to stop on its way down.^' This dysphagia, joined to the' stridor
proved that the trachea and the oesophagus were displaced, or compressed by a solid
or a fluid tumour in the mediastinum. This hypothesis was confirmed by the collateral
circulation over the upper thoracic region, proving that the great azyc^os vein was
compressed in the mediastinum. We had, therefore, to find out what the lesion of the
mediastinum was.
It was not a glandular tumour, because enlarged glands were not present in the neck,
the clavicular hollow, or the axilla ; and the patient had neither tuberculosis, syphilis!
nor cancer. It was not an epithehoma of the oesophagus, compressing the trachea,'
because the dysphagia had been preceded by attacks of suffocation and stridor.
We could eliminate lymphadenoma, because the onset was acute and recent, while
the examination of the blood was normal, the white corpuscles being in proper quantity
and the red corpuscles as high as 4,800,000. .Alight it be a purulent collection in the
mediastinum— /.e., abscess from congestion, phlegmon, or mediastinal pleurisy ? I
ought to say that I thought of mediastinal pleurisy.
On the night after admission he was seized with violent fits of coughing, and although
there had previously been no expectoration, he brought up foul-smelling, purulent
sputum ; and next morning I found in the sputum-glass about 2i ounces of greenish
homogeneous pus, such as is caused by the pneumococcus. Although the bacteriological
examination did not reveal pneumococci, Griffon, with serum taken from the patient,
obtained a positive result : agglutination of the pneumococci in chains and in masses!
The pus in the posterior mediastinum was probably the result of a pneumococcal
pleurisy, going on to vomica. The patient was cured six weeks later.
A woman, forty-four years of age, came under my care for obstinate cough. She
had suffered for a week from attacks of suffocation and stridor, audible at a distance.
Ilie cough was paroxysmal. \Vhen the cough came on after a meal, it provoked
vomiting of food ; although it lasted only a short while, the distress was extreme,
ihe stridor, as well as tho supra- and substernal sucking-in, were more marked
during the cri.ses of dyspnoea. At times the voice was raucous and muffled.
The disease appeared to have started from a chill. Cough and distress were the
first signs. Stridor and attacks of dyspntea appeared later. Dysphagia supervened,
and the patient had difficulty in swallowing hquids. '• Something shut up " as soon
as she swallowed any food.
Breathing was audible on both sides ; no abnormal sounds. Percussion showed
aormal resonance. Heart and aorta normal. No fever. Temperature, 3ss was extreme, the temperature reached 1M°F., and the patient d,ed
"Ttttfautopsy mechastinal pleurisy was found. The collection wa. situate,
between tie irmer'aspect of the I'eft lung and the left wall o the -fd-tmum »
nmited by false membranes, which were thick, tibrmous, -f ™Yb^dant hS 2
two layer's of the mediastinal pleura. The pus, wteh ™'' ""' f j""**"' ^, ,^„
..lassicil featurc-s of pneumococcal pus, and spread downwards as fat as
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 341
diaphragmatic sinus, which was filled with false membranes, while it did not reach
higher than the hilum of the lung. Mediastinal pleurisy here occupied the lower part
of the mediastinal pleura. Further, the left interlobar fissure was joined together,
and adhesions existed between the lower lobe and the costal pleura. The whole lower
lobe was increased in size ; the cut section showed a typical areolar abscess, of a spongy
appearance, the pockets of which were full of pus. The mediastinal glands were hyper-
trophied. Bacteriological examination showed that the pus in the pleura and the lung
contained only most virulent pneumococci.
Description.— We may now discuss mediastinal pleurisy, which is a
new chapter in pathology. We shall not consider pseudo-mediastinal
pleurisy, which, from its situation on the left side, simulates pericarditis with
large effusion (Grancher).
Mediastinal pleurisy may be primary or secondary — primary when the
pneumococcal infection is present only in the mediastinal pleura, secondary
when it is consecutive to pneumonia. It appeared to be primary in my two
patients, as well as in Bouveret's case ; it was associated with pneumococcal
suppuration in the lung in Thoinet and Griffon's case ; Andral's patient
was tubercular.
Mediastinal pleurisy is unilateral, and is usually confined to the anterior,
posterior, or inferior regions of the mediastinal pleura ; it may extend to
other regions, such as the costo-diaphragmatic sinus, and coexist with
adhesions of the interlobar fissure and, adhesions of the lung to the chest-
wall.
The liquid was purulent in the six cases quoted ; purulence is, indeed,
common to encysted pleurisy of the mediastinum, the interlobar fissure, or
the diaphragm. In three cases in wliich the infectious agent was looked for
the pneumococcus was found. The onset of mediastinal pleurisy is not
distinctive ; the pain in the chest, the fever, and the cough give no precise
indication. When infection of the mediastinal pleura occurs, the adjacent
lung is affected by the closed cavity, becoming inflamed and congested. The
hidden focus is accessible neither to percussion nor to auscultation. The
patient coughs, breathes with difficulty, has fever, and complains of distress ;
sputum is absent or has no special feature, and we think of pneumonia or of
pleurisy, but we cannot localize the lesion. Purulent fluid and false mem-
branes accumuhite in the affected segment of the pleura, and form a kind
)f tumour, the localization and the size of which determine tlie appearance
)f symptoms.
If the encysted collection travels toward the lung, and affects the niediasti-
lum to only a slight extent, the signs ar(> uncertain, and the diagnosis
emains indefinite. If the pleural collection travels towards the organs of the
i.iediastinum and pushes them back, the mediastinal syndrome then ajipears.
pyspiiffia, attacks of opjm'ssion, suck-ing-in and stridor, dyspiiagia, whoup-
|iig-cough, displacement of the larynx and the trachea, recognized on
342 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
laryngoscopic examination, vocal troubles, collateral circulation in the
thorax, are the symptoms and signs which help us in diagnosis.
Let me emphasize the value of stridor, which occupies the chief place in
lesions of the mediastinum. What must be understood clinically by this
word " wheezing " (cornage) ? It is a term employed in veterinary
medicine. Some horses, whose breathing is almost normal as long as they
are at rest, are seized while trotting or cantering with laboured breathing,
accompanied by a rasping noise, which constitutes the " bruit de cornage "
(roaring). A healthy man breathes silently both during inspiration and
expiration, and we cannot, so to say, hear him breathe, because the air
traverses the glottis, larynx, and trachea freely. If the air meets any
obstacle to its passage, sonorous vibrations are at once produced, and the
" bruit de cornage " becomes audible. The tone of this bruit varies some-
what according to circumstances ; it may have a snoring, rasping, or sawing
character.
The lesion may be situated in the larynx or in the trachea, so that we
find laryngeal and tracheal stridor. The former stridor is far from rare •
oedema of the larynx, spasm of the glottis, paralysis of the posterior crico-
arytenoid muscles, and cancerous lesions of the larynx — in short, any lesion
which produces stenosis of the larynx — may determine stridor. When the
stridor is of laryngeal origin, the vocal troubles and examination with the
laryngoscope indicate the site of the lesion.
The tracheal lesions that may cause stridor are intrinsic when they arise
in the walls of the trachea (syphihtic gumma, polyjjoid excrescences, and
stenosis), and extrinsic when they arise in the mediastinum (solid and fluid
tumours) ; mediastinal pleurisy is of this nature.
While the injury to the organs of the mediastinum caused by pleurisy
shows itself by the symptoms just enumerated, the examination of the
dorsal region, which corresponds to the posterior mediastinum, furnishes
valuable signs. Pressure on the upper dorsal vertebrae and the corre-
sponding costo-vertebral grooves is painful. In the same region more
marked dullness is found on the right or left of the vertebral column,
according to the side affected. The stridor is most marked at this spot, and
diminishes as the distance from the mediastinum increases. Sonorous and
moist rales may be heard in the lung near the mediastinum. They indicate
congestion of the lung, are present in front and behind, and are more
numerous on the affected side. Radiography may give useful information,
as in one of my patients.
Mediastinal pleurisy, like most encysted empyemata, tends to vomica.
The vomica generally supervenes some weeks after the onset of the disease,
and is scanty, as the pus, encysted in the mediastinal pleura, never reaches
a large amount. The vomica of my patient at the Necker Hospital might
DISEASES OF THE PLEUKA 343
be put down at 6 ounces ; in my patient at the Hotel-Dieu it did not exceed
3 ounces : it was fcBtid in both cases. Andral's patient had an abundant
vomica, but the approximate quantity is not given.
Diagnosis. — The diagnosis of mediastinal pleurisy is very difficult.
The signs are insufficient and indefinite until the mediastinal syndrome
appears. When this syndrome appears, percussion and auscultation of the
dorsal region (which corresponds to the posterior mediastinum) give informa-
tion as to the locahzation of the lesions. We can then by these signs and
symptoms, aided by radiography, arrive at the topographic diagnosis ; the
knowledge that the lesion occupies the mediastinum is the first step in the
diagnosis. The nature of the lesion has then to be ascertained. Is it
tuberculous, cancerous, or syphihtic adenopathy ? is it a lymphadenoma, or
is it an aneurysm of the aorta ? is it an abscess or pleurisy ?
As I have said, the onset and the course of the symptoms may give a
clue to the diagnosis. Mediastinal adenopathies and tumours do not begin
suddenly \Nith fever : the onset is insidious, and the course slowly pro-
gressive ; moreover, the swelHng in the neighbouring glands (neck, axilla)
aids in the diagnosis. Mediastinal pleurisy, on the contrary, arises suddenly,
like an acute febrile disease ; fever, paiii, and cough mark the onset, dyspnoea
is early, and vomica supervenes in at least half the cases. Furthermore, in
the three cases in which laboratory researches have been made, bacteriological
examination and sero-diagnosis iave demonstrated the pneumococcus ;
sero-diagnosis would therefore be useful before the appearance of the
vomica in order to ascertain the nature of the disease.
Treatment. — The prognosis is not free from gravity. The disease is
serious in itself, and also from the secondary infections which may reach the
bronchi and the lungs. We must, then, be ready to operate if occasion
arise. Thanks to the marvellous progress of surgery, the posterior mediasti-
num has become fairly accessible to surgical investigations. Dr. Potarca
(of Bucharest), in a work entitled " La Chirurgie Intramediastinale Pos-
terieure," has collected several cases of operations for purulent collections in
tlie posterior mediastinum, phlegmon, mediastinitis, suppuration from bony
or from glandular lesions, and foreign bodies. Although in the memoir in
question purulent mediastinal pleurisy is not studied (apart from Zimbicld's
doubtful case), it is still true that the posterior mediastinum should be
opened in mediastinal pleurisy if occasion arise.
X. DIAPHRAGMATIC PLEURISY.
Pleurisy of the diaphragmatic portion of the pleura may be primary or
secondary, and dry or accompanied by effusion, which may be fibrinous or
purulent, free or encysted. The dry form is the more frequent. Cirrhosis
344 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
of the liver, peritonitis, nepliritis, the puerperal state, tuberculosis, and
pneumonia are the common causes of diaphragmatic pleurisy. In pelvic
peritonitis the inflammation is transmitted from the peritoneum to the
pleura by the lymphatic vessels, especially by those which accompany the
utero-ovarian vessels, and pass along the pillars of the diaphragm. As
regards metapneumonic pleurisy of the diaphragm, the considerations
enumerated in the case of interlobar pleurisy remain the same.
The effusion is usually scanty, and sometimes encysted, wliile the lung
is often the seat of acute congestion, which enters largely into the clinical
picture of the disease.
The symptoms of diaphragmatic pleurisy vary in severity ; they are
sometimes moderate, but in acute cases the disease shows itself by sharp
pain at the middle of the diaphragm (neuralgia of the phrenic nerve). The
pain reaches as high as the shoulder, and can be provoked by compressing
the insertions of the diaphragm into the tenth rib (diaphragmatic point) two
fingers' breadth from the linea alba (Gueneau de Mussy), or by pressing on
the phrenic nerve in its passage between the lower heads of the sterno-
cleido-mastoid muscle. The inferior costal region is immobilized because of
the paresis of the diaphragm (Andral), and the usual signs of pleurisy — viz.
friction rub, dullness, tubular breathing, and segophony — only appear when
the great pleural cavity is also affected. In the grave cases — which are,
moreover, rarer than Andral's description would lead us to suppose— the
symptoms are acute, and recall the crises of angina pectoris ; the breathing
is short, and interrupted by hiccough ; the voice is "broken ; dyspnoea is
excessive ; one-half of the diaphragm is immobiUzed, and if the other half
is affected, the patient's life is in danger. Suppurative diaphragmatic
pleurisy has no special symptoms, but behaves like the pleurisy which we
have just described ; it is encysted, like partial pleurisies, and in some cases,
especially in elderly people, it remains latent, being only found at the
autopsy. It ends fairly frequently by vomica. The agonizing pains of
diaphragmatic pleurisy may be reUeved by means of dry-cupping, fifteen or
twenty leeches, or injections of morphia ; antipyrin may be prescribed,
and an ointment of methylate of salicylate may be applied to the painful
region.
XI. LOCULATED, AREOLAE, OR POLYMORPHOUS PLEURISY.
Pleurisy arising in the great pleural cavity may be loculated. Some-
times it occupies a large pocket, which may contain several ounces of sero-
fibrinous or purulent fluid (unilocular) ; at other times a series of small ones,
when we speak of multilocular pleurisy.
Unilocular Pleurisy. — I have recently had a case under ray care at the
DISEASES OF THE PLEUKA 345
Hotel-Dieu. The pocket was encysted in the middle portion of the right
pleural cavity behind.
A woman, twenty-one years of age, had her first attack of pneumonia in 1898.
The disease was situated on the left side. On May 21, 1900, pneumonia of the right
apex, after a chill. Temperature was over 10-t° F. ; acute pain in the side ; tongue dry
and red ; vomiting and diarrhoea ; condition of the patient very grave. On May 28 the
temperature, which had varied from 103° F. to 10-4-5° F., showed some tendency to fall ;
the vomiting and the pain in the side became less. Two days after, pain reappeared,
but was now lower down ; and while auscultation revealed the existence of redux
crepitation at the apex, very harsh breathing, accompanied by friction soimds and
some crepitant rales, was already perceptible over the middle of the lung. From
June 1 to 5, the temperature varied from 101° to 103° F., patient's condition was satis-
factory, and pain in the side disappeared. On the 5th, examination showed dullness
at the angle of the scapula, over an area of 2 inches in the vertical and 4 inches in the
horizontal direction. This dullness was clearly limited above, where the apex had re-
gained its resonance, while it gradually becami! less marked below. Vocal fremitus
abolished only in the region where the dullness was absolute. Auscultation showed
distant tubular breathing and very clear a^gophony over the dull zone, with slight
aphonic pectoriloquy. Exploratory puncture blank, 1 inch above and 2 inches below
the dullness. At the focus itself a green sero -purulent fluid, rich in leucocytes, and
containing numerous pneumococci, mostly in chains of from five to ten elements, as
well as some diplococci, was drawn off. The pneumococcus was inoculated into a mouse,
and showed itself virulent, while it grew well on the different culture media, and preserved
its chain-like form on agar. From the 31st to the 7th the condition remained stationary,
and the pleurisy made slow progress, diffusing in a circle, and invading the base and the
apex at the same time, the dullness being propagated towards them. The pleurisy
remained, however, clearly " suspended," and on Jime 11 punctures yielded pus neither
at the apex nor at the base. In the centre of the dull zone, however, the pus was
greenish, thick, creamy, and rich in pus corpuscles and fatty granules. The pneumo-
cocci in chains had become rare. On the 12th, operation for empyema was performed
at the level of the angle of the scapula, with resection of a rib, and we found 10 ounces
of pus, forming a focus limited above and below by false membranes.
The patient recovered. This was veiy clearly a case of loculated pleurisy, with a
large pocket, which had developed in the great pleural cavity, and not a case of
interlobar pleurisy. Moreover, in interlobar pleurisy the signs (iegophony, souffle,
and pectoriloquy) have never the clearness fovmd in the present case.
Areolar and Polymorphous Pleurisy. — Loculated pleurisy may be
chronic from the first, or be due to acute attacks affecting the pleura, which
is already partitioned off by the false membranes of former inflammation.
Loculated pleurisy may be sero-fibrinous, hsemorrhagic, or purulent ;
indeed, it is not rare on performing thoracentesis to meet with serous fluid in
some pockets and pus in others. Sometimes the loculation is simple, and
the false membrane divides the efEusion into two pockets only ; more often
the loculation is multiple, and the pockets are numerous ; lastly, in some
cases the pleurisy is areolar, as if the false memljranes were themselves
infiltrated with serous fluid.
Areolar and polymorphous pleurisy usually present the following forms :
W(^ find in a patient the signs of considerable effusion, and diagnose the
346 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
presence of 4 or 5 pints of fluid in the pleura ; puncture is performed, and
we are astonished at withdrawing very Uttle fluid, wliich is not in proportion
to the signs present ; further, we note the persistence of the signs of effusion
at the other parts of the thorax, either above or below the point of puncture.
The exploratory needle shows that fluid is still present at these points, and
we conclude that a membranous septum is interposed between two or more
pockets of fluid. This form has been called " partitioned pleurisy."
Sometimes the fluid is identical in the different pockets ; at other times
it is serous in some and hsemorrhagic or purulent in others. In this case
the pleurisy is called " polymorphous " (Galliard).
The disposition of the false membranes wliich partition the pleura is,
however, very variable. Sometimes a single horizontal, oblique, or vertical
pseudo-membranous partition, which divides the pleura into two (bilobed
pleurisy), exists ; at other times multiple and irregular adhesions divide the
pleural cavity into numerous small and distinct cavities (multilocular or
areolar pleurisy). In the latter case we often see pockets occupied by a
gelatinous quivering mass that is formed of a fibrinous network impregnated
with serous fluid, while the neighbouring pockets contain sero-fibrinous,
sero-hsemorrhagic, or sero-purulent fluid.
The partitioning has been attributed to the false membranes of ante-
cedent pleurisies ; relapsing pleurisy is said to be more easily partitioned than
pleurisy which affects an intact serosa. In these cases the pleurisy is said
to be multilocular from the start. We may also observe the following varieties :
encysted serous pleurisy, followed by adjacent empyema, or encysted em-
pyema, complicated by adjacent sero-pleurisy. The latter cases are more
common, because empyema is much more often encysted than serous pleurisy.
Save in exceptional cases (Jaccoud), the diagnosis of loculated pleurisy
can only be made after puncture. The attention is arousejd by the in-
sufiicient quantity of fluid evacuated. Sometimes, also, the puncture may
be blank, if the needle penetrate the septum. The diagnosis will be
confirmed by methodical exploration of the pleural cavity, by means of an
aspirator, which is provided with a long needle.
The prognosis is especially serious when encysted suppurations escape
notice, because this fact prevents treatment by free incision ; we only find
them at the autopsy. We must remember that polymorphous pleurisy may
be symptomatic of tuberculosis or of pleuro-pulmonary cancer.
XII. SYPHILITIC PLEURISIES.
Early syphihtic pleurisy occurs in the secondary stage, while late syphi •
litic pleurisy is seen during the tertiary period.
The early form has been well described by Chantemes^e and Widal, who
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 347
quote several conclusive cases. At the Hotel- Dieu I have seen a very clear
example :
A man, twenty years of age, came into the hospital with pain at the lower angle
of the left scapula. Pleurisy without effusion was found. Friction sounds were heard,
which extended behind and laterally as far as the axillary region. Other ortrans
healthy. Auscultation of the lung showed no lesions, and we had to deal with apyi-etic,
painful pleurisy of four days' duration.
We could not incriminate tuberculosis, influenza, or rheumatism. This boy, how-
ever, showed a well-marked syphilitic roseola. The syphilis was two months old.
The cicatrix of a chancre was visible on the dorsal surface of the penis, and enlarged
glands were present in the groins. He complained of headache and sore -throat, and
we found syphilitic angina, with mucous patches. As pleurisy had appeared in a
youth, who had for two months been infected with sj'philis, it seemed natural to
consider the pleurisy as a secondary complication of syphilis, and I placed the patient
on mercurial treatment. The pleurisy remained dry, and I found no effusion. The
pain and friction sounds disappeared in ten days.
Similar cases have been published, and the occurrence of syphilitic
pleurisy in the secondary stage is therefore well proved. Why should we not
see early syphiUtic pleurisy when we see nephritis, arteritis, icterus, and
]>ronchitis appear among the early manifestations of syphilitic infection ?
Early syphiUtic pleurisy may be dry, or be accompanied by effusion. I do
not beUeve that the efiusion is ever so abundant as to necessitate thora-
centesis. An important difference between early and late syphilitic pleurisy
is that the former is not associated with pulmonary lesions, while the latter,
with which I am now dealing, forms part of the broncho-pulmonary syphi-
loma discussed in the chapter on Syphihs of the Lung.
I have been able to find only a small number of cases of tertiary syphihtic
pleurisy. According to Mauriac, " this pleurisy is often seen, and is
accompanied by effusion." Tertiary lesions of the pleura may be placed
in one of the following categories : Either the pleural lesion is an unimportant
complication of the pulmonary lesion, or the effusion is abundant ; the
pleurisy is the chief feature, and the condition well merits the name of
syphilitic pleurisy. As an epiphenomenon, mention must be made of this
pleurisy in some cases of tertiary sypliihs of the lung ; it has been referred
to by Carlier. In one, he says without further amplification, that the
pleura on one side contained 300 grammes of a clear yellow fluid, and the
visceral layer presented recent false membranes, which were very easily torn,
while the parietal and diaphragmatic layer was also inflamed.
In Jacquin's thesis Balzer's case of syphiUtic pleurisy with large effusion
is described :
A man, thirty-two years of ago, came to hospital with functional troubles and
physical signs which led to the diagnosis of caseous pneumonia on the right side. A
month later abundant effusion appeared on the right side. Ple\irisy, complicating f i]l)or-
culosis of the lung, was then diagnosed ; but after four days the patient died, and the
autopsy revealed a syphilitic liver liiat M'as studded with gummata and segmented by
348 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
scars. The right lung was also full of gummata, the largest of which just involved the
pleura. These gummata did not contain a single Koch's bacillus. The lesions in the
right pleura were so characteristic that I give them in detail. " In the right pleura a
much more considerable effusion exists than physical examination would have led me
to suppose. There are about 4 pints of turbid blood-stained serum. The parietal
and visceral layers of the pleura are considerably thickened over the whole extent of
the effusion. They show a continuous fibrous covering, 1 or 2 millimetres in thickness,
attaining at the base of the lung a thickness of nearly 1 centfmetre. This fibrous cap is sur-
rounded by false membranes at several spots. At the points where the fibrous thicken-
ing is most considerable we find, on section of the pleura, hard yellowish caseous masses
as large as a pea or as a millet-seed." This case of tertiary syphilitic pleurisy, in which
the effusion amounted to 4 pints, is most conclusive.
I saw the following case :
I was called to treat a man with terrible dyspnoea, which had recurred in more
or less acute attacks for the past year. Tubercular broncho -pneumonia had been
diagnosed. On my first examination I found signs of an effusion, which I estimated
at 1^ pints. Although this quantity of fluid did not explain the patient's dyspnoea, I
performed thoracentesis, but drew off only 21 ounces of slightly rose-coloured fluid.
The patient experienced, however, no relief. I searched, wthout success, for the cause
of the disease, when he finally confided to me that he had had syphilis. This avowal
guided my treatment. I at once gave mercury and iodide of potash in large doses, and
the dyspnoea improved so rapidly that at the end of a few weeks the breathing was
almost normal. At my last visits no trace of pleurisy remained, though the broncho-
pulmonary lesions were slower to improve. In this case, again, the syphilitic nature of
the trouble was shown by the beneficial action of specific treatment.
There exists, then, tertiary pleurisy, which is associated with syphilitic
lesions of the lung, and the true means of diagnosing it is to think of
syphilis.
XIII. APPENDICULAR PLEURISIES— PYOPNEUMOTHORAX AND
SUBPHRENIC EMPYEMA.
In 1890 I read a paper before the Academic de Medecine* on "Appen-
dicular Pleurisy," a name which is generally accepted at the present
day. Later, in my clinical lectures at the H6tel-Dieu,f as I had seen how
frequently appendicular subphrenic empyema precedes or accompanies
infection of the pleura, I have united appendicular pleurisy and sub-
phrenic empyema in a single description, and I shall do so in this chapter.
I think that it will be useful to give a resume of some cases :
Clinical Cases. — A man, twenty-six years of age, admitted to the Hotel-Dieu. He
suffered from shortness of breath, was pale, had an anxious look, with simken eyes, and
a wretched pulse ; he appeared moribund. He complained of a pain in the right side
of the chest, and was so feeble that he could not raise himself on the stretcher. On
* Dieulafoy, " La Pleuresie Appendiculaire " (commimication a 1' Academic de
Medecine, seance du Mardi, 10 Avril, 1900).
t Dieulafoy, " Pleuresie Appendiculaire et Empyeme Sous-phrenique " (C'linique
Medicate de V Hotel-Dieu, 1903, vol. iv., 15""^ et 16™* letons).
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 349
the right side I found a large eflfusion, with absolute dullness, except at the apex, where
the resonance was exaggerated.
It is not common for pleural effusion, however abundant, to show such general
symptoms. In this case it was not simply, dyspnoea, but adynamia, bordering on
collapse, which dominated the scene. What, then, did this efEusion conceal ? Apert
at once performed exploratory puncture, in order to ascertain the nature of this pleurisy,
and drew ofi turbid fluid, which was of nauseous odour and not homogeneous.
The case was therefore one of foetid, perhaps of putrid or of gangrenous, pleurisy.
There was not time to make a pathogenic diagnosis, and the imperative indication was
immediate surgical intervention. Marion therefore came to see the patient, but
found him in his death agony, with thready pulse and cold, cyanosed limbs. Death
occurred soon afterwards.
Prom the information given by the family, it was possible to reconstruct the case.
He was taken ill on November 10 Anth abdominal pains, which increased in severity
during the night, chiefly on the right side. Next morning, as he felt easier, he went to
his office. In the evening he passed a motion. The next night was more comfortable,
but on Sunday evening (the third day) he was seized ^rith such severe pain on the
right side of the belly " that he twisted and groaned in agony."
During the exammation his wife remarked that the belly was particularly painful
on the right side. An enema and poultices, with laudanum, were prescribed. Next
day vomiting came on. Patient had fever and rigors ; he was constipated, and the
abdominal pains were as severe as ever. During the next few days the situation did
not improve. The hepatic region became painful, and a blister was ordered.
Meanwhile the patient began to cough, and complained of pain in the right side of
the chest. Pleuro -pneumonia was diagnosed. Fever retmrned ; violent pain in the
chest, M-ith extreme dyspnoea, cold sweats, and tachycardia, supervened. On the
morning of the 29th hydropneumothorax was found. He was then brought to the
Hotel-Dieu.
To sum up : The disease, which lasted nineteen days, was divisible into two stages :
the first or abdominal stage was characterized by acute appendicitis, and treated by
medical means; while the second or thoracic stage terminated with symptoms of pneumo-
thorax and death. Let us now see what the autopsy revealed.
Thoracic cavity first examined. Intercostal space perforated under water. As
soon as the pleura was opened, a nauseous odour was noticed, and bubbles of gas came
up through the water, showing the presence of foetid gases in the pleura, and confirming
the diagnosis of pneumothorax, made during life by the physician who had sent up the
patient. The case was one of j)neumothorax by putrefaction, and not by perforation.
In the pleural cavity, were 7 pints of very foul greyish fluid. The left lung, which
was pushed back against the spine, was reduced to a fifth of its normal size, airless, and
no longer crepitant. No adhesions bound it down to the costal wall, but its base was
adherent to the diaphragm. Pus was present between the two layers of the thickened
diaphragmatic pleura. No sign of perforation or of gangrene found. The pleurisy
was putrid, but not gangrenous ; putrefaction and formation of gas, but no mortifica-
tion of the tissues, existed.
Let us now pass on to the abdominal cavity. On the left side, nothing to notice ;
no trace of peritonitis. On the right side, numerous adhesions from the abdominal
wall to the organs, and, on tearing them through, 5 ounces of pus, quite as fa-tid as the
pleural fluid, flowed out. The abdominal cavity was explored, j)us and membranes
found ; some were spread out over the intestine and the liver, while others reached
up b<'iiind the caicum and the colon. I'osterior surface of tiie ciecum bound down by
membranes to the [)arietal peritoneum. The appendix was included in this mass. It
was very long, of the vertical type, and passed up on the posterior surface of the c;eiuin ;
it was free at its caical origin, but higher up it wits surrounded by adhesions and bathed
350 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
in pus. Its walls, which were double their proper size, were becoming gangrenous,
but liad not perforated. It was in this part of the apiaendix, wliich had been trans-
formed into a closed cavity, that the acute toxi-infection was elaborated. The jiurulent
track continued behind the colon, turned round the hepatic flexure, and spread out in
front of the right lobe of the hver, setting up abscesses in its course.
The liver was partly hidden by perihepatitis. The diaphragm was examined for
a perforation ; as none was found, the infection had evidently been carried to the
pleura by the lymphatic vessels.
Other organs — i.e., liver, spleen, kidney, and heart — were healthy. The left lung,
however, had been infected. The apex showed a splenized region as large as an egg,
with several infarcts in different stages of evolution. The left pleura was healthy.
Bacteriological and experimental researches were made by Apert with the jjua
dra^\^l oiT by aspiratory puncture, and also the peritoneal pus removed at the autopsy.
The result was as follows :
Some of the micro-organisms were aerobic, while others were anaerobic. They had
caused putrid pleurisy, as shown by the formation of gas within the pleura.
With guinea-pigs and rabbits, inoculation of pus into the cellular tissue and in-
jection of pus into the vein of the ear produced abscesses and infarcts, containing the
same micro-organisms that were found in the specimens of pus.
The patient had been taken ill with classical appendicitis. I do not know what the
original diagnosis was, but I do know that the treatment was medical when it should
have been surgical. The man would have been saved by early operation, just as we
save all the patients who are operated on in good time, when no precious time is lost
in medical treatment which is based on erroneous pathogenic concejjtions. This treat-
ment is Avrong, for it apjjears to be doing something when it does nothing but give the
toxi-infection time to strike a fatal blow. Enemata, sedatives, and rest were ordered,
while infection of unusual \'irulence was brewing in the closed cavity of the appendix.
Aerobic and anaerobic microbes then made their way through the walls of the appendix,
and provoked the formation of purulent tracks, which took an ascending course, and
in a few days reached up behind the caecum and colon, and spread to the anterior and
upper surface of the Hver.
The phrenico-pleural phase now appeared ; cough, dyspnoea, and pain were its
signs. The diaphragm was not perforated, but, thanks to the lymphatic channels,
was traversed by microbes of undiminished virulence. It might well be said of this
process, Vires acquirit eundo. The pleural infection was so acute that the effusion
rapidly reached 7 pints. Putrefaction was shown by the appearance of the pneumo-
thorax. The lesions were so severe that events hurried on, and the patient died nine-
teen days after the onset of appendicitis.
The infection, which started from the appendix, had followed two courses — the one
by the lymphatics, and the other by the blood. The lymphatic infection took place by
extension ; though it started so far down and reached so high up, yet in a few days
it spread across the abdominal cavity and invaded the pleura. The infection of the
left lung was due to microbic emboli.
But, it will be asked, is pleurisy a frequent complication of appendicitis ?
It is certainly far from rare, and in proof I can quote many cases.
I saw a very remarkable case. The patient was a lady, in whom I diagnosed
appendicular jileurisy and subphrenic empyema. The double operation was j^erformed
by Segond : he operated first on the pleura, and a fortnight later he attacked the
subphrenic empyema. The patient recovered.
In consultation with Brun and Jalaguier, I saw a youth with appenchcular
pleurisy. On May 20 he was attacked mth appendicitis. Three days later Brun found
severe peritonitis. Operation performed next morning. Appendix was gangrenous ;
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 351
peritoneal fluid was sero-purulent and foetid. Free drainage established. During the
next few days, in spite of improvement in the peritoneal condition, situation was grave,
and temperature very high. No cause could be found for the persistence of these
alarming symptoms. On June 2 symptoms of right pleurisy were discovered, and
exploratory puncture drew oil turbid fluid. On June -i operation for emjjyema ; a
large quantity of dirty, horribly foetid fluid dra^mi off. Free drainage established.
Next day diffuse inflammation at the edges of the thoracic wound, but no gaseous
crepitation. During the following days the inflammation stopped ; the antiseptic
irrigations of the pleura seemed to indicate that the pleural focus had been effectively
treated, but yet fever persisted and the situation became worse.
I then saw the patient, with Brun and Jalaguier. Minute examination revealed
no fresh lesions in any organ. We were of opinion that the patient was suffering from
a profound intoxication, and prescribed accordingly. About June 11 cerebral symp-
toms (intoxication, or perhaps meningeal infection) of photophobia, strabismus, irregu-
larity of the pulse, and stiffness of the neck supervened, and the patient died.
Resume of two cases of appendicular pleurisy described by Terillon :
A young man, seventeen years of age, had suffered from appendicitis. Belly dis-
tended and painful ; on the right side a jjainful swelling, reaching from the ihac crest
to the false ribs. Affection was of six days' duration. Temperature, 103° F., and
pulse rapid. Intervention decided on. On opening the abdomen, caecum was
adherent to the abdominal wall ; sharp gush of pus occurred. The abscess occupied
the iliac fossa behind the caecum, and reached up towards the kidney. On the next
day the temperature as high and the pulse as rapid as before operation ; general condi-
tion worse. Two days later it was noticed that the respiration was embarrassed, and
existence of a large right effusion was made out. Puncture yielded pus. After opera-
tion for empyema, fever fell at once, improvement followed, and the patient was
completely cured.
Boy, fourteen years old, had suffered for five days from right iliac peritonitis. The
temperature was 10-t^ F., and the gravity of the situation was e\adent. Terrillon pro-
posed immediate operation, which was not agreed to. Ten days later he was sent for
in a hurry. The child was sitting up in bed, having shown symptoms of asphyxia
since the morning. Large effusion present on right side. About a pint of fcetid pus
was dra-n-n off by puncture, but syncope came on suddenly, and the patient died. It is
probable that in this case, as in the preceding one, prompt operation would have brought
about a cure.
The pleural complications of appendicitis have been studied in Germany
since 1891. Here is a series of cases. Wolbrecht, in his thesis (Berhn, 1891)
entitled " Pleural Complications in TyphUtis and Perityphhtis," quotes a
few cases, two of wliich are personal.
Case 1. — A joiner, twenty-four years of age, who some days before had experienced
the symptoms of perityphlitis, came into his clinic. Signs of subphrenic abscess and of
right pleurisy. Exploratory puncture drew off fujtid pus. Operation for empyema
perforimd ; lifth rib resected ; 5 pints of nauseous fluid withdrawn. Two months later
patient was cured.
Case 2. — .\ num suffering from ])erityphlitis, with circumscribed peritonitis. Ten
days later right pleurisy, witli rederaa of tlie chest-wall. Exploratory pum^ture showed
turbid blood-stained cflusion. Three days later patient seized with violent coiigli,
and brought up abundant foul-smelling pus. lie finally recovered, after a convalescence
of three mouths.
352 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Larsen and Winge relate a case of appendicitis, with retrogression of the
peritoneal symptoms at the end of the first week :
Pain in the right hypochondrium appeared, and right pleurisy developed rapidly.
The dyspnoea became very intense, and death followed. Post-mortem : pyopneumo-
thorax on the right side ; perforated appendix buried in an abscess ; narrow purulent
track ran up behind the Uver, and had perforated the diaphragm in two places.
Grawitz, under the title of " Perforation of a Perityphlitic Abscess into
the Pleural Cavity," has pubHshed the following case :
A woman was taken ill a fortnight before, with pain in the right side of the belly,
constipation, fever, and vomiting. Later the symptoms of right pleurisy supervened,
and the patient died three weeks after admission to hospital. Post-mortem : the whole
appendix was converted into a sac, and had perforated ; near its base was a calculus,
the size of a haricot bean. The intestinal coils were adlierent in the right iliac fossa,
and the pelvis contained pus. From the gangrenous appendix a sinuous cavity extended
upwards behind the right kidney and the duodenum. A perforation, as large as a
sixpence, was present in the posterior part of the diaphragm, and established com-
munication between the subdiaphragmatic region and the right pleura. Three pints of
foetid pus in the pleural cavity.
Wollert has pubUshed similar cases :
A young man, sixteen years of age, was taken ill with appendicitis. Thirteen days
later sharp pains at the right base, and intense dyspnoea. Right pyopneumothorax,
with metallic tinliling, found. Post-mortem : iDcritonitis, consecutive to appenchcitis.
Sheet of pus over the ascending colon, the diaphragm, and the hver. The diaphragm
was perforated, and the right pleura contained 8 pints of j)urulent Huid, with, foetid gas.
Appendicular pleurisy is sometimes serous ; the infection is reduced to a
minimum, and recovers with or without operation.
Case seen with Larcher and Monod :
Young girl suffering from appendicitis, diagnosed by Larcher, and operated upon by
Monod on May 9. Everything went well until May 18, when pain appeared in the right
hypochondrium and at the base of the chest. The temperature now rose to 103° F.
Cough was frequent, though expectoration absent. This condition lasted for several
days, without appreciable change. I was then called to see the patient, and found
friction sounds and fluid on the right side. In this case we had to discuss the projjriety
of surgical intervention. As the general condition was not bad, we agreed to see
patient again before we decided. We had the satisfaction of witnessing the successive
disappearance of the tubular breathing and the friction sounds, while the fever yielded
and recovery ensued at the end of four weeks.
A child, fourteen years of age, who had had several previous attacks, was again
taken ill with appendicitis and pericsecal abscess. He was operated on by Jala-
guier. The appendix, of the vertical t3rpe, had a bent extremity, which was adherent
and communicated with the cfecum. Some days later dyspnoea came on ; dullness,
with tvibular breathing on expiration, and aphonic pectoriloquy, were cUscovered at
the right base. Some effusion formed, but was absorbed eight days later.
Korte reports the case of a woman suffering from retrocsecal inflammation. In
spite of incision, the infiammation passed through the diaphragm and reached the
pleura. Resection of the eighth and ninth ribs ; patient recovered from the effusion,
which, the author states, was serous. Another case of Korte's is that of a man, twenty-
eight years of age, who was taken ill with sharp abdominal pains on the right side,
DISEASES OF THE PLEUKA 353
fever, and shivering. A purulent collection necessitated surgical intervention, and a
putrid phlegmon, which reached from the csecum to the diaphragm, was opened. An
effusion, which was punctured, formed on the right side. The author describes it as
serous. The patient finally recovered.
Description. — The first point to note is the manner in which the appen-
dicular infection reaches the pleura. How does a remote lesion like appen-
dicitis attack the pleural cavity ? Why does appendicitis, which is a very
small lesion, succeed in a few days in producing putrid pleurisy, with
several pints of fluid ? Let us try to answer these questions.
The infection, wliich becomes more virulent in the closed cavity of the
appendix, causes the pathogenic microbes, Bacillus coli, and other aerobic
or anaerobic germs to spread to the peritoneum. Sometimes perforation or
gangrene of the walls of the appendix occurs, and the microbic pulp spreads
widely over the peritoneum ; at other times the migration of microbes takes
place through the imperforated wall, as we may see from specimens.*
The infection, after reaching the peritoneum, behaves in different w^ays.
It may only spread a short way from its seat of origin, being hmited or not
by adhesions, or it may excite remote foci, wliich show no apparent relation
to the original focus. These remote abscesses are due to microbes carried to
a distance, but in what way we do not always know. Can these remote
abscesses arise in the pleural, as in the peritoneal, cavity ? In other words,
can remote pleurisy occur in the course of appendicitis ? Certainly ; but
most often it is by proximity, through the peritoneal track, by way of the
adhesions and of the lymphatics that extension to the pleura takes place.
Under such circumstances the appendicitis is nearly always of the ascending
type. The direction of the appendix is an essential factor. In appendicitis
of the descending type the purulent collections and adhesions often form
in the pelvis near the bladder and rectum, but in the ascending type the pus
and membranes pass up towards the hver. The infection takes place from
below upwards, because the initial focus, or 'primum movens, gives it this
direction. It reaches the hypochondrium, passes through the diaphragm,
and invades the pleural cavity, having marked its route by purulent tracts,
so that it is possible to follow the infection from its small origin in the
appendix to its full maturity in the thorax. Appendicular pleurisy nearly
always occurs on the right side; there are very few exceptions to this
rule.
Let us now turn to the cUnical side of the question. At what moment
may pleural com})lications ensue in appendicitis ? They appear about a
week or a fortnight after the on.set of appendicitis. The infection, which
starts from the appendix, does not begin its migration before the third or
fourth day. Surgery has, therefore, time to intervene. By suppressing
* Diculafoy, Clinique Mcdicalc del' Hutd-lJicu, 18'J7, pp. 345, .'>l(">, 347.
354 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
the infecting focus at its commencement, the disease is cut off at the root.
Let us not forget that appendicitis, whether slight or severe, may be fol-
lowed by pleurisy, just as it may be followed by abscess of the liver ; in the
case of appendicitis the benign nature is only apparent. Pleural com-
pUcations are hardly hkely when the active process of appendicitis is
extinct.
The appearance of appendicular pleurisy is usually heralded by the
symptoms which I have called abdomino-phrenic — viz., pain in the right
hypochondrium radiating to the shoulder, dyspnoea, and apparent increase
in the size of the liver. These symptoms are explained by the perihepatitis
and the subphrenic empyema which often precede the stage of pleurisy.
Pleural symptoms, pain in the side, and cough appear in their turn, and
blend with the abdomino-phrenic ones.
The abdomino-phrenic symptoms, which usually precede those of pleurisy,
may themselves be preceded by abdominal symptoms of pain in the right
flank, puffiness, and dullness ; they indicate the passage of purulent infection
from the right iHac fossa to the hypochondrium.
As appendicular pleurisy has not always the same course, we must study
its various forms. As a rule, the pleurisy is putrid, with much effusion ;
the fluid forms rapidly. The fever is variable ; dyspnoea, anxiety, loss of
strength, weak pulse, sallow and earthy tint of the skin, bear witness to the
gravity of the situation. It is true that the pleural infection is not the
only cause : the peritoneal infection is responsible for its share. (Edema of
the wall is not rare.
We frequently find amphoric breathing and hippocratic succussion, which
point to pneumothorax. At first we tliink of pleuro-pulmonary perforation,
and do not admit the possibility of pneumothorax from putrefaction.
In considering putrid right pleurisy, we must always think of appendi-
citis, even though it has been so slight as to attract but Httle attention.
We must reconstruct the appendicular and abdominal stages, which have
preceded the phrenic-pleural stage by six or eight days.
Whether there be pneumothorax or not, as soon as pleurisy develops
suddenly, with grave symptoms, we should without delay investigate the
nature of the fluid. Exploratory puncture is performed at once, and turbid,
non-homogeneous, greyish or brownish foetid fluid is drawn off. In such
a case, without waiting for the result of aerobic or of anaerobic cultures,
operation for empyema must be performed immediately. The fluid, in a
test-tube, divides into two layers ; the lower one forms a dense, dark-
coloured deposit ; the upper has a serous or turbid appearance.
Appendicular pleurisy has httle tendency to vomica; its course is so rapid
and compUcations occur so quickly that the vomica has, doubtless, no time
to occur. I know of only two cases :
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 355
One (Krokne) concerns a young girl with appendicitis and jjeripaecal peritonitis.
Some weeks later subphrenic empj^ema occuri'ed, and was followed by fits of coughing
and fcetid vomica. Laparotomy, performed forty-eight hours later, revealed a large
subdiaphragmatic abscess, opening into the thoracic cavity. The condition might,
perhaps, have been due to the opening of a subphrenic abscess without concomitant
pleurisy.
I would say as much conceriiiiig the following case, reijorted by Andre
and Michel :
A yoimg woman had appendicitis and peritonitis. Laparotomy evacuated a
quantity of fcetid pus ; pleuro -pulmonary signs appeared later ; exploratory punctures
made, in order to ascertain the nature of the fluid, gave no result, and an exploratory
incision had no better success. The patient was seized with vomica and died. No
autopsy was allowed.
Such is the history of putrid appendicular pleurisy in its most common
form. In some cases the fluid, as I have said, is serous, the infection is
reduced to a minimum, and the condition resembles serous pleurisy, which
absorbs spontaneously or yields to puncture. These benign cases of appen-
dicular pleurisy are not accompanied by the grave symptoms of the preceding
variety.
Appendicular Subphrenic Empyema. — I have mentioned above how the
infection ascends from the appendix to the pleura. In its course this
infection marks its route by puridcnt collections, of wliich one is subphrenic
empyema. The collection may be of Uttle or of serious import ; we may
find from 1 to 3 pints of fluid. If the collection is small in amount
the signs are difficult to recognize, but yet the subphrenic pain is a good
guide. If the collection is abundant, we find, besides the pain, which may
be made worse by pressure in the subphrenic region, deformity and bulging
in the epigastric and right hypochondriac regions ; the Hver, which is pushed
down by the effusion, appears enlarged, though it is only displaced, and, on
the other hand, the dullness, wliich ascends towards the thoracic cavity,
simulates a non-existent effusion in the pleura.
Although the liver is surrounded by pus it remains free, and tliis point
distinguishes it radically from appendicular infection of the organ, which
is then riddled with abscesses. The reason is that the mode of infection is
quite different in the two cases. In the former case the infection spreads by
the peritoneum, and has nothing to do with tlie liver, while in the latter
case, the infection is carried to the liver tissue by the portal vein.
The infection, in its upward course, does not always reach the
j)l<'ura, but is arrested in its progress and causes subplirenic empyema
without consecutive pleurisy. Cases of tliis nature are not immerous ;
they have been described by Leyden, by Mayal, Lang, and Greig Smith ;
and in France have been treated in works which are reviewed in Lape}-re's
monograph. Spillman has pubUshed the following case :
23—2
356 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE '
A youth with appendicitis Avas, on the seventh day, seized with dyspnoea and very
sharp pain between the nipple and the false ribs on the right side ; absolute dullness in the
axilla and at the right base ; punctures were negative ; acute dyspnoea and death some
days later. Post-mortem : purulent tracts and subphrenic collection, estimated at
4 pints, in addition to appendicitis ; the lungs were oedematous, but the pleura was free.
Subphrenic empyema does, therefore, occur without concomitant
pleurisy, but most often both lesions are present.
Cases in which the abscess contains gas have been quoted, and deserve
therefore the name of appendicular subphrenic pyopneumothorax.
Speaking generally, pyopneumothorax is consecutive to perforation of a
neighbouring organ, to ulcerations of the stomach and duodenum, to per-
foration of the diaphragm, and communication with the thoracic cavity, etc.
These cases of pyoj)neumotliorax are very rare, and when gas is found in
the subphrenic focus it nearly always comes from perforation of a neigh-
bouring organ, such as the stomach, intestine, but especially the diaphragm
and air-passages.
In a case published by Starcke, subphrenic pyopneumothorax was consecutive to
appendicitis, but the presence of gas was explained by perforation of the diaphragm
and communication with the bronchi. Greig Smith speaks of subphrenic pyopneumo-
thorax following appendicitis. Here also the presence of gas was due to perforation
of the diaphragm. Vanlair says a child presented an epigastric tumour (probably
subphrenic empyema) after appendicitis. Three days later pneumothorax suddenly
appeared on the right side ; the skin over the epigastric tumour became thin. An incision
was made, letting out foetid fluid and gas. We may suppose that the gases in the sub-
phrenic collection came from the concomitant pneumothorax.
Case 1 (reported by Sallet). — A child had a swelling in the -epigastric angle, following
appendicitis. At the same time abolition of vocal fremitus, segophony, and dullness
were found at the base of the right side of the chest. Below the dull area amphoric
resonance and bruit d'airain. Thoracentesis yielded foul pus. Next day lower ribs
resected and the diaphragm incised. Pus and gas came out, and death supervened
three weeks later. Post-mortem, the subphrenic pocket contained no pus, and the
pleura only some serous fluid.
Case 2. — A child had appendicitis ; eight days later painful swelling in the right
hypochondrium ; diagnosis of subphrenic abscess, verified by operation ; death next
day ; no autopsy.
Eisenlohr writes : A youth had appendicitis ; symptoms of peritonitis supervened a
week later. Some days afterwards tubular breathing at the right base, marked tym-
panites and bulging of the hypochondrium. Patient died, and post-mortem, mild
appendicitis, causing all these troubles, was found. Right side of the peritoneal cavity
invaded by pus and adhesions. Between the liver and the diaphragm a pocket full of
pus and gas. This pocket communicated through a perforation in the diaphragm with
the right pleura, which also contained pus and gas.
Appendicular subphrenic pyopneumothorax, therefore, exists. It is
ushered in by the symptoms of subphrenic abscess, given above, with bulging,
tympanites of the epigastrium or hypochondrium and acute dyspnoea.
It may, therefore, be difficult to know whether pyopneumothorax is supra-
or subdiaphragmatic. Does the gas in the subphrenic pocket come from a
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 357
communication with the air-passages, or can a putrid collection, as in
putrid pleurisy, produce the gas ? The analysis of the cases which I have
just quoted nearly always shows production of gas by effraction, perforation
of the diaphragm, and communication of the subphrenic focus with the
pleura or with a bronchus. In two cases only, tliis production by effraction
has not been noted. It is possible that in subphrenic pyopneumothorax,
as in putrid pleurisy, gas may result from putrefaction.
Surgical intervention is the only treatment in subplirenic empyema. It
must be early, and is often double ; it may be triple, and comprise the
empyema, the pleurisy, and the appendicitis.
In a case reported by Margery tliree successive operations were performed :
first, laparotomy, to open the abscess in the ihac region and resect the
appendix ; secondly, ten days later, opening of the subphrenic abscess ; and,
lastly, operation for empyema some days afterwards. Remarkable to relate,
the case terminated in recovery.
XIV. FCETID, PUTRID, AND GANGRENOUS PLEURISY.
This section is devoted to the pleurisy in which foid-smelling fluid is
present. I propose to unite them under the general term of ozsenous
pleurisies {S^eiv, to smell badly). The symptom which first attracts attention
is the foul smell of the pleural fluid, whether it is evacuated by puncture,
incision, or by vomica. A few drops drawn off by exploratory puncture
are often sufflcient to exhale a foul odour.
I, for my part, have seen several instructive cases Avhich I have described
in my lectures at the Hotel-Dieu.* We have, therefore, material for clearing
up the question of ozsenous pleurisy, which I shall divide into three groups
— foetid, putrid, and gangrenous.
Foetid Pleurisy.
This name must be reserved for pleurisy in which the fluid is foul-smelling,
while the stench is not due to putrefaction or gangrene. The term " foetid "
implies that the pleurisy is neither putrid nor gangrenous. It is not putrid,
for it has none of the characters of putrefaction and does not give off gas in
the pleural cavity (the patient, therefore, has not pneumothorax) ; inocula-
tion of the fluid does not cause gaseous inflammation, and the liquid, placed
on a culture medium, produces neither fermentation nor l>ul)bles of gas in
the test-tube. The pleurisy is not gangrenous, for we find neither sloughs
in tlie fluid nor any trace of gangrene in the walls.
This proves that the odour of the fhiid is not an index ftf pu< refaction
* Dieulafoy, " Pleuresies Fetides, Putricles, Gangr^neusea " {Clinique Medicale de
I'Hi'M-lJieu, \W:i, vol. iv.. IJ'"" et 4"'"' If9()ns).
358 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
or of gangrene, in the same way as fcstor of the breath and of the expectora-
tion does not always mean gangrene of the lung. Tliis important distinction
had not escaped the notice of Laennec and Trousseau.
The cases of sero-purulent or purulent pleurisy that are simply foetid,
without putrefaction and gangrene, are so frequent that it would be common-
place to publish them. The fluid was foetid in several of the cases reported
in my lectures on interlobar pleurisy.
It is to be noted that encysted pleurisy is more often foetid than putrid
or gangrenous, while putridity and gangrene are common in pleurisy of the
great pleural cavity. Pleurisy of the great pleural cavity may not be foetid,
as is proved by the following case, which is, I believe, the only one of foetid
pleurisy that has been closely examined by cy to- diagnosis and cultures, and
confirmed by experimental research :
A man, twenty-seven years of age, admitted for pain in right side, obstinate cough,
and foetid expectoration. Disease began six weeks before. He was taken ill with
shivering fits, fever, and sharp pain in the right side of the chest. Fits of coughing
soon supervened, and he brought up much yellow but odourless expectoration. The pain,
which extended all over the right side, had its maximum behind, below the scapula,
and the expectoration became foetid. The man looked ill ; respiration rate increased,
and his temperature was 103° F. The sputum glass was filled with diffluent fcetid
expectoration of a greyish-yellow colour. It had never been blood-stained. The breath
was also fcetid. The foetor was, however, not like that of gangrene. Examination of
the sputum revealed neither blood, elastic fibres, nor Koch's bacilli, but numerous
microbes. Thi'eads, bacilli, cocci, diplococci, and streptococci ; no pneumococci.
Dullness behind most marked over middle and inferior part of chest. On ausculta-
tion, subcrepitant rales above this zone, and at the level of the eighth intercostal
space, 4 inches from the median line, cavernous breathing, but no gurgling — a fact which
proves that the condition was due to consolidation of the lung, and not to cavity.
Below this zone, on expiration, tubular breathing of a pleuritic tone.
Exploratory puncture gave exit to a serous fluid, which was for the time being odour-
less. Cy to -diagnosis showed polynuclear cells ; no lymphocytosis, no endothelial
plaques. The absence of lymphocytosis ehminated acute tubercular pleurisy. The
absence of endothelial plaques put mechanical pleurisy out of the question. We had
to do with an acute infectious pleurisy, consecutive to a similar lesion of the lung.
However, one thing puzzled us : the pulmonary lesion was foetid and the pleurisy was
not. The lesion of the lung resembled neither pneumonia nor broncho -pneumonia.
We might have considered hepatization of the lung, resembling somewhat the infarcts
consecutive to septic emboli, but we found no suspicion of such an origin.
The left side of the chest was healthy and the heart was normal, while the urine
contained neither sugar nor albumin.
During the next few days the situation changed. The patient looked ill, was pros-
trated, and had an earthy tint. The cavernous breathing diminished and the foetid
expectoration was less abundant, but the pleural effusion made rapid progress. The
dyspnoea increased, the temperature rose to 103° F., and exploratory puncture yielded
turbid fluid, like dirty water, and horribly foetid, although some days before it Avas
yellowish and odourless. The absence of pneumothorax eliminated putrid pleurisy.
The fluid was placed on culture medium and inoculated into a guinea-pig. As the case
demanded immediate surgical intervention, Legueu resected the ribs.
The incision let out 4 pints of fluid, which resembled muddy water, and had a very
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 359
marked fcetor. No gas, no membranes, no shreds of slough. The finger could only
just reach the retracted lung. No adhesions.
Result of operation excellent. In a ie^v days the sputum became less abundant and
lost its foetid odour. Recovery complete in six weeks.
Examination of the foetid fluid from the second puncture (Apert). The fluid was
not purulent in the true sense of the word, but turbid and analogous to dirty water.
On direct examination with the microscope, this fluid, which at the first puncture was
rich in polynuclear cells, now contained only cellular elements in the form of granular
masses, which stained badly and did not show nuclei. They were dead leucocytes,
showing granular degeneration. Further, many different microbes were found, in-
cluding long thin threads, thin and short bacilli, and small micrococci. All these
microbes, except some micrococci, did not stain by Gram.
On aerobic cultures (agar and broth), colonies of Staphylococcus cdbus.
On anaerobic cultures (thick agar), colonies having the appearance of white lenticular
points. No development of gas among these colonies, either upon glucose agar or on
ordinary agar ; the cultures remained odourless. Microscopical examination of these
colonies showed that they were composed of masses of a small micrococcus, which did
not stain with Gram, and resembled Veillon and Zuber's Staphylococcus parvulus.
A cubic centimetre of freshly-drawn fluid, inoculated under the skin of a guinea-
pig, produced neither pus nor gas, and the animal remained in good health.
Such was the history of tliis case. Let us discuss it. The patient
showed two stages of infection — the one puhnonary, the other pleural.
Although the expectoration and the fluid were foetid, there was no resem-
blance to gangrene.
Was this a case of putrid pleur-isy ?* At first sight it might have been
thought so, but proof is absent. All the signs of putridity were wanting :
no formation of gas in the pleura, no pneumothorax, no gaseous inflammation
along the track of the aspirating needle, no bubbles of gas in the test-tubes,
and no gaseous lesions in the tissues of the inoculated animal.
Foetid pleurisy remained. This man evidently had had foetid pleurisy,
set up by a similar lesion in the right lung. There is nothing to show that,
had the pleurisy been left to itself, it would have become putrid.
The fluid in footid'pleurisy is turbid or sero- purulent, and we find aerobic
or anaerobic microbes in great variety, which, though little apt to produce
putrefaction or gangrene, may give off a foul odour (that of asafcetida),
just as other microbes (chromogenes) give off colouring substances.
This variety is the least formidable of the group of ozsenoas pleurisy ;
it does not rapidly cause grave symptoms (adynamia, tendency to collapse,
and syncope), but it must be discovered as quickly as possible by exploratory
puncture and operated on without delay.
The differentiation of foetid from putrid and gangrenous pleurisy is not
always easy at first, and the degree of foetor is not sufficient to make a
diagnosis ; la])oratory experiments and operation are sometimes necessary
to confinn it.
* " La IMeuresie Medinstine " (('llni/ » ' ^^& A
It V ^ 'v'^*'°V
($; ^
:::x
■ss-
Fig. 18. — Temperature Chart.
bacillus), which was isolated or disposed in pairs and masses, and stained with Gram.
The other species showed itself in the form of yellowish muriform colonies, due to fine
cocci in mass. Experiments were made upon animals. One guinea-pig received
under the skin ^ c.c. of vaginal pus, and another ^ c.c. of pleural pus, without result.
A rabbit received i c.c. of pleural pus in the veins, without any other result than serious
indisposition, which yielded after two days. These researches allowed us to recon-
struct the nature and the course of the infection. The disease occurred in two stages.
The toxi-infection started from the fundus vagina?. Halle has shown that the
vagina normally contains aerobic microbes in the form of a streptococcus, differing from
the Streptococcus pyogenes, and strictly anaerobic microbes, which, after inoculation of
animals in pure culture, cause abscesses and gangrene. The aero-anaerobic toxi-
infection had therefore arisen in the plugged vaginal cloaca. The infectious germs had
been carried by the veins to the right heart, thence to the lung, and had passed into the
pleura. Infection of the lung showed itself by rigors, fever, and i^ain in the side. An
ill-defined area of lung had been embohzed and converted into a putrid, but not gan-
grenous, infarct. The pleural fluid, which was odourless at the first puncture, was
putrid at the second one. We thus built up the vaginal, pulmonary, and pleural stages
of the infectious process.
In tliis series of infections tlie infection was putrid, but not gangrenous. It was
DISEASES OF THE PLEUKA 363
putrid, as proved by the production of gas in the anaerobic cultures. It Tvas not gan-
grenous, for we drew off from the pleura no sloughing shreds. An analysis of the sputum
revealed neither fibres nor sloughs. Here the process of putrefaction was not associated
with mortlGcation.
The history of appendicitis furnishes us with many cases of putrid and
of gangrenous pleurisy. I have discussed appendicular pleurisy in a pre-
ceding section. It may, indeed, be said that appendicitis is one of the
most frec^uent sources of purulent pleurisy. As a model let me mention the
following case :
A man came to us moribund, with extensive right pleurisy, complicated by
pneumothorax, and died some hours before the operation. His history and the autopsy
enabled us to reconstruct the morbid picture. The pleura contained 7 pints of foul-
ameUing pus and gas. Pleurisy and pneiimothorax were the result of appendicular
infection. The lesions, which started from the appendix, began in the right part of the
abdomen, and reached the right thoracic cavity. The putrid infection here was not of
embolic origin, as in the preceding case, but the lesions spread by continuity.
I think it useful to quote cases of putrid pleurisy :
Widal's Case. — Man suddenly taken ill with acute pain on the right side of the chest
and violent dyspnora. Tiie pain, after rehef from an injection of morj^hia, reappeared.
The dyspnoea increased, the cough became paroxysmal, the general condition grew worse,
and the patient was admitted under Widal. At the left base, dullness and tubular
breathing (effusion) ; above, tympanites and amphoric breathing (pneumothorax).
The dyspncea was so acute that a puncture was at once made, and gave exit to 2 pints
of puriform fluid of extremely foetid odour.
No improvement. Next day the signs of hydropneumothorax were complete.
Around the puncture a bright red swelling developed, which on pressure yielded
gaseous crepitation. The gaseous inflammation commenced some hours after the
puncture. Ojieration decided upon, but the patient died before the surgeon's arrival.
Post-mortem : On opening the thorax, greyish, sanious, and extremely foetid fluid,
mixed with gas, escaped from the left pleura. The pleur?e, after removal of the false
membranes, were carefully examined. These membranes were fibrinous and not ad-
herent. No trace of gangrene found on the serosa. The left lung was also examined
with the greatest care : no tubercules, no foci of broncho-pneumonia, no gangrene.
This case, then, is one of putrid pleurisy without gangrene. The pathogenic agent
was the Proteus vulgaris. A guinea-pig was inoculated under the skin with 1 e.c.
of pleural fluid. Next day a large pocket developed at the point of inoculation, and
gave very evident gaseous crepitation on palpation. On the skin which covered
tin's gaseous aliscess an ulcer soon formed, and gave exit to sanious and fcrtid fluid
containing various microbes, chiefly tlie Proteus vuk/aris.
Courtois-SufTlfs Case.— A man, twenty-three years of ago, who had had chills and
pail) in tlic sifle at tlio right base, came into the Beaujeon Hospital. Kight pleurisy with
eflusion, estimated at 2 pints. In a few days the dyspnoea was marked, the patient
])ecame cyanosed, and thoracentesis was necessary. The puncture gave exit to about
1 J l)ints of puriil(!nt fluid, which was extremely feet id. Next day, at the seat of puncture,
an (edematous and reddish swelling appeared, which had the appearance of a phlegmon,
and oxttmded as far as the base of the thorax. On paljiation, fine crepitation, due to
gaseous inflltration. During the next few days the situation grew wor.sc: the temperature
\\as about lO.T F., sweats were abundant and fcrtid, the face was bloated and earthy,
and the dyspno'a acute. Thoracotomy gave exit to fluid pus, whicli was extremely
fu'tid and of a brownish tint. Tiio pleural cavity was then washed out with a very
364 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
weak solution of permanganate of potash. After some nps and downs the patient
died.
The results of the autopsy were : In the chest -wall a gaseous inflammation around
the seat of the puncture, pleural cavity contained a little fluid, pleura thickened, but
no trace of gangrene in the lung or the pleura.
Boinet's Case. — Well-built man, twenty-four years of age, seized with rigors,
cough, and acute pain at the lower part of the left side of the chest. Left pleural
effusion, with amphoric breathing and metalhc tinkling (pyopneumothorax). The
situation rapidly became worse. Puncture yielded sanious pus of extremely foetid
odour. Next day operation for empyema gave exit to 4 pints of stinking pus and gas.
"Patient died twelve days later. Post-mortem, Boinet found three pockets in
the pleura, containing putrid fluid mixed with gas. No communication with the lung,
no tubercular lesions, and no gangrene in the lung or the pleura.
Netter's Case. — Child with pyopneumothorax. Puncture gave exit to foetid pus
and gas. Subcutaneous emphysema then developed. Broca operated for empyema,
and the child made excellent progress. With regard to these cases of putrid pleurisy,
Netter says that he has found an anaerobic bacillus in the form of long, thin filaments,
mixed with other micro-organisms.
Description. — These cases give a clear idea of putrid pleurisies. They
chiefly affect the great pleural cavity, unlike foetid pleurisy, which is usually
encysted. The fluid is sero-purulent, turbid, greyish, and not homogeneous ;
when placed in a test-tube, it divides into two layers — the lower dense and
opaque, the upper more transparent.
These cases frequently have an embohc origin ; the original focus may be
in the vagina or the appendix, as was the case with our patients, in otitis,
in osteomyehtis, in phlebitis, etc. In some cases putrid pleurisy results
from neighbouring lesions (lung or mediastinum). It may be set up by
abdominal mischief, renal or hepatic suppurations, subphrenic empyema,
with or without perforation of the diaphragm. In other cases the cause
and the origin remain unknown.
The microbes, which are chiefly anaerobic, lead to the formation of gas
(putrefaction) in putrid pleurisy. The appearance of pneumothorax without
perforation of the pleural cavity is thus explained. This pneumothorax,
formerly called essential, is quite different to pneumothorax by perforation.
The latter is due to the introduction of air into the pleura, while the former
arises without the presence of air.
From the clinical point of view we find in both forms the same physical
signs — viz., tympanites, amphoric breathing, metallic tinkling, and liippo-
cratic succussion.
Gas may form in the walls of the thorax and produce gaseous phlegmon.
Simple aspiratory puncture sows the germs in the chest-wall, and a gaseous
phlegmon with oedema follows in a few hours.
Experimental research yields analogous results. The inoculation of a
drop of pleural fluid in the cellular tissue of an animal provokes gaseous
phlegmon (Widal).
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 365
Lastly, the development of gas may be abundant in anaerobic cultures ol
the pathogenic agents of putrid pleurisy.
The diagnosis of putrid pleurisy is impossible before puncture. Every
case is accompanied by general symptoms, which rapidly becom,e grave, and
comprise small, quick pulse, dyspnoea, prostration, and collapse — symptoms
which are rarely found in other varieties of pleurisy. In such a case the
additional presence of pneumothorax is in favour of putridity, but yet the
putrid nature of the effusion can only be established by exploratory puncture.
Accordingly, if we are in doubt, even though the effusion is scanty, we
must confirm the diagnosis by early puncture. Furthermore, puncture
should immediately be followed by thoracotomy, with or without resection
of ribs, for the needle track may rapidly become infected, and diffuse gaseous
inflammation may develop in a few hours.
But it will be said puncture only shows us the foetor of the fluid ; it
does not at once reveal putridity. To this I would reply that it matters
Httle whether the pleurisy be foetid or putrid : every foul-smelling pleurisy
should be operated on without delay.
Gangrenous Pleurisy.
The phenomena of putrefaction just described are common to putrid
and to gangrenous pleurisy. These two varieties are distinguished, not by
the foetor of the fluid, but by the shreds of slough which float in the effusion
or are adherent to the walls.
The description of putrid and gangrenous pleurisy present many similar
points, yet the latter may assume two forms which are of importance :
sometimes the lung is not involved; at other times the gangrene is pleuro-
pulmonary, and is then far more grave. I shall here quote cases of the
former variety :
Comby and Vogt's Case. — Young girl, eleven years of age, taken ill with left pleurisy.
Some days later she woke up with true orthopnooa. Next day Comby and Vogt found
extreme dyspnoea, temperature 104 "" F., signs of effusion at the base of the left chest,
and above those of pneumothorax. First diagnosis was pneumothorax from tubercular
perforation of the lung. Four days later puncture gave exit to a pint of very foetid
pus. The first diagnosis was then changed to gangrenous pyopneumothorax. Comby
incised the seventh intercostal space, and came on a mass of false membranes, which
he Ijroke up with the hnger. Four or five pints of horribly fcetid pus came out. The
child finally recovered.
Rendus Case.* — A man who looked phthisical was admitted for pncurao-
thorux. He was wasted, cyanosed, and much distressed; cough frequent, breath had
no odour, and temperature was normal. Pleural eftusion at the right base and above
j)neumothorax. Succussion splash and metallic tinkling. This condition was said to
have begun with violent pain in the right side. On the day after admission his condition
* Meeting of February 3, 181)9. Althoiigli the author has entitled his papi r " Putrid
Pleurisy," the putrid pleurisy was in reality gangrenous, because he found " a large
lihrecl of sloughing tissue, in which elastic fibres were discovered under tlio niiiroscope.
366 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
was alarming. Dyspnoea was acute, cyanosis was marked, and the heart was dis-
placed ; puncture yielded extremely foetid pus. Rist at once operated. One and a
half jjints of foetid pus came out, and the cavity was washed out with a solution of
permanganate of potash. Two days later painful oedema -with emphysematous crack-
ling was found at the right base. An incision was made, and very foetid serous fluid,
mixed with bubbles of gas, let out. Later a phlegmonous patch of the same nature
appeared on the left arm, at a spot which had been vaccinated some days before. The
condition of the patient became very alarming. Restlessness and dehrium were acute ;
the pus from the empyema again became very foetid, and washing-out of the pleura
brought away a large slough of blackish gangrenous tissue, which was extremely foetid,
and showed elastic fibres under the microscope. Patient finally recovered. Bacterio-
logical examination showed the presence of anaerobes.
Let us now turn to those cases in which we find gangrene of the lung and
of the pleura ; it is usual for grangrene of the lung to precede that of the
pleura. To avoid repetition, I would ask the reader to turn to the section
on Gangrene of the Lung.
Pleuro-pulmonary gangrene, hke that of the lung, may have an emboUc
(otitis, appendicitis, etc.) or an aerial origin. As the points have been
discussed under Gangrene of the Lung, I shall not repeat them.
The descriptions of gangrenous and of putrid pleurisy in part blend.
Acute pain in the side, fever, bad pulse, earthy tint of the skin, dyspnoea,
prostration, and tendency to collapse, show the extreme gravity of gan-
grenous pleurisy ; fcetor of the breath, stinking and blood-stained sputum,
show the participation of the lung in the gangrenous process.
As regards prognosis, the addition of gangrene marks a further step in
the gravity of putrid pleurisy ; but in reahty these two varieties are so closely
alhed that they almost come under one description. The same aero-anae-
robic agents which produce pleurisy — that is simply putrid — may cause
gangrene either in the patient or in animals used for experimental research.
In Widal's case the gangrene was absent, but yet inoculation of the
pleural fluid in a guinea-pig " produced a gaseous and gangrenous abscess
in the animal, which died after extensive sloughing of the skin of the abdo-
men and thorax." In Rendu's case the pleurisy was labelled putrid,
but yet a gangrenous shred was found later in the thoracic cavity. The
line of cUnical demarcation between putrid and gangrenous pleurisy is,
therefore, not absolute ; putrefaction and mortification may appear together
or in succession.
The spread of gangrene from the pleura to the lung can only be recog-
nized by foetor of the breath and of the expectoration, and by the
presence of elastic fibres and sloughs in the sputum. Such is the history of
stinking pleurisies and their tliree groups — foetid, putrid, and gangrenous :
the foul smell of the effusion, which is the first step in diagnosis can only be
revealed by early puncture, and immediate surgical intervention is the only
method of treatment.
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 367
XV. VOMICA.
Definition. — Considering only its etymology, the word vomica (from
vomere, to vomit) is improperly applied to the symptom which we are about
to describe ; custom, however, has consecrated it, and the word vomica
serves to describe the rejection of pus by the respiratory channels, just as
haemoptysis denotes the rejection of blood from the same passages. Custom
has even gone farther, and, by an abuse of language, has finally included
under one term the symptom and the lesion, so that we speak of pulmonary,
pleural, or hepatic vomica — that is to say, a purulent collection in the lung,
pleura, or in the liver, which has burst into the bronchi and has been
coughed up.
Description. — The complete study of vomicse comprises the diagnosis
both of the symptoms and of the lesion. I shall here outhne the chief
varieties.
1. Pulmonary Vomica. — Pneumonia suppurates fairly often (grey
hepatization), but the pus very rarely collects in the form of an abscess.
The works of Laennec, Graves, and Trousseau, show how rarely pulmonary
abscesses occur in the course of pneumonia ; they are so rare, indeed, that
Grisolle has only collected twenty-three proved cases. These abscesses
sometimes form very rapidly, on the fifth day of pneumonia (Woillez), or on
the twelfth, and are never rejected later than the twentieth day.
The pus from the pulmonary vomica is scanty, phlegmonous, sometimes
mixed with blood, and of a brownish colour. The pneumococcus is the
pathogenic agent. Directly after the evacuation of the abscess the physical
signs change, and where the signs of pneumonia have been present we now
find cavernous breathing and splashing sounds.
2. Pleural Vomicae. — These vomicse are much more frequent and follow
interlobar, mediastinal, or diaphragmatic pleurisy, or pleurisy of the great
pleural cavdty. The vomica of interlobar pleurisy is the most frequent of all.
Speaking generally, vomicse of the pleura appear much more slowly than
those of the lung. Purulent collections in the pleura open into the bronclii
after three to six weeks, and later still when the great pleural cavity is
affected. As an exception to this rule, when purulent pleurisy develops in
a child, or in a woman during the puerperal state, the vomica may appear
from the second to the third week (Trousseau).
The symptoms are different, according as the vomica is provoked by
partial pleurisy, which only contains some ounces of pus, or by pleurisy
of the great pleural cavity, wliich may contain several pints.
In encysted dia[)iiriigniatic or interlobar pleurisy the quantity of usually
fcEtid pus brought up at the moment of the vomica does not exceed some
ounces ; it then gradually diminishes, and, in fortunate cases, the pleuro-
368 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
bronchial fistula closes. This mode of cure is possible in metapneumonic
interlobar pleurisy. I would refer the reader to the section on Interlobar
Pleurisy.
In the case of the great pleural cavity, when the pleura contains 4 or 5
pints of pus, the course is less simple. The bursting of pus into the bronchi
often determines dyspnoea, bordering on asphyxia. Fatal cases have been
quoted, and the patient, who has extreme distress, brings up streams of
purulent fluid through the mouth and the nose. The first evacuation is
generally followed by improvement, and then the patient, while changing
his position or coughing, continues to bring up some ounces of pus. He no
longer appears to vomit, but only to cough up the pus. As soon as a certain
quantity of pus has accumulated in the pleura, the patient is seized with
fits of coughing, and voids the pleuritic fluid five, six, or ten times a day.
Sometimes the evacuation of pus stops, but is repeated one or more days
later, and in some cases the breath and the fluid evacuated become horribly
foetid.
Unless the fistula is so constituted as to form a valve (Chomel), the
inspired air enters the pleural cavity, and the signs of pyopneumothorax
are found.
Does pleurisy become purulent when the vomica has once formed ?
Several modes of termination may occur ; one is recovery, which is rare in
general but possible in interlobar pleurisy, especially in the metapneumonic
variety.
In some patients the improvement consecutive to the vomica is only
transient ; the cavity becomes infected, and the fever does not cease, while
the patient loses appetite, becomes cachectic, and finally succumbs. In
other patients the cavity shrinks, but the pleura and the lung are invaded
by fibrosis, with or without dilatation of the bronchi, which, sooner or later,
compromises the individual's life.
The preceding description will have made it apparent that the pleural
vomica only occurs in empyema. There are, however, some extremely
rare cases in which sero-fibrinous pleurisy is terminated by vomica.
3. Vomica with Hydatid of the Lung.— The pleural vomicae which I
have just described are the most frequent ; there are, however, some rarer
varieties, which I shall now review. Suppurating hydatids of the lung may
cause vomicae which simulate pleural vomica, with this difference, however —
that we find fragments of hydatid membranes and booklets in the rejected
matter.
4. Vomica in Congestion Abscesses. — Chenieux's paper contains nine
cases of vomicae, consecutive to congestion abscess, following Pott's disease.
The pus often contains bony sequestrse.
5. Vomica from Suppuration of the Liver. — Abscesses and suppurating
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 369
hydatid cysts of the hver may result in vomica ; adhesions are estabUshed
by the intermediary of the diapliragm, perforation follows, and the patient
voids the Uver abscess through the bronchi. When the vomica has its
origin in an abscess of the liver the pus is reddish, tliick, and sometimes
fcEtid ; when the vomica is consecutive to a suppurating hydatid of the Uver,
the purulent fluid is mixed with hydatid membranes.
6. Vomica with Suppuration of the Kidney. — Suppurating cysts of the
kidney and pyonephrosis may terminate by vomica.
It is not customary to consider as a true vomica the quantity of pus
which may be brought up at one time by a patient with dilatation of the
bronchi ; it is, however, a pseudo-vomica of which the distinctive characters
should be well known.
The treatment of vomica varies with its causes, and surgery gives the
best results.
XVI. CHYLIFORM AND CHYLOUS EFFUSIONS OF THE
PLEURA.
The pleura, Kke the peritoneum, may contain milky effusions which have
the appearance of an emulsion. On thoracentesis we expect to find a sero-
fibrinous or purulent effusion, but we draw off chyliform fluid. This fluid
is odourless, and has no tendency to coagulate, because it is not fibrinous ;
in a test-tube it forms no deposit in its lower part, and will keep for days or
weeks without putrefaction ; under the microscope it shows some leucocytes,
and in most cases contains a large number of fine fatty granules, soluble
in ether, while chnical analysis reveals a large increase of fatty matter.
The onset may be ushered in by acute pain in the side, but is more often
unnoticed. The collection increases insidiously, Uke a subacute pleurisy.
This latent period may last eighteen months. The effusion at length causes
distress, displaces organs, especially the heart, and flattens the lung. It
may become a cause of dyspnoea, but is not accompanied by the general
symptoms of fever which are so frequent in purulent effusions.
Chyliform effusion shows no tendency to absorption. After it has been
evacuated, it recurs obstinately. Punctures relieve the patient, who thinks
iiimself cured ; but the fluid slowly reforms, and fresh evacuation becomes
necessary after a more or less extended period, during which every morbid
symptom has apparently disappeared.
ChyUform effusion at times gives way to empyema, in wliich case the
staphylococcus is usually in evidence. Fever appears, with pain in the .'^idc ;
the chest- wall becomes cedematous ; the effu.sion rapidly increases ; tiic fluid
makes its exit by vomica, and death soon follows. More rarely chyliform
effusion recovers after first becoming sero-fibrinous.
24
370 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The clinical picture just sketched is that of tubercular chyUform pleurisy ;
indeed, tuberculosis is the cause in two-thirds of the cases. I have had a
remarkable example.
Patient admitted in May, 1899, to the Hotel-Dieu, with an effusion of 3 pints, which
had Ijeen practically latent. His general condition appeared excellent : no wasting, no
fever ; if he had not suffered Avith severe dyspncea, he would not have given up his
work. About 40 ounces of characteristic chyhform fluid were drawn off. He felt
better, and asked to go out. He was, however, persuaded to remain for some weeks.
In three weeks 60 ounces were clra-«Ti off by successive pimctures. The effusion at
length seemed to dry up, and the patient went out, persuaded that he -was cured. We
saw him again five years lat«r, when he came to be treated for sciatica. He was work-
ing without feeling any malaise. He looked well, did not cough, and only found that
he readily became breathless, and at times felt some pain in the chest. The physical
signs of effusion, however, were present, and thoracentesis yielded similar fluid to that
dra^vn off five years before. His condition remained good for about a month, but
then, mthout ajipreciable cause, his temperature ran up, and severe pain in the side
developed. Exploratory puncture showed the chyhform effusion had been replaced by
pm'ulent fluid, containing staphylococci. He died four months later.
In other more rare cases the disease runs a rapid course, but the efiusion
is r.ather lactescent than chyhform, and develops in the course of confirmed
phthisis. I have recently seen such a case in which the fluid was in turn sero-
fibrinous, serous, lactescent, and purulent. The patient died in ten months.
While tuberculosis is present in two-thirds of these cases of lactescent
effusion, cancer is only present in one-third. At times the patient has had
a growth for a long wliile, and the chyhform effusion is only a secondary
condition. At other times the pleuro-pulmonary cancer is primary. The
onset of the malady is almost silent. Both acute dyspnoea and sharp pains
attract the patient's notice, and we find a very large effusion, which, on
puncture, shows all the characters of chyhform fluid. In some cases a few
red corpuscles may be present. The fluid forms again with extreme
rapidity, and we may find, after evacuation, that the resonajice does not
return to normal. In a short while puncture gives no rehef : the aspirating
needle has to travel through a much thickened wall. At last puncture
yields only a little bloody fluid, and the signs of compression, the dyspnoea,
and the pain still persist. The patient wastes and grows weak, and fever
may appear. Such a picture is quite opposed to that of tubercular chyh-
form pleurisy.
It is always easy to recognize the nature of chyhform pleurisy by the
appearance of the fluid, by its microscopical analysis, and by its chemical
composition. It is, however, more difficult to ascertain its pathogenic
cause. If the patient has proved phthisis or evident local tuberculosis,
the diagnosis will naturally be in favour of tubercular effusion. On the
other hand, the existence of visceral cancer, rapidly progressive course,
signs of pressure in the mediastinum, with oedema and collateral circulation.
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 371
enlarged glands in the axilla, and the appearance of phlebitis, all point to
cancerous effusion. The final appeal must always be made to laboratory
methods. Cyto-diagnosis, as a rule, shows only a few cells in a case of can-
cerous effusion. Nattan-Larrier found neoplasm cells, while endotheUal
plaques were discovered in a case of lactescent effusion, which supervened
in the course of leucocythsemia (Sicard and Monod). Inoculation into the
peritoneum, or better, into the mamma, of the guinea-pig will often prove
that the chyhform fluid is tubercular. This method was employed in two
cases under my care.
The causes of chyliform effusion in the pleura have been as much dis-
cussed as the causes of chyliform effusion in the peritoneum, and are quite
comparable in each case. The older writers thought that the effusion of
chyle in the pleura followed rupture of the thoracic duct. Tliis opinion no
longer holds good. In one of Debove's cases the thoracic duct was
healthy, and a similar finding occurred in two of my cases. Granulo-
fatty degeneration of the chronically thickened layers of the pleura (Quincke)
has also been invoked. In Debove's case the pleura was covered with
tissue some milhmetres in thickness, made up of several superposed layers,
which showed numerous fatty granules under the microscope. In one of
my cases Nattan-Larrier found very dense mature fibrous tissue, which had
undergone hyaline degeneration in places. Every trace of fibrinous exudate
had disappeared ; the cellular infiltration was but little marked ; the vessels,
though scanty in the superficial layer of the neo-membrane, were numerous
in the deep parts. Some giant cells were also present near the lung, which
was sclerosed.
Recent researches seem to show that the chyhform aspect of the fluid
results from disintegration of its cellular elements (leucocytes or cancer
cells). As the result of a cause which has so far escaped us, the cellulai
elements in suspension in the fluid are said to degenerate, and give rise
to fatty and albuminous fluid if the disintegration is incomplete, and to
purely fatty fluid if the transformation is perfect. This hypothesis has been
confirmed by Nattan-Larrier, who has seen in vitro the serous fluid from
cancerous pleurisy change aseptically into lactescent fluid, while the number
of cells rapidly diminished.
Chylous Effusion. — Apart from the undoubted cases in wliich the effusion
is not chyle, we find others which are true cases of chylothorax, the effusion
being chylous. Shaw has collected twenty-cases. Traumatism was the
cause in one-third of these cases. The others were said to result from an
obstacle to the lymph-flow, with or without rupture of the thoracic duct,
or of the great lymphatic vessels (cancerous glands or lymphadenoma in
the mediastinum, obhteration of the thoracic duct, thrombosis of the sub-
clavian vein). The diagnosis is easy when the effusion follows trauma.
24—2
372 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
A man had his chest caught between the driving-wheel of a steam-engine and a
wall. He was taken to the hospital, where the left clavicle and several ribs were
found to be fractured. Two days later effusion was discovered in the left pleura.
Exploratory puncture yielded milky fluid of a rosy colour. Chemical and microscopical
examination showed the presence of chyle, mixed ^vith blood. Ten days later the red
corpuscles had disajipeared, and the effusion had the appearance and composition of
pure chyle. Absorption took place mthout complications, and the patient recovered
fairly rapidly (Handmann).
In cases of this nature the effusion results from rupture of the thoracic
duct. It is situated on the left side (Wiesinger, Kummel), It has the histo-
logical composition of chyle, but its chemical composition varies with the
nature of the fluid and the time of digestion ; glucose and peptones may be
found in it, and the proportion of fat will increase considerably after the
ingestion of butter (Strauss). In cases of this nature, when the rupture is due
to an injury, the prognosis is not bad.
Let us now note a third group of cases, in which the lactescence of the
effusion is not the result of a local infection, but the consequence of a general
alteration in the fluids of the organism. It is in cases of this kind that we
see the coexistence of identical effusions in the various serous cavities ;
chyliform effusions have been seen at the same time in the peritoneum, the
pleura, and the pericardium (Bramwell). The blood-serum (Achard), the
serous fluid from blisters, and the liquid from oedematous areas may be
opalescent. This opalescence of serous effusions is comparable to the
opalescence of the blood-serum described by Widal. The prognosis depends
upon the general condition.
Finally, in some cases chyliform effusion into the pleura may result from
the presence of the Filaria sanguinis (Lancereaux).
XVII. HYDROTHORAX.
Hydrothorax is hydrops of the pleura. Both pleurse are often affected,
and the fluid is analogous to blood-serum, and very poor in corpuscles. The
condition is a kind of serous transudation analogous to that of oedema.
Hydrothorax is the result of mechanical causes, of which the most
common are lesions of the mitral orifice, and of dyscrasise, of which the most
usual are cachexia and Bright's disease.
Hydrothorax is therefore only a symptom which supervenes as a com-
plication in the various morbid states I have just enumerated. It estabhshes j
itself in an insidious fashion, Avithout fever and pain ; its physical signs]
resemble fairly closely those of pleuritic effusion. The cyto-diagnosis has
been given under Pleurisy.
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 37^
XVIII. PNEUMOTHORAX— HYDROPNEUMOTHORAX.
Pneumothorax (Itard) implies the presence of air or of gas in the pleural
cavity ; if fluid is also present, the lesion takes the name of hydropneumo-
thorax, and if this fluid is pus, the case is one of pyopneumothorax.
Pathogenesis. — There are two chief varieties of pneumothorax : pneumo*
thorax by perforation, and pneumothorax by putrefaction.
The former is the more frequent, and results from the passage of air
into the pleural cavity. Injury, wounds of the pleura and lung, tuberculosis,
emphysema, strains, infarcts, superficial haemorrhagic nodules, general and
interlobar purulent pleurisy, foci in the peribronchial glands, cysts, or
abscesses of the hver and of the kidney, are the usual causes of these
pleuropulmonary perforations. *
1. Strain and Emphysema. — Pneumothorax may appear suddenly,
following a strain, whether the patient have emphysema or not. An emphy-
sematous patient may also be suddenly attacked by pneumothorax, even
though he has made no effort. In these various cases the rupture of the
air- vesicles permits the air to reach the pleural cavity, the vacuum is
destroyed, the lung shrinks and collapses, and pneumothorax is produced.
Galliard has collected thirty-seven cases of pneumothorax from strain.
A bugler was suddenly taken ill with pneumothorax while vigorously blowing his
iastruraent. A clergyman was seized with pneumothorax during a fit of hearty laughter.
A man was taken ill with pneumotliorax. while raising a chair with his arm extended.
A student was seized ^vith pneumothorax while dancing vigorously.
In this variety of pneumothorax the onset is sudden, with tearing pain in
the thorax, and very acute dyspnoea. The classical signs are at once evident
— tympanitic resonance and amphoric breathing. Although terrible at its
onset, this form is not grave, for there were only tlu*ee deaths in thirty-seven
cases (Galliard). The pneumothorax remains pure, the presence of fluid
(hydrothorax) is very rare, and suppuration (pyothorax) is the exception.
The perforation usually becomes obhterated, the air effused into the pleural
cavity is absorbed, the lung resumes its function, and recovery follows in a
few weeks.
2. Tuberculosis. — Tuberculosis is the most usual cause of pneumo-
thorax. Perforation of the lung may supervene, either at an advanced stage
(cavity and softening) or at the onset during the first stage. Cases have,
indeed, been quoted, and I have seen them myself, in which pneumothorax
* Sauasicr, who has collected 131 cases of pneumothorax, classifies them, according
to their causes, as follows: Pulmonary phthisis, 81; pleurisy, 21; gangrene of tlie
lung, 7 ; emphysema, 5 ; pulmonary apoplexy, 3 ; cancer, 1 ; abscess of the hmg, 1 ;
liydatid of the lung, 1 ; hepatic abscess, I (" Recherchos sur Ic Pneumothorax," Paris,
1S41).
374 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
occurred in an apparently healthy person, and was the precursor of tubercu-
losis that had so far shown no symptoms. In such a case tubercular pneumo-
thorax resembles that due to emphysema or to strain. The pathogenic
diagnosis is extremely difficult. How are we to know whether pneumo-
thorax, supervening suddenly in an apparently healthy subject, is or is not
tubercular ? We may perhaps use, as a control measure, an injection ot
2 milligrammes of tuberculin. This means has been employed by Chauf!ard,
and the absence of reaction in his patient proved that the pneumothorax
was not tubercular.
It was formerly held that purulent change in an effusion following
tubercular pneumothorax was of necessity due to secondary invasion by
other micro-organisms : Friedlander's bacillus. Staphylococcus aureus,
Bacillus saprogenes, etc. (Netter).
These conclusions are no longer admitted. Observations have shown
that tubercular empyema may result solely from the infection of the tubercle
bacillus without the presence of other micro-organisms. I have devoted a
clinical lecture to " purely tubercular pyopneumothorax without super-
added infection," and to the cases already observed I have added others
which leave no doubt as to the pathogenesis of the pyopneumothorax.
Speaking generally, pneumothorax is more frequent in adults than in
children ; it has, however, been seen in children of all ages, even in those
under two years of age ; " but the influence of age varies, according to the
causes of the pneumothorax. Tubercles produce perforation at any age ;
the rupture of the vacuoles of broncho-pneumonia determines it exclu-
sively between the ages of two and four years."
The presence of air in the pleural cavity is generally followed by hydro-
thorax, and in 147 cases collected by Moneret the pneumothorax remained
pure in sixteen only ; fluid formed in all the others. Some cases have been
noted in wliich the fluid remained serous for a very long time. I had a
patient' under my care in whom the fluid of a tubercular hydropneumothorax
remained free from any micro-organism for eight months. These cases are
exceptional ; most frequently the fluid becomes purulent, and contains the
microbes of suppuration, especially when the perforation is consecutive to
a tubercular cavity or to an abscess ; in some cases the fluid became
purulent, although there was only simple rupture of the pulmonary alveoli
(strain or emphysema).
The gases in the pleura vary in quantity : nitrogen and carbonic acid
predominate, oxygen being in the smallest proportion, while sulphuretted
hydrogen usually accompanies pyopneumothorax.
Post mortem one or several perforations are found ; their size, shape,
and situation vary, according to the cause. When the perforation is not
readily visible on the surface of the lung, it must be made so. For this purpose
DISEASES OF THE PLEURA 375
the pleural cavity is filled with water, and insufflation through the trachea
is performed. The bubbles which appear at the mouth of the fistula indicate
its position ; the pleuro-pulmonary fistula, however, may be cicatrized or
obhterated, and the corpus delicti passes unnoticed.
I have elsewhere described the lesions which cause pneumothorax.
Symptoms. — The invasion of pneumothorax is violent or quiet, ac-
cording to the cause of the perforation. When the irruption of air affects
a healthy pleura free from adhesions, the lung collapses, and the symptoms
are sudden ; the pain in the side is severe, and the dyspnoea is excessive.
Under other circumstances, when the lung is already fixed by adhesions, the
onset is less violent, the pain and dyspnoea are slower to appear, and are less
severe ; in some cases, indeed, the disease is latent. When pneumothorax
results from the opening of a purulent collection into the bronchi (vomica),
entrance of air into the pleura may follow the voiding of the pus through the
bronchi.
The physical signs of pneumothorax are as follows : Mensuration shows
enlargement of the thorax, unless chronic pleurisy has already caused
retraction. Percussion yields a clear and tympanitic sound, metallic in
timbre (Trousseau's bruit d'airain).* The vocal fremitus is diminished or
abolished, and the heart may be displaced by gas when the pneumothorax
is situated on the left side. On auscultation the breath-sounds, the cough,
and the voice-sounds become amphoric, and the rales change to a silvery
sound, known as metallic tinkling. There is, furthermore, a sign which I
have long pointed out : If the patient is made to drink small mouthfuls of
fluid during auscultation, the swallowing of the fluid produces a gurgling
sound of amphoric timbre. The above signs result from the presence of air
in the pleura ; the simultaneous existence of fluid and of gas in the pleura
shows itself by a splashing noise, audible on auscultation even at a distance,
provided the patient be gently shaken. This symptom is called hippocratic
succussion.
The tension of the gaseous effusion is variable, according as the perfora-
tion of the lung is obhterated or not. If it persists, the intrapleural pressure
is practically the same as that of the atmosphere ; if it is obhterated, the
intrapleural pres.sure varies from -7 during inspiration, to -f3 during
expiration. In several patients I have found that these figures are variable.
Simple pneumothorax may recover in three or four weeks, but the
nature of the perforation and the formation of pus aggravates tiie prognosis.
I have, however, often seen the cure of pneumothorax and of hydropneurao-
thorax in tubercular patients.
* If the poslcrior region of the pfili(!nt's chest is auBcnKated wliilo llio fronl is
percussed, the percussion yields the hriiit d'airain. Tlii.4 bruit is still lid (or lieard if
the percussion is made by moans of two coins.
376 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
In some cases pneumothorax and hydropneumotliorax are localized to
some portion of the thoracic cavity by previous adhesions ; tliis condition
is partial pneumothorax.
Diagnosis. — Large pleuritic effusions may give rise to amphoric breath-
ing,* but the other signs are so different that mistakes are not possible
between gaseous and fluid collections. Large cavities in phthisis may
simulate pneumothorax, but are nearly always localized to the apex of the
lung ; the rales become of a splashing nature, and the signs of amphorism
are less marked.
In some cases partial pneumothorax and hydropneumothorax are very
difficult to diagnose, and it is essential to make a methodical examination,
dividing the thorax into three regions — anterior, axillary, and posterior
(Jaccoud).
I have described a partial inferior pneumothorax with pleuro-peritoneal
symptoms. It must not be confounded either with subphrenic abscess,
which is an abdominal affection with pleural symptoms, or with certain
cases qf subdiaphragmatic peritonitis. Pneumothorax, or hydropneumo-
thorax, being recognized, it is still necessary to diagnose the cause, for the
aetiology of the perforation is the principal basis of the prognosis.
The treatment varies in j^neumothorax, hydropneumothorax, or pyo-
pneumothorax. In a tubercular patient with hydropneumothorax it is,
perhaps, preferable not to withdraw the fluid, for the spread of tuberculosis
may be hindered in the lung thus compressed. In a case of pyopneumo-
thorax Potain obtained striking success with injections of steriUzed air.
I have treated tubercular pyopneumothorax by multiple punctures ; at
each puncture only 2 ounces of fluid were withdrawn, and an intrapleural
injection of solution of sublimate was given.
Pneumothorax by Putrefaction. — I have so far dealt with pneumo-
thorax by perforation. Essential pneumothorax, independent of perfora-
tion and consecutive to exhalation of gas by the pleura, was formerly
admitted. This view is no longer held, but some authors have stated that
purulent fluid in the pleura may produce gas by decomposition, and give
rise to pneumothorax. This latter form no doubt does exist, and is due to
putrefaction, caused by anaerobic microbes. I have dealt with pneumo-
thorax by putrefaction under Putrid Pleurisy. Pneumothorax by putre-
faction is the opposite of pneumothorax by perforation ; wliile the latter is
due to the passage of air into the pleural cavity, the former is due to the
production of gas in a cavity into which the air has not penetrated.
* These amphoric sounds are due to a cavity, filled with gas, which plays the j^art
of a resonating chamber. Metallic tinkUng is only a rale which, in contact with this
ca\-ity, assumes a special timbre, and it is not essential in order that the tinkling may
be produced to have a communicatiou between the cavitj' and the bronchus in which
the rale arises.
CHAPTER VI
DISEASES OF THE MEDIASTINUM
I. TUMOURS OF THE MEDIASTINUM.
Anatomy. — The organs of the mediastinum are so numerous, their lesions so fre-
quent, and their disposition so important, by reason of the troubles which result from
these lesions, that I Avill briefly describe the anatomy of this region.
The name " mediastinum " is given to the irregularly shaped cav-ity which is filled
by numerous organs, and occupies the space between the sternum, the vertebral column,
and the inner surface of the lungs. To understand the construction of the mechastinal
cavity, it is enough to know the relations of the pleurae in this situation. The pleur»,
after being in contact behind the sternum, open out, and in the interval which extends
from the posterior part of the sternum to the root of the lung they circumscribe a space
called the " anterior mediastinum." They continue their course from the root of the
lung to the anterior surface of the vertebral column, and circumscribe a second space,
known as the " posterior mediastinum." -
The height of tlie anterior mediastinum equals the anterior vertical diameter of the
thorax. Its shape may be compared to a triangular pyramid, two sides of which are
lateral and one posterior. The anterolateral sides are formed by the layers of the
pleura which are attached to the sternum ; they are in relation (the right especially
so) with the lung. The posterior side, which is the smallest, is in relation with the
oesophagus below and with the oesophagus and the thoracic cavity above. In this tri-
angular space the following organs are contained :
The pericardium, extending vertically from the xiphoid cartilage to the middle of
the first piece of the sternum, and horizontally for about 4 inches to the left of the middle
line of the sternum and 1 inch to the right.
The heart, the apex of which corresponds to the sixth rib, is found about 4 inches
from the median line of the sternum. The arch of the aorta, which corresponds to the
middle and upper part of the sternum, contains the cardiac plexus in its concavity.
On the same plane as these vessels we find, on the right side, the innominate artery
and the superior vena cava ; on the left the common carotid and subclavian arteries,
and more externally the recurrent and phrenic nerves.
Behind these organs is the root of the lung, formed by (1) the bronchi situated on
the same plane as the inner part of the second intercostal spaces ; (2) the pulmonary
arteries ; (3) tlu! pulmonary veins.
The posterior part ol the mediastinum is vrry didcrcnt from the anterior one. Its
li'ngth is nearly equal to that of the dorsal column, and its shape that of a four-sided
jjyraraid, with its apex below. The lateral sides are formed by the pleuras wliich open
out above to receive the subclavian arteries. The posterior side corresponds to the
vertebral column, while the anterior is limited by the bifurcation of the trachea in its
ui)pcr fourth, and by the pericardium in its lower three-fourths. In this irregular
quadrangular space the following organs are met with :
377
378 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The thoracic aorta and cesophagus, which are at first situated on the same trans-
verse plane, but approach one another during their descent, so that the oesophagus is
finally placed in front of the aorta, and helps to form the apex of the pyramid.
The vena azygos major occupies the right side of the vertebral column, behind the
cesophagus ; the vena azygos minor is placed on the left side of the dorsal column,
behind the aorta ; while the thoracic duct is situated between the two azygos veins.
We also find connective tissue, lymphatic glands, and twigs from the great sym-
pathetic plexus and the pneumogastric nerves which surromid the oesophagus.
The lymphatic glands have a special importance, from the numerous diseases that
occur in them. As a whole, they receive the lymphatic vessels from the pleura, lungs,
trachea, bronchi, heart, pericardium, and chest-walls. The groups of glands which
deserve special attention have been described by Barety : (1) Right and left peri-
tracheo-bronohial groups ; (2) right and left subbronchial groups ; and (3) inter bronchial
groups.
Pathological Anatomy. — Among the numerous tumours Avhich develop
in the mediastinum, we shall consider : (1) Simple adenopathy ; (2) tubercu-
lar adenopathy ; (3) cancerous adenopathy ; (4) degeneration of the thymus ;
(5) aneurysm of the aorta ; (6) abscesses of the mediastinum ; (7) cancer of
the oesophagus ; (8) glandular hypertrophy, ^v'ith or without leucocythaemia.
1. Simple Adenopathy. — Acute diseases of the lungs and of the bronchi
produce engorgement and inflammation of the tracheo-bronchial glands,
especially in children. Pneumonia, capillary bronchitis, and the catarrhs
associated with measles, whooping-cough, or influenza, lead to adenopathy.
The glands sometimes become much enlarged ; inflammatory congestion and
oedema are present, and sometimes " hyperaemia and effusion of blood cause
an increase in size, with red coloration of the whole gland tissue, which
then resembles liver." Acute adenitis sometimes goes on to suppuration.
2. Tubercular Adenopathy. — The tubercles develop along the vessels
in the cavernous or in the folhcular system of the gland, and present the same
characters as in other tissues. The tubercle undergoes fatty change, and
when the granulations are confluent, the parts situated between them may
undergo caseous degeneration.
In children tubercuhzation of the bronchial glands is never primary, but
always consecutive to tuberculosis of the lung ; the lesion in the lung
may be insignificant, while the glandular mischief is very extensive
(Parrot).
3. Malignant Adenopathy. — Sarcoma and carcinoma of the bronchial
glands are often consecutive to mahgnant disease of the lung ; lymph-
adenoma, which is much more frequent than the preceding forms, is
generally primary ; it develops in young healthy subjects, and at times
assumes the more mahgnant form of lymphosarcoma.
These malignant tumours grow large, invade the organs of the mediasti-
num, the heart, the lungs, and envelop the vessels and nerves. In other
cases the infection is carried to a distance, probably by way of the lym-
DISEASES OF THE MEDIASTINUM 379
phatics, veins, or serous membranes, and secondary nodules are found in tlie
kidney, liver, etc.
4. Degeneration of the Thymus. — The most contradictory opinions
have been enunciated on the subject of tumours of the thymus ; their
frequency has in turn been exaggerated and denied. It is certain that in
children, and even in adults, we find sarcomata of different forms and slow
evolution, which have arisen in the vestiges of the thymus.
5. Glandular hypertrophy, with or without leucocythsemia, will receive
a separate description.
6. Syphilis may involve the mediastinal glands (see Syphilis of the Lung).
Symptoms.— Besides the signs and symptoms special to the pathology
of each of the organs in the mediastinum (cancer of the oesophagus, aneurysm
of the aorta, lymphadenoma, glandular tuberculosis, etc.), certain signs are
common to all tumours, and serve to give a complete picture of the pathology
of the mediastinal region. This is what I have named the mediastinal
syndrome.
For example, the compression of a bronchus, of a venous trunk, or of a
recurrent nerve, is always followed by the same effects, whether it be due to
aneurysm of the aorta, glandulai hypertrophy, lymjahadenoma, or cancer.
These common signs and uniform symptoms are nearly all tlie result of
compression exercised by tumours upon the organs in the mediastinal
region. They are as follows :
1 . Deformity. — This deformity affects the sternal region. The first piece
of the sternum may be raised, or the bulging may predominate at the sterno-
clavicular joints ; sometimes the bones are worn away, as in aneurysm of the
aorta, and the expansile tumour takes the place of the bone. When the
swelling is due to masses of glands (lymphadenoma, cancer), the glands in
the supraclavicular hollow are often enlarged.
Other signs are also present : normal resonance gives place to dullness,
which varies according to the size of the tumour, and may often be found
behind in the interscapular region (Gueneau de Mussy). Bronchophony
and bronchial breathing are proper to changes in the glands near the trachea
and the bronchi, while a double centre of pulsations marks the existence of
aortic aneurysm.
When the disease is of long duration, the retraction of the chest-wall,
which has sometimes been observed, is probably due to the comj^ression of
a large bronchus, with impaired activity of the lung.
2. Compression of the Bloodvessels. — This result is very common in
tumours of the mediastinum. "' The arteries and the bronchial veins may
be compressed by the suprabronchial and intertracheo-bronchial glands, the
brachio-cephalic venous trunks, and the branches of the arch of the aortA
by the retrosterno-clavicular glands " (Barety).
380 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The arterial vessels, being more resistant, suffer less from compression
than the veins, and it is not rare to see an aneurysm of the aorta or a large
mass of glands compressing the superior vena cava, the vena azygos major,
and the innominate vein. When the superior vena cava is compressed, the
passage of blood through this channel into the right auricle is difficult or
impossible, and the result is blood-stasis in the areas which pour their blood
into the tributaries of the superior vena cava — that is to say, in the head,
the upper limbs, and the upper part of the thorax.
Following the blood-stasis, we observe dilatation of the subcutaneous
venules ; bluish networks show themselves on the thorax, shoulders, and
arms, etc., while the jugular veins are dilated. This venous stasis is followed
by tlie formation of a collateral circulation — that is to say, the blood which,
as a rule, flows into the left auricle tlirough the superior vena cava, now takes
another course, and seeks to reach the same goal by the inferior vena cava.
The blood passes through its altered channel by means of deep and super-
ficial anastomoses, which join the superior to the inferior caval system, and
which from actual necessity become many times larger than the normal.
These anastomoses are the large and small azygos, intercostal, internal
mammary, deep epigastric, superficial epigastric, and circumflex ihac veins.
By these altered channels the blood of the superior caval system attempts to
pass into the inferior caval one in order to reach the right auricle. Hence
in these abnormal cases the blood flows from above downwards in the
cutaneous veins of the thorax and abdomen, and it is easy to prove the
direction of the current by pressing back the blood in a dilated venous
segment, and alternately removing the compression in the upper or in the
lower end of the bloodless segment.
If the vena azygos major participates in the compression, the re-estabhsh-
ment of the circulation takes place only by the inferior vena cava. In the
opposite case the azygos system which empties itself into the superior vena
cava takes part in the re-establishment of the circulation. In short, the
blood-stasis in the veins, the situation of these networks, and the direction of
the blood-current give valuable information, which may point out the
obstacle to the circulation in the mediastinum.
When the collateral circulation is efficient, the symptoms are shght. In
the opposite case, oedema of the hands and face is seen, the lips are violet-
coloured, the eyes are injected, the patient suffers from giddiness, nose-
bleeding, and headache — in short, from the signs of cephaUc congestion, due
to venous stasis.
When the subclavian artery or the brachio-cephahc trunk is compressed,
the radial pulse diminishes in size. On the affected side compression of
the pulmonary artery or of its branches has several times been noted ;
ulceration of these vessels causes fulminant haemoptysis.
DISEASES OF THE MEDIASTINUM 381
3. Compression of the Trachea and Bronchi. — The left bronchus is
more often compressed than the right ; the vesicular murmur diminishes
or disappears in the corresponding lung, but the thoracic resonance is pre-
served. The union of these two symptoms — absence of breath-sounds and
preservation of resonance — eliminates the idea of an effusion into the pleura,
and can only be explained by narrowing or by compression of the bronchus.
When the calibre is much diminished, we find inspiratory sucking-in, which
is most marked in the supraclavicular and epigastric hollows (Gueneau de
Mussy).
Compression of the bronchi and of the trachea often produces rough
and whisthng inspiration, which has received the name of stridor (Cayol).
This sound is heard whenever stenosis affects the larynx, the trachea, or
the large bronchi.
4. Changes in the Pneumogastric, Recurrent, Phrenic, and Sym-
pathetic Nerves. — The symptoms, consecutive to changes in these nerves,
difEer according as the nerve is irritated (symptoms of excitation) or
destroyed (symptoms of paralysis). This is a very important distinction.
Hoarse paroxysmal cough, resembling that of whooping-cough, has been
noted in a great number of cases (Gueneau de Mussy) of bronchial adeno-
pathy. " In children especially, when spasmodic cough shows itself at
once or persists long after genuine whooping-cough, there is reason to suspect
compression of the pneumogastric nerve by degenerated bronchial glands "
(Verliac). Dyspnoea, with or without paroxysms, often results from
compression of the vagus and the recurrent nerves. The attack may simu-
late asthma (Herard), or may resemble angina pectoris. In one case the
symptoms were due to irritation of the right vagus, which was congested
and adherent to the swollen and degenerated glands (Barety). I have
seen an analogous case.
Laryngeal troubles betray themselves by the raucous nature of the voice
(dysphonia), and by spasms of the glottis. The changes in the voice are
explained by the paralysis of the vocal cord supplied by the affected re-
current nerve. The diagnosis is readily verified by the laryngoscope.
Spasms of the glottis are due to excitation of the recurrent nerve. Ex-
citation of one nerve alone is sufficient to provoke spasm of the glottis
(Krishaber). The change in the phrenic nerves determines diaphragmatic
neuralgia and attacks of dyspnoea (Bazin).
InequaUty of the pupils is often seen, and arises, doubtless, from changes
in the great sympathetic nerve.
5. Dysphagia is due to the compression of the ccsophagus by media^
stinal tumours, tumours of the aorta, degeneration of glands, etc., and tu
adherence of the oesophagus to neighbouring organs. Its perforation lias
been noted five times (Barety).
382 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Diagnosis — Prognosis. — The diagnosis is often difficult. Sometimes
the lesion betrays itself only by an isolated phenomenon — viz., per-
manent contraction of one pupil, paroxysmal dyspnoea, analogous to attacks
of asthma, aphonia simulating a malady of the larynx, spasmodic and
paroxysmal cough resembling whooping-cough, or agonizing retro-sternal
pain, which is nothing less than angina pectoris. Even when attention is
directed to the seat of the disease, the difficulty is not entirely overcome, for
many mediastinal tumours have symptoms in common, and it is then neces-
sary to diagnose the nature of the tumour.
If, however, they have characters in common, they also have some
special characters which aid in the diagnosis. Thus, in aneurysm of the
aorta we often find a movement of expansion, a double centre of pulsations^
and a double or single blowing murmur. Glandular affections of the media-
stinum (lymphadenoma, leukaemia) are generally accompanied by glandular
hypertrophy in other regions, as the neck, the axilla, or the groin. In
tubercular adenopathy the condition of the lungs must be carefully
inquired into. Cancerous degenerations sometimes involve the supra-
clavicular glands.
The prognosis is generally grave. Tumours, by their more or less rapid
progress, compromise the respiration and the circulation, and the patient
dies either slowly from asphyxia, or suddenly from syncope, or from attacks
of suffocation. Rapid death generally depends upon changes in the vagus
and recurrent nerves.
Certain lesions of the mediastinum may be treated' surgically (Ziem-
bicki). Dr. Potarca (of Bucharest), in a work entitled " Posterior Intra-
mediastinal Surgery," has reported numerous operations performed for
purulent collections in the posterior mediastinum, phlegmon, mediastinitis,
suppuration in the bones or the glands, and abscesses from foreign bodies.
II. CANCER OF THE THORACIC DUCT.
The thoracic duct, which collects the lymph from the lower hmbs and the
thoracic and abdominal viscera, extends from the receptaculum chyh to
the left subclavian vein. It belongs, therefore, to the posterior media-
stinum, where it passes up between the two azygos veins behind the oeso-
phagus, until it crosses the posterior surface of the arch of the aorta and
enters the cervical region. The thoracic duct carries matter absorbed by
the digestive tract, but in pathological conditions it may transport microbes
and cellular emboli to the right heart. Secondary cancer of the duct occurs
when cancer cells are grafted on to its walls.
Nattan-Larrier has described two cases of secondary cancer of the duct.
The organs which usually give rise to secondary cancer of the duct
DISEASES OF THE MEDIASTINUM 383
are the stomach, the uterus, and the testicle, because their lymphatics
pass more directly to the duct ; then come the rectum, the pancreas, the
kidney, and the ovary. The thoracic duct is invaded by vascular propaga-
tion. The degeneration, affects successively the lymphatics from the can-
cerous organ, the corresponding glands, their efferent lymphatics, and
finally the thoracic duct. Invasion by effraction is quite exceptional.
In one-half of the cases the entire duct is involved, in one-quarter the
growth stops at some distance from the termination of the duct, wliile in
more rare cases the lesion is hmited to the origin of the vessel. When the
entire duct is invaded, it resembles a vessel injected with paraffin. " The
receptaculum is as large as the thumb, and looks hke a flabby, nodular,
whitish cord, wliile a granular mass exudes on puncture. Below the recep-
taculum we find a network of cancerous lymphatics over the sides of the
aorta. Higher up we find the duct, properly speaking ; it forms a trunk
3 to 4 milhmetres in diameter, wanding over the posterior surface of the
aorta. At some points it divides into three or four branches, which remain
separate for 3 or 4 inches, and then reunite to form a trunk as large as the
primary vessel. After passing round the subclavian artery the cancerous
duct reaches the vein, which it perforates at the junction of tliis vessel with
the internal jugular vein." Sections show secondary cancer of the duct.
The epithehomatous cells are fixed in the connective tissue, and form buds,
which obhterate the lumen. At the termination of the duct we often find
a cancerous vegetation which floats in the subclavian vein.
The subjoined case is very typical :
Woman who had suffered from dyspepsia for many years, admitted in July, 1900.
Repeated melaena and hcematemesis, complete anorexia, and marked wasting. She
complained of acute epigastric pain, and pali)ation revealed a large tumour at the level
of the greater curvature of the stomach.
She had cancer of the stomach, confirmed by a large gland in the left supraclavicular
fossa. The left suVjcIavian vein soon became thrombosed. Fever appeared, and she
died from streptococcal septicaemia. Post mortem, cancer of stomach and secondary
growth involving the entire thoracic duct, which was completely obliterated, and showed
all the features above described.
Cancer of the thoracic duct shows itself by symptoms and signs which
are at times difficult to distinguish from those due to the primary growth.
Wasting and malnutrition are rapid. Yet, strange to say, obhteration of
the duct is not, as a rule, accompanied by lymphostasis. In three cases only
did milky effusion in the peritoneum coincide with cancer of the duct. In
two cases the chyhform ascites was due to cancer of the ijcritoneum, and
in the third case the chylous effusion was due to the spread of the growth
to the subperitoneal lacteals. We must therefore admit that the lymph-
flow is usually re-cstabUshed by the collateral channels. Phlebitis of the
left arm is fairly common, and is due to thrombosis, which starts from the
384 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
anastomosis of the duct with the vein. The phlebitis is seen in 25 per
cent, of cases. The existence of glands in the left supraclavicular fossa
has been noted in half of the cases.
The discovery of a prelumbar tumom-, accompanied by double vari-
cocele, would point to invasion of the thoracic duct, since the prelumbar
glands are affected in all cases of epithelioma of this tube. Nevertheless,
the prelumbar glands may be cancerous, while the duct is not invaded.
No one of these signs has absolute value, but their appearance in cancer
of the stomach or of the uterus would lead us to think of secondary growth
in the thoracic duct.
PART II
DISEASES OF THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
CHAPTER I
DISEASES OF THE PERICARDIUM
I. ACUTE PERICARDITIS.
Pericarditis is inflammation of the pericardium.
Senac (1783) was the first to separate pericarditis from other diseases
of the heart. In 1806 Corvisart applied to it the signs given by percussion ;
in 1824 ColUn, assistant to Laennec, discovered the pericardial rub (bruit
de cuir neuf), and some years later Bouillaud created cardiac pathology.
i^tiology. — The so-called primary (a frigore) pericarditis does not
exist. The secondary form is sometimes associated with a neighbouring
lesion (pleurisy, aneurysm of the aorta). It may follow injury, but usually
occurs in infectious diseases and constitutional maladies.
Pericarditis associated with pneumonia may be parapneumonic or
metapneumonic. It may be dry, sero-fibrinous, hgemorrhagic, or purulent.
The fluid does not contain much fibrin, and the pus is homogeneous.
Pneumococcal pericarditis may be independent of any pulmonary lesion.
The eruptive fevers, and especially scarlatina, may be accompanied
by pericarditis. The fluid may be sero-fibrinous, htemorrhagic, or purulent,
and almost always contains the streptococcus.
Pericarditis in erysipelas is also associated with the streptococcus
(Denuce).
Pericarditis consecutive to influenzal broncho- pulmonary lesions is
associated with several microbes, among which the streptococcus is the chief.
Pericarditis in Bright's disease is said in some cases to be of toxic
origin.
Tubercular pericarditis is sero-fibrinous, ha3morrhagic, or purulent,
and due to Koch\s bacillus, with which other organisms may be associated.
Purulent pericarditis consecutive to pyaemia is duo to staphylococci or
streptococci, but it is sometimes impossible to find the point of entry.
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386 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The most frequent cause is acute rheumatism, which is probably a
microbic disease. The pericarditis appears during the first and second
weeks of articular rheumatism, but may appear at the same time as the
articular lesions, or even apart from them. In some cases it is associated
with endocarditis or with pleurisy. It attacks patients at any age, but by
preference young children and infants.
Pathological Anatomy. — Acute pericarditis has been divided, Hke
pleurisy, into two varieties, according as it is dry or accompanied by
effusion. In acute pleurisy, however, effusion is the rule, while in peri-
carditis it is the exception. In ten patients suffering from rheumatic
pericarditis, effusion is perchance found but twice. From an anatomical
point of view, acute dry pericarditis does not exist, for a certain quantity
of exudate is always found post mortem. CUnically, however, the effusion
is not considered, unless it is sufficient to cause special signs, and from this
point of view pericarditis with effusion is somewhat rare.
Pericarditis may be partial or general. It is usually situated near the
aorta and at the base of the heart. The visceral layer, or epicardium, is
always the more affected. At first the congested vessels form a fine net-
work on the surface of the serosa, which loses its polish and becomes covered
with a fibrinous exudate, the papillary aspect of which (cor hirsutum) has
caused it to be compared to a cat's tongue, or to sUces of bread and butter
which have been pressed together and then quickly separated. The papillae
are formed of fibrin, epithehal cells, and pus corpuscles. Their special form
is due to the incessant movements wliich are given to the fibrin by the heart.
The outer layer of the serosa takes no part. The connective tissue of the
serosa shows embryonic infiltration, and the lymphatic vessels are crammed
with fibrin and white corpuscles. The quantity of fluid varies from a few
drachms to a pint or more ; it may be sero-fibrinous (rheumatism,
pneumonia), haemorrhagic (tuberculosis, Bright's disease, scurvy, cancer,
and cachexia), or purulent (scarlatina, pneumonia, typhoid fever, and
puerperal conditions). The heart muscle often shows superficial myo-
carditis. Tubercular pericarditis deserves special mention. It super-
venes in the course of acute or of chronic tuberculosis, or occurs as a primary
local tuberculosis. Effusion may or may not be present, and in the former
case the fluid is often hsemorrhagic. In recent cases the tubercular tissue
contains bacilli but they may be absent in old cases (Cornil and Babes).
The mediastinal glands are indurated and enlarged, while the cellular
tissue around them is adherent to the pleura and the lungs. Tubercular
pericarditis sometimes ends in adherent pericardium.
Description. — The invasion is very variable, and although this diversity
of onset may not be solely imputable to its causes, pericarditis is usually
insidious and latent (Stokes), and far more rarely acute and painful.
DISEASES OF THE PERICARDIUM 387
The patient sometimes complains of more or less severe oppression, with
palpitation and pain in the precordial or in the epigastric region, or between the
shoulders. As a rule, especially in rheumatic pericarditis, these symptoms,
and especially the pain, are absent or shght. In some exceptional cases,
however, the symptoms of acute pericarditis are very marked : the face is
pale ; the patient is anxious ; the pain may be terrible, accompanied by
chill and Upothymia, and analogous to the pain of angina pectoris — a fact
vrhich would prove that the cardiac plexus and the phrenic nerve are affected
by the inflammation.
Auscultation during the onset of the malady reveals a rub. This rub,
which is at first systoUc, soon becomes systolic and diastolic. It is a sound
that comes and goes — i.e., a "bruit de frou-frou.'* As the friction sounds
are not absolutely synchronous with the heart sounds, it is preferable to
say that the one is mesosystolic and the other mesodiastolic. The want
of synchronism depends on the fact that for both layers of the pericardium
to produce a friction sound it is necessary that " the displacement of the
surface of the heart should have reached a certain degree, that the muscular
contraction should have just commenced, and that, in consequence of the
form and volume of the heart, the surfaces in contact be, so to say, relaxed,
after having been dragged apart more or less suddenly " (Potain).
The pericardial rub has special characters. It is more rasping than the
cardiac murmur, and is not propagated in the direction of the blood-stream.
It has its maximum intensity about the third intercostal space, where the
anterior surface of the heart is more directly in relation with tlie chest,
and increases in intensity when the jJatient bends forward or when the
stethoscope is firmly appUed to the chest-wall. Lastly, it is not absolutely
isochronous with the normal sounds of the heart. In some cases the rub
is intense and general.
It often happens that the systolic rub commences a little before the
systole ; it is presystohc, and causes a triple sound, called the " bruit de
galop " (Bouillaud). This bruit de galop has a special rhythm, and its
three periods are divisible in the following manner : The first two sounds,
which are short and hurried, are formed, one by presystohc friction, and the
other by the normal sound of the heart, with or without friction ; while the
tliird sound corresponds to the normal second sound of the heart, or to this
sound covered by a friction sound. This bruit de galop, composed of two
short sounds and one long one, must not be confounded with the sounds,
called " l)ruit de caille " and " bruit de rappel," the rhythm of which is
a sign of mitral stenosis, and is inverse to the bruit de galop, being made
up of a long and two short sounds.
The single or double rulj, witli or witliout bruit de gah»[), is therefore a
sign of dry pericarditis ; but when oifusion is present, the fluid separates
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the layers of the pericardium, and the rub disappears. In some cases,
however, the rub may still be perceptible towards the base of the
heart, in spite of a large effusion. In proportion as the effusion forms,
the fluid collects in the dependent regions of the pericardium. A small
effusion passes unnoticed, but large ones cause the following signs and
symptoms :
On inspection and palpation, we find that the cardiac waves and the
impulse of the heart against the chest-wall become gradually effaced. On
auscultation, the heart sounds become faint and tend to disappear. Bulging
of the precordial region, so characteristic in a child suffering from peri-
cardial effusion, is less marked in the adult, because the ribs are more
resistant, and the pericardium, distended by the effusion, finds room at the
expense of the diapliragm, which it pushes down, and at the expense of the
posterior mediastinum, which it pushes back.
The most valuable sign of pericardial effusion is dullness. This dullness
varies according to the quantity of fluid effused. Its shape and limits
furnish valuable information. Pericardial dullness is triangular or conical
in shape, with its apex reaching as high as the third rib, where the peri-
cardium is reflected on to the great vessels ; its base blends with the dia-
phragm. In large effusions, which amount to about a pint, the vertical
line of dullness, which extends from the apex of the cone to its base, measures
6 or 7 inches, and the fine of horizontal dullness, which is close to the base
of the cone, has nearly the same length. Percussion, therefore, rather than
the other signs, shows the daily progress of the effusion.
When the effusion is abundant, it gives rise to more or less marked
symptoms, which include dysphagia, pallor and puffiness of the face,
dyspnoea, which is sometimes acute and accompanied by fainting and
angina, cyanosis and oedema of the peripheral parts, small intermittent
pulse, and pulsus paradoxus. Some of these symptoms — namely, the
smallness and irregularity of the pulse — may be due to compression of the
auricles, which offer less resistance to the effusion than the ventricles. The
pulsus paradoxus is found in cases of effusion and of pericardial adhesions,
and consists of three or four pulsations, followed by suppression of the
radial pulse for a like period, with no interruption of the heart-beats. The
disappearance of the pulsations coincides with the end of inspiration.
Dyspnoea, angina, attacks of suffocation, and threatening asphyxia, may
be due to the pericardial effusion when it is associated with endocarditis,
pulmonary congestion, and pleuritic effusion that often accompany peri-
carditis, especially in the case of acute rheumatism. Several of these
symptoms may also be present in the paralytic form of pericarditis, which is
due to degeneration of the heart muscle. In such cases the patient may
succumb from asystole.
DISEASES OF THE PERICARDIUM 389
The course of pericarditis is irregular ; its duration is uncertain, and the
fever cycle indefinite. The absorption of the fluid is followed by the
gradual disappearance of symptoms, and the rub (frottement de retour)
again appears. When the pericarditis has been slight, without effusion,
as in rheumatic cases, the serous membrane returns to its normal condition,
and recovery takes place in one or two weeks.
Diagnosis — Prognosis. — Apart from the exceptional cases in which the
symptoms are acute, pericarditis is a disease which must be carefully
looked for, because it develops without warning. Repeated auscultation
is necessary in patients who have one of the diseases enumerated under
the setiology of pericarditis, especially in those who are suffering from
articular rheumatism, and it will then be possible to recognize the rub at
its onset.
The diagnosis must be made in each form. The rub can be distinguished
from cardiac murmurs by the signs indicated above. The diagnosis from
the pleuritic rub is very simple, because the patient can at will stop breathing,
and at the same time suppress the rub of pleurisy.
I will briefly recapitulate the signs by which pericardial effusion may be
diagnosed. The shape and situation of the dullness are the most valuable
points ; then come the disappearance of the cardiac impulse, the faintness
and disappearance of the heart sounds, and the pulsus paradoxus. Let
us not forget that the pericardial rub may persist, in spite of a large effusion.
Pericardial effusion and encysted effusion in the left pleura present some
analogy, but the situation and the conical shape of the dullness in the
precordial region, the weakening of the cardiac impulse, and the remote-
ness of the heart sounds, are in favour of pericarditis. Hypertrophy of
the heart and pericardial effusion have two signs in common — i.e., the
extent of the dullness and the weakening of the heart sounds. In hyper-
trophy the dullness coincides with the apex of the heart, while it descends
lower than the apex in pericardial effusion (Gubler).
In its common forms acute rlioumatic pericarditis is not a serious malady.
The gravity of the prognosis depends on the abundance of the effusion,
and on certain complications, such as endocarditis, pleurisy, congestion of
the lungs, inflammation of the myocardium, and ventricular thrombosis,
which causes sudden death. The prognosis also depends on the causes
which have given rise to pericarditis. The rheumatic form, for example, is
not nearly so grave as the tubercular one.
Treatment. — If the inflammation is inteiLse, and especially if the pain
is severe, blood-letting should be performed. We may prescribe leeches
or f'U])j)ing to the precordial region, and employ blisters, or apply ice-bags,
which are left in situ. When the heart muscle is weak, digitalis or caffeine
is administered, and the pain is relieved by subcutaneous injections of
390 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
morphia. If the efEusion threatens to bring on asphyxia or syncope, the fluid
should be withdrawn without delay.
The history of paracentesis of the pericardium and the operative
technique have been minutely described by Trousseau ; but this opera-
tion has been modified, and I may say much simpUfied, since I have
employed the aspirator. I omit, therefore, the old procedure, and mention
the conclusions given in my memoir on paracentesis of the pericardium
(" Traite de 1' Aspiration ").
Experiments performed on the cadaver give the following conclusions :
1. In an adult the pericardium may contain an amount of fluid, which
in exceptional cases may exceed 2 pints.
2. Whatever be the degree of fullness, the pericardium reaches its greatest
transverse diameter at the level of the fourth, or sometimes of the fifth,
intercostal space.
3. At tliis level the pericardium is not covered by the left lung. The
lung, on the contrary, forms a notch, simulating a crescent, which extends
from the fourth to the sixth rib, and persists even when the lung is in-
sufflated. This notch coincides with the maximum point of the transverse
diameter of the distended pericardium, and consequently leaves a space
free for the aspirating needle.
4. The pericardium, distended by fluid, extends beyond the left border
of the sternum for as much as 4 or 5 inches.
5. I therefore recommend paracentesis in the fifth left intercostal space,
about 2 inches from the left border of the sternum.
For this purpose a No. 2 needle is employed. The aspirator is emptied
of air, and the puncture is made at the proper spot. When the needle has
gone J inch into the tissue — i.e., as soon as the needle is no longer in relation
with the external air — the corresponding tap of the aspirator is opened,
and a vacuum results in the needle, which becomes an aspirating one.
With the vacuum, so to say, in hand, we then proceed to search for the
effusion. The needle is pushed in slowly until the effusion flows through
the glass index.
For the dangerous operation proposed by Aran, Jobert, and Trousseau,
I have substituted a simple needle-prick, which is absolutely harmless, and
demands neither special skill nor exceptional surgical knowledge.
Paracentesis does not give the good results of thoracentesis, because it
has been chiefly employed in secondary pericarditis, which is often asso-
ciated with tuberculosis, and is therefore incurable. In some cases,
especially when the fluid is purulent, pericardotomy is indicated.
DISEASES OF THE PERICARDimi 391
II. CHRONIC PERICARDITIS— ADHERENT PERICARDIUM.
Pathological Anatomy. — Chronic pericarditis may be primary or conse-
cutive to acute pericarditis. The aetiology is the same in both cases. The
false membranes and the adhesions which are the chief lesions in clironic
pericarditis present different aspects. The false membranes arise in the
serosa, as vascular buds, which unite to form adhesions between the two
layers of the serous membrane. The adhesions may be partial or general.
When partial, they fix the apex of the heart, surround its base like a ring,
or form septa and cavities, filled with fluid and degenerated cells. When
general, they obliterate the cavity and lead to pericarditis obliterans
(Stokes) or ankylosis of the heart (Bouillaud). If the inflammatory
process also affects the external layer of the pericardium, this in turn forms
adhesions with the neighbouring organs — viz., pleura, lung, diaphragm,
and chest-wall. The false membranes may be an inch in thickness ; they
are haemorrhagic, infiltrated with tubercles, or encrusted with calcareous
salts. The ossiform patches in the pericardium are no more osseous tissue
than the cartilaginiform patches are composed of cartilaginous tissue, for
the latter do not possess chondroblasts, and are composed of lamellar con-
nective tissue and elastic fibres (Cornil and Ranvier).
When chronic pericarditis is accompanied by effusion, the fluid, which is
variable in quantity, may be purulent or haemorrhagic, and contains shreds
of membranes. The muscular fibre of the heart, which has become flabby
and yellowish, is more or less affected by fatty degeneration, and we find,
as the case may be, enlargement of the cavities, hypertrophy or atrophy
of the heart, and insufficiency of the tricuspid and mitral valves.
Description. — When chronic pericarditis ends in adhesions, it readily
passes unnoticed. It is only evident if friction sounds exist, if the effused
fluid is abundant, or, lastly, if the adhesions are very extensive.
At the points where the false membranes are not adherent a rasping rub
is audible. If the effusion is sufficiently abundant, it shows itself by the
signs described under acute pericarditis.
Adherent pericardium, if uncomplicated, may give no symptoms ; but
if it is accompanied by degeneration of the myocardium and dilatation of
tiie heart, it shows itself by the subjoined signs and .symptoms.
In the first place the adhesions cause trouble in the cardiac circulation.
In the normal condition the intrapericardial vacuum favours the filling of
the cavities of the heart during dia.stole ; if, however, adliesions form, the
expulsion of blood is hindered during the systole, and the cavities do not fill
during diastole, because the vacuum is suppressed. Adherent pericardium
causes the following symptoms : The patient is a prey to more or less acute
and constant dyspnoea, which increases with the least effort. He experi-
392 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
ences precordial pain, which may disappear during rest, but at times returns
with the least exertion or fatigue. On pressure we find tenderness of the
phrenic nerve in the neck and in the region of the diaphragm.
On examination of the thorax, bulging of the precordial region is often
seen. Percussion may show considerable increase in the size of the heart.
On palpation the systohc shock is much less marked than in the normal
condition.
General adhesions produce signs which are most marked when the
adhesions involve the chest-wall : these signs are — retraction of the inter-
costal spaces during systole (Wilhams), systohc retraction of the epigastric
angle, and reduphcation of the heart sounds.
The muscle often degenerates, becoming less resistant, and, with the
assistance of the false membranes, dilatation of the ventricles and con-
secutive insufficiency of the valves result.* Congestion and oedema, asphyxia,
asystole, and sudden death may follow.
Ill . H YDROPERIC ARDIUM— H YDROPNEUMOPERICARDIUM.
Hydropericardium is dropsy of the pericardium. It is not the result
of an inflammatory process like pericarditis, but occurs in the course of other
diseases. Hydropericardium is due either to mechanical causes which
embarrass the circulation in the cardiac vessels, or to dyscrasiae and cachectic
states which modify the composition of the blood. The signs of hydro-
pericardium and most of its symptoms, except fever, are those of peri-
carditis with effusion. Hydropneumopericardium denotes the simul-
taneous presence of gas and fluid in the pericardium. Here, as in pleurisy,
it has been asked if purulent fluid may, by decomposition of its elements^
produce gas. This view is no longer admitted. The common causes of hydro-
pneumopericardium are injury, communication between the pericardium
and an abscess of the Hver (Graves), the oesophagus (Chambers), or a cavity
in the lung (Dowel). The presence of gas in the pericardium shows itself
by a tympanitic sound in the precordial region. On auscultation the heart
sounds assume a metallic tone, and if the fluid is in sufficiently large
amount, the heart, striking the fluid and gas, produces a kind of gurghng,
analogous to the noise of a windmill wheel (Laennec).
* These secondary lesions affect not only the right ventricle and tricuspid valve,
but also the left ventricle and mitral valve ( Jaccoud).
CHAPTER II
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM
I. ACUTE ENDOCARDITIS.
Endocarditis is inflammation of the endocardium.
Discussion. — It is customary to divide acute endocarditis into two
groups : on the one hand simple, more or less benign endocarditis, and on
the other infective endocarditis, which corresponds to the old name malig-
nant. This division, though convenient for a theoretical description, is
one which I consider artificial, as it is known to-day that every case of acute
endocarditis is more or less of an infective nature, and dependent upon
the presence of micro-organisms. Further, upon what are we to base
our division of acute endocarditis ? Not on the nature of the lesions, for
infective endocarditis, which so often causes vegetations and ulcerations,
has not alone the privilege of causing these lesions. We find cases of simple
endocarditis, which are so benign that they do not enter into the category
of " infective," but yet they may be accompanied by vegetations which lead
to embolism and to ulcerations of the valves or the chordae tendinese.
Can the aetiology of endocarditis and the bacteriological knowledge
acquired during the past few years serve as a basis of classification ? For
example, can rheumatic endocarditis be considered as being characterized
by its relatively benign course, by lesions that are limited to the heart, and
by the absence of embolic complications ? And can endocarditis in the puer-
peral state, in certain cases of pneumonia, of scarlet fever, etc., be infective
and accompanied by cardiac and extracardiac lesions, by mechanical and
septic emboli, and characterised by general characters and symptoms that are
too often exceedingly grave ? Not so ; aetiology, althougli having a relative
part in the anatomical and clinical evolution of endocarditis, cannot be the
starting-poiiit of a division, for exceptions would be met with every moment.
Endocarditis in the course of scarlatina, of smallpox, or of erysipelas, which
are eminently infectious diseases, is often benign and almost latent, while
endocarditis in the course of trut^ rhoumatisni may exceptionally assume
a typhoid and iiuiiigiiant form.
The nature of endocarditis, the variety of its lesions, the diversify of its
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micro-organisms, the benign or grave nature of its course, depend, as always,
on the co-operation of certain causes which mutually support or oppose one
another. We must especially remember the specific origin of the disease,
the quantity and quality of the pathogenic agent, the previous condition of
the endocardium, and the state of receptivity and of resistance of the
individual. I shall, in order to faciUtate description, adopt the artificial
division of endocarditis into two groups, first stating the fact that they
are related cHnically by numerous intermediary forms. In the first group
I shall describe simple acute endocarditis, and shall choose for my type
the most common of all— rheumatic endocarditis ; in the second group I
shall have to discuss the chief forms of infective endocarditis — viz., pneu-
monic, pyaemic, puerperal, etc.
In the course of this description we shall find that certain cases of endo-
carditis do not merit the name " infective," for they show no symptoms of
infection. On the other hand, they do not merit the name of " simple,"
for, in spite of the benign nature of their symptoms, they are sometimes
accompanied by the formation of large emboli, which block the arteries
of the limbs or of the brain. I call these cases emboligenous, this term being
applied to emboU of a certain size, and not including, of course, capillary
emboK and the formation of haemoptoic or of septic infarcts, lesions
described under infective endocarditis. We may, therefore, see simple
emboligenous, and infective or mahgnant, endocarditis.
Simple Acute Endocarditis.
/Etiology. — Many infectious diseases — blennorrhagia, scarlatina, diph-
theria, variola, the setiologic importance of which has been too much ex-
aggerated (Quinquaud), erythema nodosum (Trousseau), chorea (See), facial
erysipelas (Jaccoud), pneumonia, and malaria — may cause endocarditis,
which is often microbic, and from its characters and symptoms would in
many cases deserve the name of simple endocarditis ; often, indeed, so
simple that it would pass unnoticed without minute examination of the
heart, and, in fact, several of these cases recover without leaving any
sequelae.
Such cases will not serve as the type in the present description. I
would rather choose rheumatic endocarditis, which is the most common of
all, but conforms to the type of simple acute or subacute non-infective
endocarditis.
Acute, subacute, or chronic articular rheumatism may provoke endo-
carditis (Bouillaud), but it is chiefly in the course of acute articular rheu-
matism that endocarditis develops. I refer the reader to the article on
rheumatism, where this question is treated in detail. Endocarditis usually
appears in the second week of the rheumatic attack, but in some exceptional
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM 395
cases it precedes the articular manifestations. Rheumatic endocarditis
especially affects adults and children.
Pathological Anatomy. — The inflammation nearly always chooses the
endocardium of the left heart, affects the mitral more often than the aortic
valves, the central face of these valves more often than the parietal one,
and their free edge rather than other parts. This locahzation depends on
several causes : (1) the mechanical effects of pressure and friction exercised
at these points by the blood-current ; (2) the lessened resistance of the affected
parts of the valves, which are, at the same time, more worn out and not so
well organized (Peter).
In order to understand the changes in endocarditis (acute or chronic),
we must remember the structure of the endocardium, which much resembles
that of the endarterium. The endocardium is composed of an endothelium
made up of a single layer of flat cells ; a second layer, formed by flattened
cells that are superposed and separated by lamellar substance ; and a tliird
layer of elastic tissue and of bundles of connective tissue (Cornil).
The first layer is not found post mortem ; the second layer is very
thin at the level of the valves ; the third layer (fibro-elastic tissue), at the
free edge of the auriculo-ventricular valves, gives origin to the tendons of
the papillary muscles. The auriculo-ventricular valves may be consi-
dered as a fold of endocardium, the two lips of which are united by fibrous
connective tissue, insuring resistance (Ranvier). The arterial valves
result from the folding back of the internal membrane of the arteries on
the ventricular endocardium.
When endocarditis is slight and transient, it is rather exudative than
proliferative. The type of prohferative endocarditis is the rheumatic form,
which we are now considering. The inflammation chiefly attacks the mitral
valve, the edges of which are swollen, thickened, and much vascularized,
while in the normal state the capillary vessels are few in number. These
vessels are affected by endarteritis, and their lumen is almost obli-
terated.
The changes develop in the layer of flattened cells. Micro-organisms
often cause the embryonic elements to proliferate and form granulations,
which are so small and so numerous that they give to the endocardium a
rough appearance. These granulations, which were at first taken for
collections of fibrin, are really composed of embryonic tissue, covered by a
thin layer of fibrin. They are friable, soft, and transparent in the acute
stage, and some show at their centre vessels in process of formation. The
granulations may invade fairly large surfaces of the parietal, ventricular,
or auricular endocardium, but are usually found at a small distance from
the free edge of the valves, where they form a wavy, maiuTnillatod line.
The granulations, which sometimes reach the size of a pin's lioad or of
396 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
a pea, may be villous, filamentous, nummular, warty, or raspberry-like,
and surround the valves like a garland. They may give rise to emboli,
which are carried in every direction. These complications, however, will
be discussed later under Embohgenous and Ulcerative Endocarditis.
Description. — The phenomena of invasion in acute endocarditis are,
so to say, non-existent. Rigors, dyspnoea, and palpitation are not seen,
or at least are so slight that endocarditis passes unnoticed in a case of
articular rheumatism, unless the heart is examined daily.
In valvular endocarditis we find blowing murmurs, which are related
to the seat of the lesions and will be described under Valvular Lesions. All
the orifices of the heart may be affected, but for the moment it is enough to
say that the mitral orifice is most generally attacked, and the aortic orifice
is next in frequency. The murmur that characterizes mitral endocarditis
is heard at the apex of the heart — that is to say, below and outside the nipple ;
this soft murmur is nearly always systohc, mitral insufficiency being the rule
and stenosis the exception, during the acute stage of endocarditis (Bouillaud).
The duration is rarely more than two or three weeks. After this time the
trouble resolves and the murmur disappears, but the mischief may become
chronic, when the murmur also persists.
Endocarditis which is consecutive to such infectious diseases as ery-
sipelas, mumps, erythema nodosum, etc., may recover without leaving any
trace. Recovery, however, is not to be reUed on. A patient who has
suffered from rheumatism or scarlatina, and been considered as cured because
the murmur has disappeared, may yet suffer from chronic endocarditis,
which is latent in its evolution. The morbid process is not extinct, but
proceeds slowly and insidiously to alter the tissues wliich it has attacked,
and often creates irremediable lesions, that may only appear after years.
Simple acute endocarditis, however, presents no immediate danger, and its
gravity results from the chronic valvular lesions wliich so often follow.
Local blood-letting, leeches, cupping, blisters to the precordial region,
and the preparations of digitahs form the basis of treatment. We must
never lose sight of the frequent change from the acute to the chronic state.
Bhsters and applications of the cautery must therefore be continued for a
lengthy period when the disease has left some traces.
Ulcerative, Infective, or Malignant Endocarditis — Emboligenous
Endocarditis.
Pathogenesis. — The acute endocarditis just described presents no imme-
diate gravity ; it is only formidable in the future, because of the chronic
valvular lesions which too often follow. We find, however, another form
of acute endocarditis, called typhoid, ulcerative, infective, or malignant,
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM 397
wliicli at its onset or in its course may show a typhoid or septic character,
and ends fairly frequently in death.
We know to-day that there is, not one, but several varieties of infective
endocarditis.
Discussion of their pathogenesis is singularly simpUfied since the dis-
covery of bacteria ; their aetiology is no longer given up to simple hypothesis,
as was formerly the case, and we can Avith some method group the lesions
and the symptoms that are peculiar to each variety. The nature and
the degree of virulence of the micro-organisms, the previous condition of
the endocardium, the conditions of resistance or receptivity of the
individual, are all factors which have to be taken into account.
This question may, I tliink, be stated as follows : The endocardium,
whether healthy or previously injured so that it is in a State of receptivity,
offers a favourable site for the arrest and development of certain pathogenic
agents.
These agents may have the most varied origins. Some enter the economy
by the skin (abrasions, excoriated corns, boils, burns, wounds, erysipelas,
injuries) ; others are introduced through the mucosa of the uterus (abortion
and accouchement), through the genito- urinary mucosa (lesions of the urethra
and bladder), and through the digestive mucous membranes (stomatitis, ton-
silUtis, ulcerations of the stomach, the intestines and the bile-ducts) ; others,
again, penetrate through the serous membranes (lesions of the peritoneum,
pleura, and synovial membranes) ; some are introduced through the
respiratory channels (broncho-pneumonia, ulcerative lesions of the lung,
gangrene, and bronchiectasis) ; others may enter through bone lesions
(osteomyelitis) ; finally, in some cases the entrance gateway cannot be
found, in which event we invoke auto-infection, calling the endocarditis
primary.
Many microbes may cause infective endocarditis. I shall first cite the
pyogenic microbes, streptococci and staphylococci ; then the pneumococcus,
the bacillus of typhoid fever and of tuberculosis, the gonococcus, and other
microbes not classified, or not yet found in other diseases (Weichselbaum,
Gilbert and Lion).
These microbes are chiefly aerobic, a fact which doubtless explains
their preference for the left heart and for oxygenated blood. Endocarditis
of the right heart is more rare. Cases have, however, been published.
These microbes, after entering the economy by one of the gateways above
enumerated, arc carried by the blood to the heart, and invade the endo-
cardium, either superficially, through the crevices in the connective tissue,
or deeply, by way of tiic small vessels. This invasion may be helped by
previous changes in the serous membrane. After implantation on their
culture medium, the pathogenic agents, either alone or in combination.
398 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
crown their work of destruction, and the pathological process may assume
several forms. In the first variety the lesion leads to the formation of
vegetations which are more or less bulky and friable. These vegetations
become detached from the endocardium, and are launched into the vessels
in the form of emboh. If the embolus is of large size, it obliterates a fairly
large artery, and causes secondary complications, which depend on the
obhterated vessel (hemiplegia, aphasia, and gangrene). If the embolus is
of smaller size, it causes infarcts in the kidney, spleen, intestine, or lung,
and the symptoms depend on the organ invaded. In this first category of
complications the embolus causes simple obstruction of the vessels. The
embolism is called mechanical and may be formidable, but is not septic.
In short, the cases of endocarditis which form this first variety are embo-
ligenous, but do not deserve the name of infective, because they do not give
rise to septic or infective emboli.
In the second variety the morbid process goes on to necrosis and
ulceration, and in most cases vegetations and ulcerations are present to-
gether. These ulcerations may perforate the valves, tear away the pillars,
and detach shreds of the chordae, giving rise to mechanical embolism.
Here also the endocarditis may not be infective, but rather ulcerative, with
vegetations. It is emboligenous and most grave, but the process may not
be infective.
Lastly, in the third variety I place the true cases of infective endo-
carditis. Ulcerations and vegetations are as a rule present, but the impor-
tant feature is that their products are septic and infective : they pour
septic capillary emboh into the blood-stream, and their symptoms recall the
picture of typhoid or purulent infection.
From this rapid enumeration we see that we should be wrong in including
all cases of severe or of fatal endocarditis under the term " infective."
There is a place for intermediate cases, according as the morbid process is
accompanied by infecting pathogenic agents or not.
Pathological Anatomy. — At the onset of malignant endocarditis (I in-
tentionally preservet his epithet " malignant," as it applies to every endo-
carditis which is not of the simple type) under the influence of micro-organisms,
we find in the valvular tissue infiltration of wandering cells, hypertrophy
and multiplication of cells, and desquamation of the endothehal layer,
which is replaced by fibrin. In the meshes of the fibrinous reticulum colonies
of bacteria are found, which " penetrate by more or less large chinks
into the interior of the valves."
In cases of malignant endocarditis, the inflammation nearly always gives
rise to large vegetations and deep ulcerations. In such a case we find
on the sigmoid or on the mitral valves, on the chordae tendinese, on the
papillary muscles, and on the median septum, a vegetation of the size of a
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM 399
pea or of a strawberry, or a collection of smaller vegetations, of which some
are flattened, papilUform, or raspberry-hke, while others are pedunculated
and ready to break of?.
These vegetations, wliich are formed largely of embryonic tissue and are
covered by a, mass of fibrin, are very rich in microbes, which are found
either on the surface in the fibrinous layers or in the deep parts of the
vegetations. It is probable, therefore, that the bacteria deposited on the
valves by the blood-stream develop in the superficial fibrinous layers, and
then penetrate tlirough the crevices of the connective tissues as far as the
surface and the central parts of the valves. It is also possible that bacteria
are primarily introduced by the vessels in the valves.
In some cases the vegetations soften into a kind of atheromatous pulp,
composed of granulations, cellular debris, fatty elements, and various septic
micro-organisms. These different elements, when launched into the blood-
stream, cause a source of emboh, which are sometimes mechanical, at
other times septic, and affect the brain, hmbs, spleen, hver, intestines, kidneys,
etc. The organs affected show hsemoptoic and suppurative infarcts, with
miliary abscesses, abscesses of the sldn and the joints, suppuration of the
cranial and spinal meninges ; diarrhoea, albuminuria, and enlargemeut of
the spleei* are found, and the patient often succumbs to gangrenous,
typhoid, toxic, or infectious comphcations, etc.
The spleen is usually bulky, as happens, moreover, in many infectious
diseases.
During hfe the blood contains micro-organisms which can be cultivated.
Let us now pass on to the ulcerations of mahgnant endocarditis. They
commence as small superficial yellowish patches ; Httle by httle they become
deeper and more extensive, and may perforate the valves, causing valvular
aneurysms (Foerster, Pelvet). The aneurysms of the sigmoid valves are
formed at the expense of the superior face of the valves, those of the mitral
valves at the expense of the inferior face. This localization is regulated by
the direction of the blood-current, the enlargement taking place on the side
of the greater blood-pressure.
These ulcerations also cause perforation of the intraventricular septum
and rupture of a pillar, or of the chordjE tendineaB. This condition forms a
new source of emboli. In many cases, let me repeat, mahgnant endocarditis
is at first vegetative and ulcerative. If we analyze the cases and consult
the results of autopsies, we shall find a double process of exuberant prohfera-
tion and deep ulceration. These different processes explain the method of
formation of (Mnboli and their multiple varieties.
Experimental pathology has succeeded in producing infective endo-
carditis. Ribbert, in 1885, by injecting | gramme of culture of Stdpluj-
lococcus aureus into the ear of a rabbit caused embolic foci of carditis and of
400 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
valvular endocarditis, with consecutive lesions of acute endocarditis. Wys-
sokowitsch varied the experiments. By means of a silver sound passed
into the right carotid he first injured the cardiac valves, and then introduced
micro-organisms of different kinds {Staphylococcus pyogenes. Streptococcus
septicus, etc.), producing not only parasitic foci of endocarditis, but he also
found in the different organs emboU with infarcts and abscesses which
contained the same microbes as in the endocardium.
Description. — In infective endocarditis the general symptoms are, as a
rule, much more important than the local signs. On auscultation, one or
several murmurs may be recognized, depending on the severity of the lesion
and on the orifice affected. In some cases the murmur is soft or masked by
pericarditis, in other cases it acquires a musical tone called whining (Bouil-
laud). This whining murmur, which is also met with in chronic valvular
lesions, has a peculiar interest in ulcerative endocarditis. It may be due
to the vibration of a body (pillar, cord, or vegetation) floating in front of an
orifice, and has often given warning of the onset of embolism (Gubler,
Potain).
Embohsm, whatever its origin, may act in a mechanical way, obliterate
a cerebral artery, such as the Sylvian artery, or its branches, and give rise
to apoplexy, hemiplegia, aphasia, or softening of the cerebral tissues. The
embolism may obliterate the artery of a limb and produce consecutive
gangrene. These compUcations are very serious, but, I repeat, they are
not infective, and the endocarditis which has given rise to them is purely
emboligenous, causing compUcations of a mechanical and not of an in-
fective nature.
In other cases, on the contrary, the endocarditis is essentially infective,
the general symptoms dominate the scene, and we see from the first that
the patient is sufEering from an infective disease of a typhoid or pysemie
type.
When ulcerative endocarditis assumes the typhoid form, dryness of the
tongue, prostration, rapid elevation of temperature, shivering fits, which
appear during the first days of the attack, are symptoms that give the
patient a "typhoid look"; add to this, broncho-pulmonary congestion, stupor,
ballooning of the belly, enlargement of the spleen, albumin aria, and diar-
rhoea, and we see the difficulty of diagnosis between this typhoid state and
typhoid fever. However, the diagnosis of endocarditis is aided by the
murmurs audible at the orifices of the heart, by the absence of lenticular
rose spots, by the course of the symptoms, by examination and culture of
microbes in the blood, and by negative sero -diagnosis. This endocarditis
appears to depend on the presence of encapsuled lanceolated microbes
(Jaccoud).
The pyaemic form of ulcerative endocarditis closely resembles purulent
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM 401
infection. We find repeated chills and liigh temperature, and, indeed, the
case is really one of infection, because the endocarditis throws septic emboK
and specijBc bacteria into the blood-stream. These capillary emboli form
ecchymotic spots on the surface of the skin and the serous membranes,
suppurative infarcts, mihary abscesses, and superficial or deep foci of gan-
grene, and provoke suppurative subarachnoid meningitis. The patient
has a subicteric tint ; abscesses develop under the skin, and death follows
in dehrium. This pysemic form is chiefly met with when the micrococci of
suppuration are present in the blood (Jaccoud).
When the valves of the right heart are affected, the lungs present ecchy-
motic spots, haemoptoic, gangrenous, or suppurating infarcts and abscesses,
varying in size from a pea to a nut. The diagnosis is based on auscultation
of the heart, and on the finding of foci of suppuration or of phlebitis.
For description I have chosen different types of infective endocarditis,
but I would hasten to say that these types are not always so clearly marked
clinically, and the different varieties just described are often combined.
The course and duration of the disease vary in each case. Marked
elevation of temperature is not always seen. The disease, instead of being
continuous, may show successive attacks, with complete remissions of
fairly long duration. The prognosis is not absolutely bad, and recovery has
occurred in a fairly large number of cases (Jaccoud). The typhoid form
may last several weeks, but the pysemic form is more serious and rapid.
Varieties. — I shall now enumerate the chief varieties :
1. Rheumatic Endocarditis. — Rheumatism causes simple, euiboii-
genous, or infective endocarditis. The simple form is much the most
common, and has served as our descriptive type of acute endocarditis.
Rheumatism, however, may give rise to embohgenous endocarditis, with
large emboU in the cerebral arteries and in the vessels of the hmbs (Jaccoud).
It may also caase infective endocarditis of the typhoid form. Infective
endocarditis rarely arises during a first attack of rheumatism ; it usually
shows itself in the individual whose endocardium is already the seat of
chronic endocarditis. This, says Jaccoud, is the most usual cause of
infective rheumatic endocarditis. The pathogenic agent of rheumatism is
still unknown, but in some cases the lesions in malignant rheumatic endo-
carditis are due to the association of microbes.
2. Pneumonic Endocarditis. — Pneumococcal endocarditis may be para-
pneuuKjiiic or metapueumonic ; it may precede pneumonia (prepncumonic)
or be quite independent. Tliis variety has a tendency to form vegetations
rather than ulcers, and sometimes causes small abscesses in the endocardium.
It affects the aortic more often than the mitral orifice, but has also been
found in the light heart, affecting the tricuspid and pulmonary valves,
rneumonic endocarditis is rarely emboligenous, because the vegetations
26
402 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
are implanted upon a large base. It rarely gives rise to capillary emboli,
but is sometimes infective and suppurative ; meningitis is fairly often asso-
ciated with it.
Pneumonic endocarditis may develop in patients who have had no
previous cardiac defect. Old lesions of the valves are, however, singularly
favourable to its development. The pneumococcus is not always the sole
cause ; other microbes — streptococci and certain unclassified bacilh — are
sometimes associated with it.
This endocarditis usually passes unnoticed if we do not examine the heart
in patients suffering from pneumonia. It fairly often assumes the simple
form, and may recover without leaving any traces. Pneumonic endo-
carditis has been produced experimentally in the rabbit (Netter), after the
valves have previously been injured.
3. Endocarditis in Pregnancy and the Puerperal State.— In infective
endocarditis associated with pregnancy it is necessary to distinguish
endocarditis gravidarum, which supervenes during pregnancy, from endo-
carditis which follows post-puerperal trauma of the uterus. The latter is
only a variety of septicgemia, and is much more serious than the former.
Non-puerperal trauma of the uterus may j)roduce the same result.
Endocarditis gravidarum is less frequent than the puerperal form. Its
origin is more difficult to study, for it does not appear to depend on an infec-
tion of uterine origin. This variety cannot, however, be looked upon as a
simple one supervening in the coujse of pregnancy. The gravid state
makes the prognosis of the disease worse, and the foetus itself suffers from
the maternal infection. The researches of Nattan-Larri-er have shown that
maternal endocarditis causes important histological changes in the organs
of the foetus. The toxines in the blood of the mother pass through the
placenta, and determine reaction of the blood-forming organs ; while the
liver and kidneys show lesions of degeneration which vary directly with
the severity of the infection. The evolution of gravid endocarditis is,
moreover, variable, and bacteriological examinations have shown that it
may be produced by the pneumococcus, the streptococcus (Netter, Weichsel-
baum), or by unclassified bacilh (Girode).
Puerperal endocarditis shows vegetations and ulcers, and the resulting
capillary emboli are septic in nature, and may lead to hsemoptoic or sup-
purating infarcts. It is generally due to a streptococcus of extreme virulence.
The chnical picture is habitually that of the pysemic form, and though
the prognosis is very grave, recovery may take place. Some years ago, with
Champetier de Eibes, I saw a case of post-puerperal endocarditis, with
septicsemic symptoms, multiple abscesses, and mitral lesions. The patient
recovered from the infection and the cardiac lesion — at least, the murmurs
disappeared.
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM 403
These attenuated forms depend, doubtless, on a streptococcus of slight
virulence. The streptococcus is not the only pathogenic agent which may-
be met with in puerperal endocarditis. Other microbes may infect the
uterine wound, and give rise to septicsemia with endocardial lesions. The
staphylococcus (Ch. Leer), the pneumococcus (Schahl and Hergott), the
coh bacillus (H. Rendu), have been found either in isolated cases or in
epidemics of puerperal infection in which the streptococcus was not present.
4. Endocarditis of Septicsemic and Pyaemic Origin.— This form is
very common, and is consecutive to a suppurating wound on the surface of
the body or in the deep tissues of the organs (urethra, kidney, bladder).
It is chiefly due to the entrance of the Streptococcus pyogenes and the Staphylo-
coccus pyogenes into the blood, either alone, together, or associated with
other microbes.
When the mischief is due to the streptococcus, the ulcerations may be
extensive, but the vegetations are usually small, soft, and greyish. Infarcts
are very frequent, and suppurate rarely, unlike those caused by the staphylo-
coccus, which suppurate frequently.
When endocarditis is due to the Staphylococcus aureus, as in the case
of boils, or of osteomyelitis, as well as of many central or peripheral sup-
purative lesions, the disease more usually affects the left than the right
heart. Vegetations are more common than ulcerations ; the vegetations
are small and soft, while the infarcts are suppurative. Miliary abscesses
are found in the spleen, kidneys, lungs, and brain. The cUnical picture
recalls the description of purulent infection, with typhoid state, eruptions,
and cutaneous suppurations. In the Necker Hospital I had a patient suffer-
ing from mahgnant endocarditis of the typhoid form, caused by the Staphylo-
coccus albus, which was found' in a pure state during life, and after death
in the pus from the miliary abscess in the endocardium.
Streptococcal endocarditis consecutive to erysipelas is extremely rare.
Curable endocarditis, however, is found fairly frequently during the course
of erysipelas.
5. Typhoid Endocarditis. — Primary typhoid endocarditis, due to
Eberth's bacillus, is very rarely seen. Cases of secondary typhoid endo-
carditis, due to tlie coli bacillus and other microbes, are more frequent.
6. Biliary lithiasis may provoke infective endocarditis, by reason of
germs derived from the bile-ducts. The infection appears to be due to
micro-organisms derived from the intestine.
7. Tubercular Endocarditis.— This form has only been seen in acute
miliary tuberculosis. It appears either in the form of isolated granula-
tions — i.e., miliary tubercles, which exist most often on the free edge or
auricular face of the mitral valve- or in the form of vegetations.
In certain cases Koch's bacilU have been fouuil in these lesions, which
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404 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
may therefore be considered specific. Further, tubercular endocarditis
has been produced experimentally in the rabbit by intravenous injection
with cultures of Koch's bacillus, preceded by injury of the aortic valves.
The vegetations on the valves, produced at the same time as the general
miUary tuberculosis, contained the tubercle bacillus. More rarely these
lesions are caseous. Koch's bacilh are also present in them.
These various lesions are latent, and do not produce special symptoms.
Lesions of the endocardium in tubercular patients are not absolutely
rare, but they are not always due to Koch's bacillus. The latter are cases
of old endocarditis, independent of tuberculosis or of recent more or less
vegetating lesions, which have nothing specific as regards histological
structure, and in which bacteriological examination sometimes reveals other
micro-organisms than Koch's bacillus. These recent lesions fomid post
mortem in tubercular patients, most frequently upon the mitral valve, may
therefore be considered as due to secondary infections (P. Tessier).
8. Blennorrhagie Endocarditis. — If the reader will turn to the chapter
on Blennorrhagia, he will find cases of endocarditis due to the gonococcus.
II. CHRONIC ENDOCARDITIS.
>Etiology. — Chronic endocarditis arises from the same causes as acute
endocarditis, rheumatism claiming the largest share. In alcohohc, sypliiUtic,
gouty, or elderly persons it is sometimes secondary to fatty, fibrous, or
atheromatous changes which invade the arterial system. The coexistence
of tuberculosis and mitral endocarditis has been nqted by Potain and
Tessier. Chronic endocarditis often follows the acute form, but at other
times it is primary, and becomes estabhshed in an insidious manner. Its
course is slow. The valvular lesions develop unknown to the patient, and
in rheumatic cases many people, whose health is apparently excellent, only
show the first symptoms of valvular mischief after a forgotten attack of
acute articular rheumatism.
Pathological Anatomy. — The vegetations, which are soft and friable
in acute endocarditis, are here hard and fibrous, and the vessels that are so
numerous in the acute stage over the swollen mitral valve disappear in
proportion as the lesion becomes chronic. The inflammatory process, which
commences in the layer of flattened cells, reaches the subjacent layer,
which is rich in connective tissue, and gives rise to fibrous tissue. In this
fibrous tissue we find islets undergoing fatty change, atheromatous centres
and calcareous incrustations, lesions wliich present great analogy with
endarteritis deformans. Tliis change in the endocardium, and the retractile
property of the fibrous tissue explain the alterations in the valves and orifices
of the heart.
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM 405
Every part of these orifices is invaded. The chordae tendineae and the
auriculo-ventricular valves are shortened and indurated ; tlie fibrous zone
which surrounds the orifices is hypertrophied. The musculi papillares are
also affected. They are sometimes thickened and shortened — the valves
may be three or four times larger than normal — or, on the other hand,
atrophied or adherent. Their edges are fused, jagged, thickened, and
covered mth granulations. The vegetations are chiefly situated on the
auricular surface of the auriculo-ventricular valves and on the ventricular
surface of the sigmoid valves. These lesions, in which adhesions, fibrosis,
atheroma, and calcification are combined, finally cause deformity of the
orifices, and impede the action of the valves ; insufl&ciency of the valves and
narrowing of the orifices then follow. The muscular fibre of the ventricles
and auricles hypertrophies because of the increased work, and compensation
is established ; but later when the muscular fibre is also invaded by
the morbid process, the columnse carnese and the ventricles show fibrous
changes, and their vessels are affected by endarteritis, which causes mal-
nutrition. The degenerated cardiac muscle no longer fights with the same
efficiency.
In some cases (old age, alcoholism) the lesions do not begin in an inflam-
matory, but in a retrogressive process, which in its turn induces inflamma-
tion. Atheroma plays the principal part. The atheromatous degeneration
appears here, as in some cases of endarteritis, to be the primary lesion
(Cornil and Ranvier).
The symptoms of chronic endocarditis closely resemble those of valvular
lesions of the heart, wliich will be studied in the following sections.
III. VALVULAR LESIONS OF THE HEART.
General Survey. — Whether endocarditis is of microbic origin, as in
most acute and also in many chronic cases, or is consecutive to the athero-
matous lesions of gout and old age, the lesion may cause transient or per-
manent insufficiency and stenosis. An orifice is said to be stenosed, when
instead of allowing ten parts of blood to pass at each beat of the heart, it
only allows seven, five, or even less, to do so. Insufficiency is present when
the valves which normally prevent all regurgitation of blood no longer
plug the orifice, and hence allow the blood-wave to regurgitate. The four
orifices of the heart (arterial or auriculo-ventricular) may be affected, but
those of the left heart are much more often involved than those of the rigiit.
Stenosis and insufficiency are often combined at the same orifice ; each of
them may, however, show itself alone. This dissociation is chiefly seen
iu insufficiency due to mechanical causes. Thus enlargement of the right
ventricle brings with it dilatation of the tricuspid orifice and insufficiency
406 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
of the valves, just as enlargement of the aorta, may bring with it dilatation
of the aortic orifice and insufficiency of the sigmoid valves.
Further, whatever be the mechanism of the lesion, whichever be the
orifice affected, as soon as the distribution of the blood- waves is not regular,
and one of the parts of the cardiac machinery is affected, the whole circula-
tion feels the shock. It is true that the shock is felt more or less slowly
according to the orifice damaged and to the efficacy of compensation,
but the final result is the same, and, as Jaccoud has forcibly said, valvular
lesions raise the pressure in the veins and lower it in the arteries, which is
equivalent to saying that they finally cause passive congestion, oedema,
dropsy, thrombosis, and haemorrhage, with all their train of functional
troubles.
Valvular lesions may, nevertheless, be neutralized, even for a long time,
provided they are compensated. Compensation is a kind of substitution,
due to dilatation of the cavities of the heart and to hypertrophy of its walls.
Let us take, for example, aortic insufficiency : The left ventricle is subjected
to an excess of pressure by the surplus of regurgitated blood, and its muscular
fibre undergoes marked hypertrophy. This mechanism of compensation,
which exists in different degrees, according to the orifices affected,
renders the valvular lesions harmless for a period varying in duration with
the nature and the seat of the lesion.
A time comes, however, when the compensation is no longer sufficient.
The cardiac muscle, which is badly nourished and invaded by fibrous tissue,
wliile its vessels are damaged by endarteritis, has no longer the necessary
energy to face the danger. The functional troubles bedome more marked ;
congestion, blood-stasis, and dropsy progress ; malnutrition becomes general ;
irremediable lesions develop in the organs ; cyanosis, dyspnoea, and coma
gradually reach their maximum ; and the condition is summed up in a single
word — asystole (Beau).
While the heart is being worn out, the small vessels which form the
peripheral and local circulation become affected and lose their resistance.
Each organ becomes diseased in its turn, and the disease of the heart is
changed into a disease of the whole organism.
Asystole, however, may, under the influence of proper treatment, or
even spontaneously, improve for a time ; but after some remissions,
of an uncertam duration, the patient reaches the stage of cardiac
cachexia (Andral). The disease is no longer confined to the heart, but
affects the whole body. " Thus, when he has ceased to live, the patient
has in reality only ceased to die " (Peter).
In patients dying from cardiac cachexia we find general changes. The
lungs are the seat of congestion, oedema, infarcts, and haemorrhage. The
brain is congested; the cerebral sinuses are engorged with dark blood.
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM 407
The liver, which is large and indurated, presents the so-called " nutmeg
change." The kidney, which is enlarged, shows multiple arborizations on
its surface. The spleen is engorged with blood. The heart is generally-
enlarged ; its muscular fibre is pale, degenerated, and studded with fatty
and fibrous islets. It contains clots — some yellowish, fibrinous, firm and
adherent, and consequently of old formation ; others soft, cruoric, and of
recent formation.
Diseases of the heart have not always this slowly progressive course.
Some patients die suddenly (aortic insufficiency) ; others are stricken down
by comphcations (pulmonary haemorrhage, cerebral embolism). In some
the disease is rapid, and cachexia is established in a few months, while
in others infective endocarditis is grafted upon an old valvular lesion, and is
sometimes fatal.
Signs and Symptoms. — The chnical account of diseases of the heart
cannot be dealt with in a general survey, because the symptoms of mitral
disease are very different from those of aortic disease. I refer the reader,
then, to the separate study of each orifice. This statement does not hold
good with regard to the signs of cardiac lesions, and notably to the abnormal
sounds, the mechanism of which will be better grasped in a general survey.
Mechanism of Abnormal Sounds. — Locally, the valvular lesions of
the heart are shown by morbid sounds called murmurs and reduplications,
the interpretation of which rests upon the previous knowledge of the physio-
logical sounds.
In the normal state two sounds are heard at the apex : the first is long
and well marked, the second is duller and shorter. At the junction of the
sternum and the second right intercostal space two sounds are also heard,
but the rhythm is the inverse of that at the apex. The first or systolic
sound is dull ; the second or diastolic sound is longer and more marked.
As two sounds are produced at each orifice of the heart, and as there are
four orifices, it follows that eight sounds are produced in each cardiac cycle ;
but only four are perceptible (two at the apex and two at the base), because
in the normal condition they blend and give rise to two sounds at the apex
and two sounds at the base. To what are these sounds due ? Each of
them is composed of a chief element, caused in situ, and an accessory or
propagated element.
First Sound. — At the apex of the heart the first sound has for its chief
element the Knap})iiig of the valves (mitral and tricuspid), and for its accessory
element the re-echoing of the first sound of the base, which is due to a sudden
distension of the arterial walls (aorta and pulmonary artery) by the blood-
wave. At the base of the heart the first sound is formed of the same
elements, with tliis difference — tiiat the element which was accessory at the
apex becomes here the cliicf one, and vice versa.
408 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Second Sound. — At the apex of the heart the second sound has for
its chief element the passage of blood into the ventricles (Skoda's interpreta-
tion), and for its accessory element the snapping of the sigmoid valves.
At the base of the heart the second sound is made up of the same elements,
with this difference — that the element which was accessory at the apex
becomes here the chief one, and vice versa.
In short, whether it be a case of valvular snapping or of sudden distension
of the walls, all normal sounds of the heart are solid sounds (Monneret) ;
that is to say, produced by the vibration of solid parts. In pathological
conditions, however, the solid sounds undergo the following modifications :
First, they are replaced by murmurs — that is to say, by fluid sounds, due
to vibrations of a blood- wave traversing a diseased orifice ; secondly, they
are reduplicated, the roduphcation occurring in the first or in the second
period ; thirdly, they may disappear without other modifications, and without
being replaced by any abnormal sound.
The blowing murmurs are variable in tone and intensity. They may
be softened and prolonged (aortic insufficiency), hissing like a jet of steam
(mitral insufficiency), strident (aortic stenosis), or so little marked that they
resemble rather a dull rumbhng than a blowing sound (mitral stenosis).
In some cases the murmur is changed into a musical sound, called whining
(Bouillaud). The whining is due either to the nature of the lesion of the
orifice, or to some floating shred thrown into vibration in front of an
orifice by the blood- wave.
I cannot, however, too strongly insist on this point that the presence
of a murmur or of a reduplication is not sufficient t6 prove an organic
lesion. We find reduphcations and murmurs which have nothing to do
with the lesion of an orifice. Such are the important extra-cardiac murmurs,
so carefully described by Potain ; such are the normal reduplications,
" resulting from transitory changes which the movements of respiration
cause in the pressure of the blood contained in the heart and the great
vessels " (Potain).
Such, also, are the aortic and mitral murmurs due to chloro-ansemia.
Let us, however, return to the organic murmurs of the heart and apply
the preceding data to each of the valvular lesions.
1. Mitral insufficiency is characterized by a systolic murmur at the
apex. During the ventricular systole in the normal condition the blood-
wave from the left ventricle passes completely into the aorta, because the
mitral valve plugs the auriculo -valvular orifice ; but in the pathological state,
as the valve is not able to plug this orifice, part of the ventricular blood-
wave flows back into the auricle, and a systolic murmur is produced.
This murmur has its maximum near the apex of the heart, at the level of
fche mitral orifice below or outside the nipple.
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM 409
2. Mitral stenosis is characterized by a diastolic murmur, by a pre-
systolic murmur, or by reduplication of the second sound. In order to
understand the mechanism and the value of these pathological sounds which
are heard at the apex of the heart, we must briefly discuss the ventricular
diastole. During diastole the ventricle is dilated, the auriculo-ventricular
orifice opens widely, and the blood passes through the auricle into the
ventricle. The passage of the blood is, however, somewhat slow. It begins
gradually during the ventricular diastole, and terminates more suddenly
during the pause, when the auricle is contracted. If, then, the murmur
of stenosis is produced during the first part of the passage (which is very
rare), it is diastohc (Herard) ; if it is produced during the second part of the
passage, it corresponds to the pause, and is therefore presystolic (Gendrin).
The murmur of mitral stenosis is not loud, because the blood-wave is feebly
pushed through the constricted orifice, even when the auricle is hyper-
trophied. Accordingly, this murmur is rather a presystolic booming or
rumbling (Duroziez).
Mitral stenosis is also characterized by reduplication of the second
sound, and as the second part of this reduphcation may be blowing, we
find a rhythm of three beats, composed of one long and two short periods.
Several theories exist as to this reduplication of the second sound : the
one supposes that there is a want of sjmchronism between the second sounds
in the two ventricles ; the other holds that the want of synchronism exists
between the second sound at the ventricular orifice and the second one at
the arterial orifice (Jaccoud). While in the normal condition these two
elements are blended, in mitral stenosis they are dissociated, the ventricular
being behind the arterial sound. According to Potain, the dissociation
depends on the closure of the aortic and pulmonary valves, the closure of
the aortic valves being premature.
However this may be, reduplication of the second sound, with or without
a presystolic murmur, is a sign of mitral stenosis.
3. Aortic insufficiency is characterized by a diastolic murmur at the
base. The reasons are : at the moment wlien the blood- wave has just been
launched from the ventricle into the aorta, the backward movement finds,
normally, an impassa])]e barrier in the sigmoid valves. When, however,
these valves are unable to plug the orifice, some of the blood flows back into
the ventricle, and a diastolic murmur is produced.
4. Aortic stenosis is characterized by a systolic murmur at the base.
If the blood-wave tlirown by the ventricle meets with a coiistrictcd instead
of an open orifice, a systolic murmur is produced.
410 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
IV. MITRAL ORIFICE— INSUFFICIENCY AND STENOSIS.
Mitral insufficiency is present when the mitral valve, which normally
closes the Left aujiculo-ventricular orifice in order to prevent regurgitation
of blood, does not plug this orifice, but allows the blood to flow back into the
left auricle. Mitral stenosis is present when the lumen of the orifice has
lost its normal dimensions.
Stenosis and insufficiency are most often combined, and we then speak
of mitral disease. If one only is present, we speak of pure stenosis or of pure
insufficiency. In many cases the process begins with insufficiency, and
stenosis occurs later. Lastly, in some patients stenosis appears to develop
from special causes, and remains indefinitely in a pure condition.
Pathological Anatomy. — Mitral stenosis may be due to concentric
thickening and retraction of the fibrous ring. In most cases, however, the
condition is due to lesions of the valves and their chordse. A welding
of the free edge of the valves occurs at the level of the commissures. This
welding might be compared to the narrowing of the aperture between the
eyelids from adhesions of their commissures (Bouillaud). The tendinous
pillars inserted on the edge of the valves participate in the cicatricial process.
They become rigid, thickened, and retracted, and pull down the bicuspid
valve, which takes the shape of a rigid and flattened funnel.
In this manner stenosis is brought about, but as a rule neither the fibrous
ring nor the vegetations of the auricular surface of the valve take any part.
The mitral orifice, which normally is large enough to admit the thumb,
becomes so narrow that it will scarcely admit a goose-quill.
Dilatation and hypertrophy of the left auricle, followed by that of the
right auricle and ventricle, are the consequence ; the left ventricle remains
practically normal. The slowing of the blood-stream and the blood-stasis
in the left auricle favour the formation of stratified clots, which are often
adherent to its posterior wall. These clots, which pass into the left ventricle,
and are launched into the blood- stream during systole, may become the
source of more or less bulky emboli. On the other hand, the slowing of
the blood-stream and the blood-stasis in the right auricle favour the forma-
tion of clots, which are also fibrinous and adherent. These clots, which are
launched from the right ventricle into the lungs, are the most common
cause of pulmonary infarcts.
Mitral insufflciency is the result of lesions which affect the valves or
the fibrous ring. The lesions of the valves are thickening, induration and
incrustations of the edges. There is no welding of the valvular com-
missures. Under the influence of the retractile tissue the shortening
and retraction of the valves oppose the complete adjustment of their
auricular surface during systole, and insufficiency residts. The shortening
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM 411
of the chordae tendinese, which are also thickened and indurated, opposes
the complete straightening of the valve during systole, and this helps to
cause insuflEiciency. The papillary muscles, by their fibrous retraction, may
act in the same manner. Rapture of the chordae tendineae may be a cause
of insufficiency, and I would also mention valvular aneurysms and vegeta-
tions. Mitral insufficiency, due not to a lesion of the valves and pillars,
but to dilatation of the fibrous ring, does exist, but is relatively rare. In this
case the left ventricle, during its dilatation, drags upon the papillary muscles
and the tendinous pillars, and consequently produces abnormal tension of
the valves and insufficiency. Dilatation of the left ventricle, which has
previously lost some part of its contractility, is said, according to some
authorities, to be a cause of pure mitral insufficiency, either transient or
permanent.
Mitral insufficiency induces dilatation and hypertrophy of the left auricle,
the right auricle, and the right ventricle. The left ventricle, however,
which is almost unaffected in stenosis, shows slight hypertrophy in in-
sufficiency.
Description. — We see persons among the leisured classes (rather than
in hospital patients), who for many years have suffered from some mitral
lesion, without having shown any symptoms, because the heart muscle is
not overworked, and the lesion is well compensated. The functional hyper-
activity of the muscle and the compensatory hypertrophy of the right ven-
tricle struggle successfully against the evil distribution of the blood-waves,
and undertake the maintenance of equilibrium. Dilatation and hyper-
trophy of tlie right ventricle compensate as far as possible for the increase
in the pulmonary arterio-venous tension, so that mitral insufficiency and
stenosis may be latent for a long while. When, however, the cardiac muscle
becomes feeble, or is attacked by some morbid change, such as fibrosis, end-
arteritis of the small vessels, or granulo-fatty degeneration, which endangers
its nutrition and its tone, we find visceral congestions, peripheral and
splanchnic oedema, which result from the cardiac disease.
Breathlessness and dyspnoea, with or without palpitation, are generally
the first functional troubles in mitral lesions, because the pulmonary circula-
tion, which is so close to the mitral lesion, is naturally the first to be affected;
bronchial catarrh, congestion, oedema, and ha3morrhage of the lungs are
among more or less remote results. These lesions produce increasing dis-
tress, witli attacks of dyspnoea and haemoptysis.
Breathlessness may for a long time be the only symptom of the mitral
lesion. The patient is " short of breath " ; he does not notice it while at
rest, but when he walks upstairs or makes an effort, distress appears. At
this period the embarrassment of the pulmonary circulation docs not betray
itself by any physical signs on auscultation. The slowing of the blood-
412 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
stream and the marked pressure to which the flow in the pulmonary artery is
subjected are two of the causes of this dyspnoea. On account of the mitral
lesion the blood tarries or flows back into the left auricle, the blood-pressure
increases in the auricle, the pulmonary veins and arteries, and the distension
of the capillaries of the pulmonary alveoli provokes rigidity and swelling of
the lung. Indeed, according to some authors, this rigidity and swelling is
said to be the chief cause of cardiac dyspnoea.
Later, as the result of pulmonary oedema, the dyspnoea becomes more
persistent or intense, and auscultation reveals subcrepitant rales, which are
usually present at both bases of the lungs. During this progressive dyspnoea,
or even apart from it, the patient sometimes experiences attacks that are
more frequent by night than by day, and similar to those of asthma, so
that this paroxysmal dyspnoea has been called " cardiac asthma." This
name is bad. Mitral disease does not produce true asthma ; the attack has
not the characters of the dyspnoea seen in asthma. Let us analyze such an
attack in a cardiac case. The breathing is rapid and panting, inspiration
and expiration are short and jerky, palpitation is frequent, the pulse is
small, the face is pale, and the lips are cyanosed. In asthma the picture is
quite different : the breathing is not accelerated, inspiration is slow and
painful, while expiration is whistling, spasmodic, and three or four times as
long as inspiration ; palpitation is absent, and the pulse preserves its normal
rate. In some cardiac cases the attacks of dyspnoea form the chief symptom,
and the only sign of mitral disease may at first be attacks of cardiac dyspnoea,
just as in ceitain cases of Bright's disease the renal lesion is heralded by
attacks of ursemic dyspnoea.
The mitral lesion also shows itself by such symptoms as palpitations
and feeling of weight or of constriction in the precordial region. These
symptoms are especially increased by strain or by active movements.
Haemorrhage from the lung (known under the faulty term of pulmonary
apoplexy) and haemoptysis, wliich accompanies it, are more common in
mitral than in other lesions of the heart. These haemorrhages may be due
to the mechanical obstruction of the pulmonary circulation, but are in most
cases the result of small emboH, which arise from clots in the right auricle,
are arrested in the pulmonary arterioles, and, like all capillary emboli,
produce a haemorrhagic infarct. These infarcts, described under Pulmonary
Embolism, are frequently followed by haemoptysis. Haemoptysis may be seen
at different periods of mitral disease, more usually at a somewhat advanced
one. According to the classical description, it appears in the form of blood-
stained sputum of a blackish colour and alliaceous odour (Gueneau de
Mussy), and lasts for days and weeks (Grisolle). Cardiac haemoptysis may,
however, appear before any other symptom, and through a determinant
cause (fatigue, excess, or pregnancy).
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM 413
Pulmonary infarcts, especially when they are cortical, cause sero-fibrinous
or puriforni pleurisy, that is usually insidious and more frequent on the
right side.
Peripheral oedema, starting over the malleoh, is fairly often seen in
mitral disease. At first the oedematous infiltration is absent in the morning
after the night's rest, but later it becomes permanent, and may affect the
thighs, the scrotum, and the trunk (anasarca). The skin of the legs and of
the thighs is tliickened, red, and prone to erythema, erysipelas, and gangrene,
especially after acupuncture. At an advanced period of heart disease the
pleura, peritoneum, and pericardium often contain fluid. Deep-seated
oedema affecting the cellular tissue of the splanchnic cavities is of great
importance, as we shall see later under Treatment.
Visceral congestions appear at different periods. I have already said
that congestion of the lung, with or mthout pulmonary oedema, is generally
the first to supervene. The obstacle to the pulmonary circulation has a
double result : first, haematosis being incomplete, the general nutrition
suffers ; second, the embarrassment in the lesser circulation gradually
reachas the greater circulation, the right heart grows weak, and general
circulatory distress follows.
The liver often shows congestion (nutmeg or cardiac hver, with or
without cirrhosis). The lesion shows itself by increase in the size of the
organ, with acute pains in the hypochondrium, jaundice, and epistaxis.
The cardiac liver is often accompanied by ascites. These lesions are most
marked in cardiac patients who are also alcohohcs.
Gastro-intestinal congestion provokes dyspeptic troubles, with indiges-
tion, feehng of weight in the stomach, and somnolence.
Congestion of the kidneys is shown by scanty urine, with sediment and
albumin, lesions which rarely end in Bright's disease.
Congestion of the encephalon and faulty oxygenation in the bulb
produce insomnia (Peter), nocturnal delirium, maniacal excitement
(Raynaud), and convulsions.
Such are the lesions and symptoms of mitral disease. They usually
run a slow course, and may last many years before they endanger life. The
predominance of pulmonary, hepatic, or gastric troubles masks for a time
the true cause of the disease. At length the affected muscle can no longer
struggle against the obstacles at the periphery. The disease is no longer
limited to the heart ; every organ is affected on its own account, and the
entire organism is invaded. This progressive course is interrupted by
periods of asystole. The patient, who very rarely dies suddenly (con-
trary to aortic insufficiency), at length reaches the final stage of cardiac
cachexia.
Cerebral embolism may supervene at any period of mitral disease. It
414 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
is more common in stenosis than in insufficiency, and produces troubles,
such as cerebral softening, right hemiplegia, aphasia, etc., which will be
discussed under Cerebral Embolism. In some cases the embolus follows
another course — obUterates the peripheral arteries of the limbs and may
produce gangrene.
The preceding description refers to mitral disease as a whole — that is to
say, the double lesion of insufficiency and stenosis. The functional troubles
of mitral insufficiency in some respects resemble those of stenosis. Ausculta-
cion, therefore, must differentiate between these two lesions.
We find, however, a variety of pure mitral stenosis, which merits a
separate description. It is much more frequent in women than men, and
is seen in young girls and young women. It is independent of rheumatism
and of the other causes which usually produce endocarditis. This stenosis
is sometimes associated with chlorosis, and has also been looked upon as a
lesion of evolution — i.e., an aplasia — analogous to the stenosis of the aorta
and the arteries which, according to some authors, is said to be the anatomical
characteristic of chlorosis. Potain, in fifty-five cases of pure mitral
stenosis, with autopsies, has found pulmonary tuberculosis in nine of
them.
Fibrous endocarditis, which in tubercular patients goes on to mitral
stenosis, is said by Teissier to be due, not to a bacillary infection, but to
a tubercular intoxication. " This fibromatous process, resulting from the
phthisiogenic intoxication, may be present in hereditary cases of tubercu-
losis, and show itself by a like evolutionary tendency. Mild local tuberculosis
(pulmonary, glandular, or osseous), as well as the attenuated hereditary
forms (chlorosis, lymphatism, congenital debility), may be the actual
factor or the hereditary caus^ of a pure mitral stenosis."
Whatever may be its origin and its pathogenesis, this constriction causes
such slight functional troubles that it may be latent for years ; but it is none
the less serious, for it is frequently accompanied by cerebral embohsm, with
hemiplegia and aphasia.
Examination of the Heart and Pulse. — In mitral disease the apex is
displaced, because of the cardiac hypertrophy, and the beat is in the sixth
or seventh space, external to the nipple. The precordial dullness and
bulging are less extensive in mitral than in aortic lesions, because the
hypertrophy of the right heart is less considerable than that of the left heart.
If the hand is applied over the heart, we often feel a systohc thrill. The
pulse is small, because the mitral lesion diminishes the column of the
blood-wave driven into the aorta. It is unequal and irregular, because
the contractions of the left ventricle are not of equal strength and do not
follow at equal intervals consecutively to the muscular change in the
heart (Stokes), and perhaps also consecutively to the disturbance of the
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUIH 415
cardiac innervation (Peter). These pathological characters of the pulse are
revealed by the sphygmograph.
The cardiac arrhythmia, perceptible on palpation and auscultation
(G. See), is therefore characterized by irregular beats. This arrhythmia only
shows itself at an advanced period of the disease ; it is sometimes excessive
and is a kind of ataxia of the heart. Intermittences have been divided into
true and false. True intermittence affects the pulse and the heart at the
same time, the arterial pulsation being absent, because the ventricular
systole is lacking. The so-called false intermittence would be better named
" incomplete." The cardiac systole persists, but is too feeble to launch'
a sufficient blood-wave, and the arterial pulsation is w^anting. Bouillaud
has called this a stumble on the part of the heart. These intermittences
are more marked in insufficiency than in stenosis, because part of the blood-
wave passes back into the auricle instead of the whole wave entering the
aorta.
Mitral insufRciency shows itself by a somewhat rasping systolic murmur,
which may be of a musical character and has its maximum below and
external to the nipple. It is called the " apical murmur," in opposition to
the basal murmurs, which are situated at the aortic orifice. Further, the
maximum is not exactly at the apex of the heart, but rather at the middle
part of the ventricle and at the level of the valvular vein (Peter). This
murmur is sometimes soft and analogous to a bellows murmur ; at other
times harsh and vibrating, like a jet of steam. It is propagated towards
the axilla, and is very clear behind, between the scapulae.
Mitral stenosis shows itself by various signs, which may be isolated or
associated in the same patient. When the signs are complete, and the
patient has not arrhythmia, we find a special rhythm of morbid sounds.
Analysis shows that mitral stenosis may be characterized by a diastolic
murmur (rare), by a rumbhng or presystolic murmur, or by a reduplica-
tion of the second sound, while the second portion of this reduplication
may be blowing.
Mitral lesions are often accompanied by accentuation of tlie second
pulmonary sound, from the exaggerated distension which the pulmonary
vessels undergo. The coexistence of insufficiency and stenosis is shown by
the simultaneous presence of the signs indicated under each of these lesions.
Sometimes, on auscultation of a patient with symptoms of mitral disease,
no morbid sound is heard, and the physical signs of the lesion only reveal
themselves by a disturbance of tlie cardiac rhythm. It must be admitted
in such a case that myocarditis is the chief lesion, and that the valvular
miscliicf is of but s1i<,fht moment.
Diagnosis — Prognosis. I n^jx^at here that the presence of a munuiir or
of a reduplication is not enough to prove the existence of a mitral lesion.
416 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Some reduplications have nothing to do with the lesion of an orifice. Such
are the normal redupUcations " resulting from transitory changes which
the movements of respiration cause in the pressure of the blood contained
in the heart and great vessels " (Potain). Certain murmurs do not depend
upon any valvular lesion. Such are the murmurs of chloro- anaemic origin,
the febrile murmurs, and the blowing sounds of extracardiac origin,
described by Potain. It has been said that the murmur of mitral in-
sufficiency is distinguished from other non-organic murmurs in that it alone
is heard behind between the inner border of the scapula and the dorsal
•spine. This is true with regard to the mitral murmur of a certain intensity,
but this distinction loses its value when the murmur is shght.
The form of mitral disease indicates fairly the gravity of the prognosis.
Pure insufficiency or constriction is less serious than if the two lesions be
associated.
Intercurrent diseases, such as typhoid fever, eruptive fevers, influenza,
and pneumonia, may have an evil influence on the mitral lesion, since they
may sometimes graft terrible secondary infections upon it. I would
repeat here that infective endocarditis usually supervenes in patients whose
previously affected valves present a locus minoris resistentiae. Excess,
fatigue, worry, and pregnancy have a deplorable effect upon diseases of the
heart. It is opportune to recall Peter's aphorism relative to women suffering
from cardiac lesions : " Daughters, no marriage ; wives, no pregnancies ;
mothers, no nursing."
Treatment. — The treatment of valvular lesions in general and of mitral
lesions in particular is not confined to the lesion of the orifice or of the
valves, but concerns the resulting compfications and also the concomitant
changes hi the myocardium. In this' section I am deafing only with the
treatment of " diseases of the heart " properly so called ; the treatment of
cardio-aortic lesions will be given later.
We have just seen that the symptoms consecutive to the nutral lesion
only appear when the cardiac muscle is worn out. As long as the muscle is
capable of facing the danger and the compensation is sufficient, all is well,
or nearly so ; but when compensation becomes feeble, compUcations which
in nearly all cases have a peripheral origin — i.e., visceral congestion and
oedema — then appear.
Imperfectly compensated valvular lesions lower the pressure in the
cardio-arterial system, and raise it in the venous system of the lesser and
greater circulations. Venous stases and oedema then appear. The stases
affect the lungs, kidneys, brain, Uver, etc. ; the oedema affects the cellular
tissue of the periphery and of the splanchnic cavities, the organs susceptible
of becoming infiltrated (lung, brain), and the serous cavities (pleura, peri-
cardium, and meninges). The tendency of diseases of the heart is therefore
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM 417
to change the patient into a kind of sponge ; liis organs are saturated with
badly circulating blood, while his connective tissue is saturated with serous
fluid. In such a medium the anatomical elements and the organs partially
lose their function.
Whether the disease shows itself by shght symptoms, such as trifling
dyspnoea, malleolar oedema, and palpitations ; whether it betrays itself by
more serious compHcations, such as orthopnoea, hepatic troubles, ohguria,
anasarca, and arrhythmia ; or whether it finally produces the symptom-
complex of asystole, the therapeutic indications are the same. It remains
to be seen what drugs are most apt to answer to these therapeutic indications.
Most authorities who have discussed this question say : Since the troubles
in diseases of the heart arise from weakening of the heart muscle and from
lowering of the arterial tension, restore the tone and the contractile power
of the heart muscle, and at the same time you will raise the arterial pressure.
For this purpose employ cardiac tonics. Further, as the lowering of the
arterial pressure brings about the elevation of the venous tension, with
oedema and congestion, lower this venous tension, and for this purpose
employ blood-letting, purgatives, and diuretics.
A table of these tonics and diuretic medicines has been drawn up. See
has published several excellent papers on the question of cardiac drugs and of
the therapeutic physiology of the heart, and I borrow the following classifica-
tion from liis ^\Titings :
Cardiac tonics : Strophanthus, strophanthin, spartein.
Diuretic cardiac tonics : Digitalis, digitalin, Convallaria majalis,
convallaraarin.
Diuretic drugs : CafEein, theobromin, potash salts, lactose.
Respiratory drugs : Iodide of potash, morphia.
Our patient may be a prey to arrhythmia, dyspnoea, and oedema ; he
may be in a condition bordering on asystole or be suffering from marked
asystole. What medicine is to be given, and what indications are to be
followed ? Is strophanthin superior to spartein ? is spartein superior to
digitahs ? and is not the latter inferior to digitalin ? Is theobromin
superior to caflfein, and cafEein superior to convallamarin ? I think that
many physiciaas will hesitate, and I have experienced myself the
doubts they will experience in making a choice. Such cardiac tonics as
strophanthin and spartein had at one time some vogue, in Germany
especially, so that it might truly be said that, prior to the discovery of these
drugs, the therapeutics of diseases of the heart were in their infancy.
CafEein and theobromin are so vaunted by some clinicians that it might
be said that before the discovery of those drugs we could not cause diuresis
in a cardiac patient, I have closely followed the action of tiicsc drugs, and
I have succeeded in forming a clear opinion as to their worth. As far as
27
418 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
I am concerned, I consider that the famous cardiac tonics are often medicines
which weaken the contractile power of the muscle under the pretext of im-
proving its tone. I have also found that theobromin, which is a valuable
diuretic when properly handled, sometimes weakens the renal function
under the pretext of exciting it. I am very far from contesting the worth
of these drugs, but I think that most of them are far from possessing in
asystole the value of digitahs, when it is well prepared and properly ad-
ministered. Further, as I have neither the intention nor the pretension of
undertaking here a comparative study of all the cardiac drugs, I shall
simply give the results of my experience, and point out the treatment
which I have employed for several years.
Let us take first the most serious case — namely, a patient suffering from
symptoms bordering on asystole or from complete asystole. The face is
pale and covered with sweat ; the conjunctivae are yellowish ; the lips and
ears are bluish ; the hands are swollen and cold, and the fingers cyanosed ;
the pulse is small and irregular ; oedema has invaded the feet, legs, thighs,
genital organs, and abdomen, and tends to spread higher ; the Uver is en-
larged and very painful ; respiration is panting, interrupted by terrible
attacks of suffocation, and asphyxia appears imminent. The patient
seated in his chair or resting on his pillows, dare not move for fear of suffoca-
tion. For a month he has not gone to bed, and sleep is impossible, save for
snatches. The urine is scanty and contains much sediment. Auscultation
of the heart is impossible ; auscultation of the lungs, thougli difficult, yet
permits recognition of rales, due to oedema and pulmonary congestion.
Such is the disease : what is the remedy ?
I think we must consider both the heart and the periphery. It is uni-
versally said that the condition is due to degeneration of the muscular fibre,
which must be given fresh energy by means of the cardiac tonics. Letulle
has shown that the muscular degeneration is not so great. If the heart
is weakened, this degeneration plays only a small part. I am convinced
that the most important part comes from the peripheral obstacles, from the
blood which engorges the organs, from the serous fluid wliich impregnates
the superficial and the splanchnic cellular tissue.
In the presence of these obstacles the heart becomes weakened in pumping
on the blood-wave, which advances with difiiculty. The arterioles fail to
help it, the local circulations are at a standstill, and all the functions of the
economy are in distress. I have often made the following comparison :
When a cart is too heavily loaded and can advance no farther, the team will
not move by whipping the tired horses, but it will do so if we Hghten the
load. Similarly : in the case of the heart the desired effect will not be ob-
tained by excessive stimulation of its already weakened muscle ; we shall
obtain the result by hghtening its work, by diminishing the excess of venous
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM 419
tension, and by removing, as far as possible, the dam produced by congestion
and oedema, and, above all, by improving the tone of the cardiac muscle,
which is often rather exhausted than degenerated.
To obtain these results I employ in a fairly systematic fashion the follow
ing treatment :
Six leeches are apphed to the precordial and hepatic regions, and some
5 or 6 ounces of blood are withdrawn. I cannot too strongly recommend
the use of leeches, which is far too much neglected. I sometimes prescribe
two or three leeches over the heart and over the liver, and I repeat this
treatment several days in succession, with great benefit to the patient.
At the same time I prescribe digitahs in the form of infusion or of
Trousseau's diuretic wine. The drug has a direct cardio-vascular action
and an indirect diuretic action. It stimulates the tone of the heart and
the vasoconstriction of the peripheral arterioles.
This combined action restores to the normal the inverted current of
the interstitial exchanges. The arterioles and the heart muscle combine
their energies to bring about a squeezing action on the parenchymata and
the connective spaces. Digitahs, by its action on the heart and the vessels,
restores to the cardio-vascular mechanism the functional energy wliich was
lacking, and as Potain says ; " It is also an indirect diuretic, which causes
the fluid of dropsy and of oedema to re-enter the circulation and be eliminated
by the kidneys."
The immediate result, as Loeper has shown, is a serous plethora of the
blood, characterized by diminution in the total of albumin and in the red
corpuscles, which are widely scattered through an increased quantity of
fluid, and by increase of the chlorides and other principles wliich have accu-
mulated in the tissues. The above is the first effect of digitalis, and iscalled the
blood stage (Loeper) ; the urinary stage at once follows, and polyuria results.
The polyuria varies directly with the amount of oedema due to asystole ;
it often assumes the guise of a crisis which carries off in the urine the excess
of chlorides, phosphates, and sulphates in the tissues. Improvement then
follows. Digitahs alone, without other drugs, may yield the good results just
mentioned. I feel, however, that it is preferable to add a true diuretic which
acts on the kidney, wliile the digitahs acts upon the heart and the vessels.
Trousseau's diuretic wine is a diuretic which does not exhaust the kidney
and a cardiac tonic which does not exhaust the heart. The formula is ;
White wine
Alcohol (90 per cent.)
Juniper berries
Acetate of potash
Digitalis leaves
Sc^uill
7 pints
17 ounces
12 „
7 „
-I j>
1 „
'>7 o
420 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
I give 1 ur 2 tablespoonfuls daily for five or six days. One table
spoonful contains 3 grains of digitalis, 10 grains of acetate of potash, 15
grains of jumper berries, and IJ grains of squill.
We must note that Trousseau's formula has been altered, and that the
wine in the Codex and hospital formulae contains 10 instead of 3 grains of
digitaUs in a tablespoonful. A physician ignorant of this incomprehensible
change would thus give his patient a far larger dose than he intended.
I, therefore, ask for a return to the classical formula, wliich should never
have been tampered with.
For the diuretic wine we may substitute infusion of digitalis and theo-
bromin given together.
Make an infusion of digitahs leaves, 15 grains in 3f ounces of boiling water,
filter, and add 8 drachms of syrup of currants. Give 1 ounce daily for a
week ; stop the drug, and repeat if need be. At the same time theobromin
is given in daily doses of 7 grains.
It is absolutely necessary for the patient to take milk as a food and as
a diuretic. He m.ay take it to his hking : boiled or fresh, hot, cold, or iced.
The milk should be given every two hours in doses of 3 or more ounces,
according to the tolerance of the patient. To alter its taste we may add
orange-flower water or a spoonful of tea or of coffee, and we" may aerate
it by aid of the sparklet. If the milk is badly digested, lime-water is
added. In case of intolerance, cow's milk is stopped, and recourse made
to goat's or to ass's milk, kephir. or koumiss. All other food is forbidden.
Ices made with coffee, vanilla, citron, or with fruits are permitted.
To produce active diuresis, I give lactose dissolved in Evian or in Vittel
water. When lactose is simply tlirown into the water, the patient com-
plains of the mixture, because the sugar does not dissolve well in cold water.
The following solution must therefore be made : The lactose is first dissolved
in a small quantity of hot water, and the solution poured into a bottle of
Evian water, from which an equivalent quantity of fluid has previously
been withdrawn. We have then a drink which, although not disagreeable
to taste, may be rendered more agreeable by the addition of orange-juice,
lemon- juice, or champagne. A cup of milk and a cup of lactose solution
are taken alternately every one or two hours.
In short, leeches, digitahs, diuretics, and especially Trousseau's wine,
are used almost systematically for patients who come into hospital with
asystole, or in a condition bordering on it. My cases are described in the
hospital records, where they may be consulted, and I may say that, under
this treatment, which is simple and easy, success is the rule and failure
the exception. The urine, which has been as low as 6 ounces before treat-
ment, amounts to 2 or 3 pints after a few days.
A patient, for example, who drinks daily 4 pints of milk and 2 pints of
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIIJIM
421
lactose solution — that is to say, about 6 pints of fluid — sometimes passes
about 8 to 10 pints of urine. The urine exceeds, therefore, the fluid ingested
by 2 to 4 pints. This excess comes from the fluid which was enmeshed in
the form of oedema in the superficial and in the splanchnic cellular tissue.
When care is taken to weigh the patient daily, and to measure exactly the
quantity of the fluid ingested and of the urine voided, we find that the weight
of the patient diminishes by about 1 pound per pmt of urine excreted in
excess. In a case of anasarca I have verified the fact that a patient may
hold 20 to 30 pints of fluid in liis cellular tissue. The attention is as a rule
only evoked by superficial oedema, but there is also hidden in the splanchnic
cavities oedema which escapes notice and is most serious, because of the
embarrassment it causes in the different functions.
The subjoined chart shows the result in a woman who was moribund
and cyanosed. The amount of urine was about 3 to 4 ounces. Under
Weight of
the Invalid
in Kilos
60
Z5
^0
65
60
55
50
Quantify of
Urine
in Litres.
7
6
5
2
1
Resuff oStainee/ in\ 16 eliPiys
V
s,
^
v..
■^,
T' IK
y
>
\
^
y^
x^
^.N
y
r
V.
>k,
"^
^
\
y
Y
>
^:.
IN
<
fe^
^
,/
r
\ii>
^^<
^S/'^-J
es
•*
-^
^L
' ^//os
Da''"'^''
21
22
23
2a
26
26
27
26
/
2
3
a
5
6
7 6
9
rebruary March
Fio. 19. — Weight and Ukine Chart.
treatment the improvement was so rapid as to be a brilliant therapeutic
success. In a fortnight she passed 100 pints of urine, and as the anasarca
disappeared, she lost nearly 60 pounds in weight. The chlorides at the
commencement of the urinary crisis amounted to 1 ounce.
By the means just quoted the oedema disappears, the visceral congestion
diminishes, the dyspnoea improves, and the heart-beats become regular.
In place of distress, a delightful feehng of quiet obtains, movement is possible
without attacks of suffocation, the broncho-pulmonary rales tend to dis-
appear, and the patient can he down in bed and sleep.
In some cases, however, disappointments occur. Some patients are
refractory to treatment, others vomit the milk and solution of lactose, no
matter what we do. The difficulty is surmounted by giving iced water in
small amounts and by enemata composed of 6 ounces of the lactose solution.
422 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
If, after some days of the above treatment, no improvement has accrued,
and if the asystole becomes worse, we must lessen the work of the heart and
reheve the patient's suffering by withdrawing the fluid from the pleura and
the peritoneum. We must treat the oedema of the limbs and genital organs
in the same way, and provide points of exit. We, therefore, make punctures,
which are sometimes followed by lymphangitis, erysipelas, or patches of
gangrene, in spite of antiseptic precautions, or else we apply the cautery
once or twice to each hmb ; Vienna paste makes an issue which, once opened,
acts like a fountain. In urgent cases, however, punctures are preferable.
I have not yet spoken of morphia or of heroin ; not that I reject their
use — on the contrary, I think that they are excellent adjuvants in severe
dyspnoea, but they should be prescribed in very small doses.
I must now mention certain accidents which may occur unless the case
be carefully watched. The use of digitalis or digitalin, even in small doses,
must not be too long continued, because the drug may be cumulative, and
lead to sudden asystole. An inexperienced or careless physician mistakes
the condition for obstinate asystole, and goes on with digitalis, being lucky
if he does not increase the dose. " Characteristic pallor of the face and
general coldness, with cyanosis, are signs of advanced poisoning, because
they indicate vasoconstriction due to the predominant action of the sympa-
thetic nerve. Tachycardia, arrhythmia, and pulsus bigeminus are symptoms
of vasoparesis ; such a condition is asystole due to digitalis " (Huchard).
Another matter deserves notice. During the treatment we must care-
fully collect the urine passed in the twenty-four hours, and watch the
parallel diminution in the weight of the patient. The reason is : Under
treatment the oedema may be in part absorbed, without increase in the urine,
or, in other words, the blood stage is not followed by polyuria. The serous
fluid is absorbed and enters the circulation, but it is not eliminated by the
kidneys in due course. Serous apoplexy may then follow, as pointed out
by Andral. The symptoms are coma, convulsions, and dehrium. Cheyne
Stokes breathing may or may not be present. We must add that these
troubles are chiefly to be feared in patients whose kidneys are abeady
affected. In any case, we see the reason for associating with the digitahs
a true diuretic in order to favour the urinary as well as the blood stage.
In addition to the troubles above noted, the patient may be seized with
syncope and dyspnoea, which seem to herald early death. We may then ask
whether sudden dilatation of the heart does not comphcate an already
dangerous situation. In this case cardiac drugs must be handled with
extreme care. Perhaps it is better to omit them. It has long been my
practice to place an ice-bag over the heart, and patients feel such reHef
that they will not dispense with it. Oxygen should be given in large doses.
Ehxir of mate may be given in drachm doses. Injections of oil of camphor
DISEASES OP THE ENDOCARDIUM 423
are useful, and strychnine may be given in the same way once or twice
daily.
When the patient has got over his asystole, when the excess of chlorides
has been eliminated in the urine, when the dyspnoea, anasarca, and ar-
rhythmia are better, he must not be considered as cured, for the cardiac
lesion persists, and may at a given moment reproduce the same effects. For
several weeks to come he should take only milk, or milky foods, eggs, stewed
fruit, and a httle bread. Salt (chloride of sodium) should be proscribed,
for we know that it favours the production of oedema (Widal, Merklen).
Alcoholic drinks and tobacco should always be forbidden. Local treatment
should not be neglected. It consists in an appUcation of Vienna paste to
the cardiac region, and the issue is allowed to suppurate freely.
Such is the treatment. It often dispenses with other cardiac tonics,
such as strophanthin and spartein. It proves clearly that in the cardiac
Btorm which we call asystole the true danger lies, not only in the heart, but
in every organ and at the periphery, where congestion and oedema occur.
The proof that the heart is worn out rather than degenerated is that, when
the storm is over, it resumes its functions, and may do so sometimes for
months and years before it becomes again enfeebled. We see daily such
cases in hospital.
Amongst other examples I would quote the case of a moribund woman treated in
this manner. In spite of her mitral lesion, she has since remained in a very satisfactorj'
state of health. I would mention, top, the case of a blacksmith, also cured of asystole
for four years. In spite of a mitral lesion, he has been able to carry on his heavy work
without any fresh mishap. He reports himself at the hospital every four or five months
for a fresh issue to be made, because, he says, when the counter-irritation no longer acts,
he experiences slight dyspncea and palpitation, which improve when the free issue is
employed. I have thus seen a large number of asystolic patients resume their business
for years.
The attentive study of all these cases has inspired me with some thoughts
on the subject of prognosis in diseases of the heart. When we have seen
a certain number of cardiac patients triumph once or several times over the
asystolic storms, and practically resume their work, we say that the mitral
disease is too often considered as a very grave malady of almost fatal ter-
mination, but it does not possess such a gloomy prognosis. The heart is
a gallant organ ; it is the idtimum moriens. We have slandered it a little,
since we have been willing to assign too large a part to the lesions of its
vessels and its myocardium. We must treat it carefully when it is sick,
assist it when its work is too difficult, but we must avoid forcing and weaken-
ing it with cardiac tonics.
I have just discussed the treatment during asystole, but what treat-
ment should be used when the patient only complains of dyspnoea, oedema,
or of cardiac angina ? In the first place, I recommend the treatment which
424 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
I have just indicated, for it succeeds the better and quicker the less pro-
nounced the comphcations. If dyspnoea is the cliief symptom, we may
also employ iodide of potash, which is given in doses of 10 grains in the
twenty-four hours.
Lastly, at the onset of the mitral disease, if there is no notable com-
plication, and if the disease only shows itself by palpitation, subcrepitant
rales from pulmonary oedema, slight dyspnoea, or some oedema over the
malleoli, the physician should not remain inactive, but should foresee and
prevent the more serious complications, and attempt to stop the progress
of the disease. It is useful to produce in the precordial region an issue
which is allowed to suppurate, and which is renewed if there is occasion.
Heavy meals, alcoholic drinks, and the use of tobacco should be forbidden.
The professions which entail excitement, such as gambhng and the Stock
Exchange, furnish a marked proportion of cardiac cases. Peter has seen
many politicians in whom the disease made rapid progress. A life free from
excitement and fatigue should be advised in these cases, and conduces to
longevity. I employ the above treatment in a systematic manner, but I
do not mean that other treatment may not give good results. Thus, digitalis
may be given as a tincture or maceration.
Digitalin is prescribed by Potain in an alcohohc solution (Nativelle's
crystaUized digitahn, or Homolle's digitalin), of which 25 drops corre-
spond to a demimilhgramme. This drug is taken at one dose in a little
water, and three or four days should elapse before administering a fresh dose.
The oily solution of Nativelle's digitalin may be given by subcutaneous
injection in doses of | milhgramme per cubic centimetre.
Strophanthus is chiefly indicated as a cardiac tonic. It does not slow
the heart-beats, but it raises the contractile power of the myocardium.
Five to twenty drops of the tincture are given. Caffein may be given in
daily doses of from 7 to 30 grains, either in solution or by hypodermic
injections.
IjL Distilled water . . . . . . . . 5iii.
Benzoate of soda . . . . . . . . 3i.
Caffein . . , . . . . . . 3i.
A Pravaz syringe of this solution contains 3 grains of caffein.
That excellent diuretic theobromine is given in cachets, in doses of
from 7 to 15 grains. The dose is increased or repeated if necessary.
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM 425
V. AORTIC ORIFICE— INSUFFICIENCY AND STENOSIS.
Aortic insufficiency is present when the sigmoid valves which normally
close the orifice, in order to prevent the backward flow of blood, do not
sufficiently plug it to prevent the blood from flowing back into the left
ventricle. Aortic stenosis occurs when the lumen of the orifice no longer
has its normal dimensions.
The aortic orifice, from its situation, participates in lesions of the aorta
more than in other lesions of the heart. Thus, inflammations of the aorta
and their most usual causes, especially syphilis, are, more often than rheu-
matic endocarditis, the origin of lesions at the aortic orifice. According
to circumstances, the lesions are sometimes those of chronic aortitis, at other
times those of chronic endocarditis. Aortic insufficiency and stenosis are
often combined. These lesions are due to adhesions, deformities of the
sigmoid valves, vegetations, or calcareous incrustations of the valves or of
the walls. Pure insufficiency is frequently associated with enlargement
of the aorta, which, in its dilatation, pulls on the walls of the orifice.
The stenosis is not always exactly at the orifice. Subaortic narrowing
(Vulpian, Peter), arising from the contraction of the portion which is just
in front of the opening of the aorta, has been described.
Lesions of the aortic orifice, and especially insufficiency, cause enormous
hypertrophy of the heart, in which the left ventricle takes so large a part
(bovine heart). This hypertrophy, called providential, depends upon the
hyperactivity of the heart muscle ; part of the blood- wave flows back into
the left ventricle, and hypertrophy takes place because the work is ex-
aggerated.
Examination of the Heart and the Pulse — 1. Aortic Insufficiency.
— In aortic insufficiency the precordial bulging and dullness are more
extensive than in mitral lesions. The impulse may be diffuse and the apex-
beat is in the sixth or seventh space. The pulse is characteristic, being
regular, bounding (Corrigan) and falling (Stokes) : bounding, because the
blood is violently propelled by the hypertrophied ventricle ; faUing, because
the pulse vanishes directly after the beat, the aortic blood-wave being pro-
pagated in two directions at the same time — towards the periphery and
towards the- ventricle. These characters are seen in the sphygmographic
tracing ; the line of ascent is sudden, because of the hypertrophy of tlie ven-
tricle, and ends in a notch, wliich coincides with the return wave into tlio
ventricle. The force of the systole communicates itself to the great arteries ;
their pulsations are exaggerated, and often yield a thrill. It is in aortic
insuificiency that we see best the changes of colour under the nails, iso-
chronous with the cardiac systole. This phenomenon has been called the
capillary pulse.
426 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
We hear in the second right intercostal space a diastolic murmur, due
to the propagation of a part of the blood-wave toward the left ventricle.
Tliis diastolic murmur is heard in the great vessels of the neck and limbs.
Thus, when the stethoscope is applied over the femoral artery, two murmurs
(double crural murmur) are heard at the point compressed — a " souffle
d'aller," which is not pathological, but due to the vibration of the blood-
wave launched from the heart ; and a reflux murmur, which is much softer,
and due to the vibration of the blood- wave, which tends to flow backwards.
In order that the reflux murmur may be produced, the artery must be
firmly compressed by the stethoscope, but not too much. The second
murmur is sometimes replaced by a tone which has the same value
(Skoda).
The theory of flux and reflux in the arteries is hardly admitted to-day.
The reflux remains absolutely true for the return of the blood- wave from the
aorta into the left ventricle, but the backward return of the column of
blood does not continue in the arteries. It is rather admitted that the
phenomena described above result from the lowering of the arterial tension,
which induces an exaggeration in the vibrations of the artery and a rapidity
of the waves (Potain).
The reflux murmur and the water-hammer pulse, which are sometimes
so clear in pure insufficiency, are naturally less marked if stenosis is also
present, because the blood- wave no longer finds so free a passage. Ausculta-
tion at the aortic orifice also reveals the disappearance or the diminution
of the second sound, which normally is due to the closure of the sigmoid
valves.
2. Aortic Stenosis. — In aortic stenosis hypertrophy of the ventricle
is also very pronounced, but the pulse is small, and shows in the sphygmo-
graphic tracing an inclined up-stroke, because the blood-wave passes in a
threadlike stream through the constricted orifice. Auscultation in the
second right space reveals a systolic murmur, which is harsh and vibrating.
This murmur is propagated into the great vessels which arise from the aorta,
and often extends along the descending aorta to the interscapular region.
General Symptoms. — These appear more slowly than those of mitral
lesions, because aortic lesions are better compensated by the hypertrophy
of the left ventricle, and because they have a less direct reaction upon the
pulmonary and the general circulation. The patient looks anaemic, because
the blood in part returns into the ventricle and does not all reach its destina-
tion. He is also affected by cerebral congestion, due to the exaggerated
ventricular contractions, and shown by epistaxis, pulsations in the tem-
poral arteries, dizziness, ringing in the ears, etc.
Some patients complain of angina pectoris, and are liable to faint. In
this case the lesion of the aortic orifice is accompanied by aortitis, and
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM 427
the symptoms of aortitis are associated with those due to the insufficiency
and the stenosis (Peter).
The aortic lesions remain a local malady much longer than the mitral
lesions, and it is only at a remote date (degeneration of the muscular fibre
or mitral comphcations) that the invasion of the economy becomes general — •
that congestion, cedema, and the symptoms, which precede or accompany
asystole, appear.
The patient may, however, be carried off suddenly before this stage.
Sudden death is a fairly common termination in aortic lesions (Aran,
Mauriac), while it is exceptional in mitral disease. Writers have attributed
it to endarteritis obhterans, insufficiency of circulation in the coronary
arteries (Mauriac), and angina pectoris, which is often associated with the
aortic lesions (Peter).
Treatment. — We cannot produce much action on the lesions of the
aortic orifice. The cardiac erethism should be quieted by local (leeches,
cupping, ice-bags) or general treatment. The iodides are absolutely
indicated. We shall see in subsequent chapters the treatment for lesions
of the aortic orifice associated with aortitis or sypliilis.
VI. THE TRICUSPID ORIFICE— INSUFFICIENCY AND
STENOSIS.
.flStiology. — Inflammatory changes in the tricuspid valve are somewhat
rare, except in foetal hfe. They nearly always affect the valves on both
sides of the heart. Duroziez, however, maintains that they are less rare
than is generally believed. The fibrous and atheromatous lesions of chronic
endocarditis do not often attack the right heart. On the other hand,
tricupsid insufficiency is often the result of a mechanical cause — namely,
dilatation of the right ventricle. By reason of the exaggerated blood-
pressure which occurs in chronic diseases of the lung, or in mitral lesions,
the right ventricle allows itself to be distended. It also becomes distended
through dystrophy of its muscular fibres, with or %vithout adhesions to tlie
pericardium and the pleura, and drags with it the insertion zone of the
tricuspid valve, which becomes incompetent. Some authorities, on the
other hand (Potain and Rendu), refer this insufficiency to the increase in
the capacity of the right ventricle. The direction of the ventricular pillars
is altered ; the chordae tendinese are not long enough to permit the closure
of the valves, and functional insufficiency results. Dilatation of the
fibrous ring, correctly speaking, is quite exceptional.
Reflex spasm of the pulmonary vessels (Potain and Franck) arising
from gastro-hcpatic affections leads to dilatation of the right ventricle and
fimctional insufficiency of the tricuspid valve. Lastly, acute and chronic
428 ■ TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
myocarditis and cardiac degenerations may end in like manner, by favouring
paresis of the right ventricle.
Pathological Anatomy. — In cases of inflammatory insufficiency the
lesions are analogous to those of the mitral valves, and do not therefore
require further details. In functional incompetence the valves are healthy,
but the size of the right auriculo-ventricular orifice and ventricle is much
increased. The ventricular walls are rather dilated than hypertrophied in
insufficiency of inflammatory origin. The right auricle is dilated, and its
walls are thinned. The venae cavse and the jugular veins are always much
distended with blood. As regards the chief viscera, such as the Hver and
kidney, more or less marked signs of blood-stasis are present.
Description. — Tricuspid insufficiency is characterized by a systolic
murmur, with its maximum at the xiphoid cartilage, while its tone is deeper
and less whistHng than that of mitral incompetence. As the tricuspid
valve is the " regulator of the venous circulation and of the general venous
tension " (Raynoud), we must look for the cliief symptoms of this lesion
in the venous system.
Jugular pulsation first attracts attention. On inspection and with the
sphygmograph, the external jugular vein shows an expansion and retraction,
which is known as the venous pulse, and is explained in the following
manner : During the systole, part of the blood- wave flows back into the right
ventricle, and thence into the venous system. This pressure causes dilata-
tion of the veins, and the valves of the external jugular veins become in-
competent. Accordingly, at each ventricular systole the blood flows back
into the venous system, and the jugular veins show a true systolic and
sometimes dicrotic venous pulse, synchronous with the double auricular
and ventricular systole.
The reflux of blood in the inferior vena cava and the portal vein causes
hepatic pulsations, which may be felt on palpation.
The venous pulse may be present in the veins of the periphery, especially
in the saphenous veins, when they are varicose.
We know the gravity of tricuspid lesions, for " they form the bond of
union between lesions of the lesser and the greater circulation " (Peter).
Tricuspid insufficiency opens the door to asystole (Raynaud) ; so that
the murmur has been rightly called the symptomatic murmur of asystole
(Parrot).
When equilibrium has been restored by appropriate treatment, the
asystole disappears temporarily or finally, and with it the functional in-
sufficiency. The latter may appear and disappear several times before
being finally established. The disappearance and reappearance of the
characteristic signs will serve as a guide in this respect.
In some cases tricuspid insufficiency is certainly beneficial. It may
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM 429
eliminate or diniiiiish the excess of pressure in the lesser circulation,
and thus prevent vascular ruptures. Indeed, the general condition some-
times improves on the appearance of insufficiency. Hence the tricuspid
valve has been called the safety-valve of the pulmonary circulation.
Stenosis. — -Tricuspid stenosis may be congenital or acquired.
Congenital stenosis is due to foetal endocarditis or to faults of development.
Acquired stenosis is due to the adhesion of the valves, to stenosis of the
tricuspid orifice, or to obstruction of this orifice by vegetations. Adhesions
between the valves is the most usual cause, both before and after birth
(Leudet). Perforation of the septa and stenosis of the pulmonary artery
are frequent comphcations.
Acquired stenosis is chiefly seen in women. It is usually due to rheu-
matism, and nearly always coincides with stenosis of the mitral or other
orifice. The chief symptoms are cyanosis, ascites, oedema, and curving of
the nails. The venous pulse in the jugular veins is often absent, and a
diastolic shock, with or without thrill, is found.
The prognosis is very grave, and death usually occurs between the ages
of twenty and twenty-five years. The diagnosis is possible when stenosis
of the tricuspid orifice occurs without lesions of other orifices.
VII. PULMONARY ARTERY— STENOSIS AND INSUFFICIENCY.
Stenosis of the pulmonary ar-tery may be congenital or acquired.
Congenital stenosis usually involves the sigmoid valves, which are
adherent and enclose a more or less narrow cleft. As they are in close
apposition, they obstruct the reflux of blood into the right ventricle. Hence
insufficiency associated with congenital stenosis is rare. In some cases
the stenosis affects the infundibulum, and has been called " prearterial "
(C. Paul). The valves are often affected in such cases. The stenosis may
involve the trunk of the artery in exceptional cases. Acquired stenosis,
wliich is more frequent than is supposed, nearly always affects the valves,
but cases of atheroma and of gummata (Schwalbe) affecting the pulmonary
artery and causing constriction have been pubhshed. Apart from such
exceptional cases, acquired stenosis of the valves often accompanies dilata-
tion of the pulmonary artery beyond the obstruction, thus forming an
exact opposite to the condition in aortic stenosis. Arterial dilatation is
not seen in cases of congenital stenosis.
The right ventricle is always hypertrophied and dilated. In congenital
cases we often see perforation of the interventricular or interauricular
septum, and sometimes persistence of the ductus arteriosus. Tiiis perfora-
tion may also be seen in cases of acquired stenosis (C. Paul) resulting from
myocarditis, wliich often accorapames endocarditis of the right heart.
430 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Congenital stenosis is certainly of inflammatory origin, but the cause
of foetal endomyocarditis is generally obscure. In adults rheumatism,
perhaps also traumatism, and especially infectious diseases, such as the
eruptive fevers, puerperal conditions, broncho-pneumonia, etc., have been
held responsible.
Stenosis of the pulmonary artery may long pass unnoticed. In other cases
the patient soon becomes breathless, and hable to frequent fits of coughing,
which may be accompanied by bloody sputum. Chilliness of the extremities
and sensations of numbness and anaesthesia in the hmbs are common.
Cyanosis is much less constant, and its mechanism has received a different
interpretation (see Morbus Caeruleus). It often appears at an advanced
period of the disease, or as the result of some broncho-pulmonary complication.
On auscultation, stenosis of the pulmonary artery is characterized by
a systohc murmur, which is loudest in the second intercostal space, and can
be traced towards the clavicle. Palpation sometimes reveals the existence
of a systolic thrill at the same spot, and percussion shows more or less
hypertrophy of the right ventricle.
The sufferer rarely reaches adult age. Death frequently results from
progressive asystole or from syncope, but the striking fact is that pulmonary
stenosis appears to favour the development of phthisis in some cases.
Insufficiency of the pulmonary artery rarely exists alone, especially
when it is congenital. It is nearly always associated with stenosis. In the
acquired form it results from the same causes as stenosis.
It is characterized by a diastolic murmur, wliich is loudest in the second
left space, and can be traced along the left border of the sternum. Functional
troubles, chiefly in the lesser circulation, are present, and comprise dyspnoea
and frequent haemoptysis. It is often accompanied by hypertrophy and
dilatation of the right ventricle, and ends in death from asystole. On the
other hand, the development of tubercles in the lung is exceptional when
there is no coexistent stenosis.
VIII. MORBUS CiERULEUS— CYANOSIS.
This disease, which is most common in early life, is characterized by a
bluish colour of the skin and the mucous membranes, with dyspnoea, attacks
of suffocation, torpor, inertia, and tendency to chilhness. These symptoms
result from cardiac and vascular lesions, which bring about the mixture- of
the arterial and venous blood, and do not allow the venous blood to be
sufficiently arterialized.
Pathology. — The mixture of arterial and venous blood results from
abnormal communication between the arterial and venous systems, and the
abnormahties which make this communication possible affect the heart and
DISEASES OF THE ENDOCARDIUM 431
great vessels. The abnormalities of the heart are represented by the
persistence of Botallo's foramen (52 out of 69 cases, Gintrac), by communica-
tion between the two ventricles (33 cases, Guillon), and by fusion of the cardiac
cavities, so that the heart may show only one, two, or three cavities. The
vascular abnormalities comprise abnormal origin of the vessels and per-
sistence of the ductus arteriosus (30 cases, Almagro). Most of these mal-
formations are congenital, and apparently due to arrested development of
the heart, to endocarditis, and especially to stenosis of the pulmonary
artery arising during intra-uterine life.
Raynaud says of this mechanism : " When pulmonary stenosis is
present, the consecutive changes in the heart are perfectly intelUgible.
The right ventricle hypertrophies, because the obstruction demands increased
work, but the dilatation is slight or absent, because the imperfect septum
allows blood to flow back into the left cavities. The formation of the
septum becomes arrested as a result of the reflux in question. If the lesion
has arisen before the development of the ventricular septum — that is to
say, before the end of the second month — -the two ventricles continue to
communicate with one another, and the communication is the larger, as
the pulmonary artery remains closed at a time more closely approaching
that of conception. If, on the other hand, the ventricles are already shut
off from one another when obhteration of the pulmonary artery takes place,
the flow of blood from the right auricle into the corresponding ventricle is
prevented, a powerful current is- established from the right to the left side
of the auricular chamber, and Botallo's foramen remains open. As the
aorta, howevei, is from this time the only channel open to the blood-stream,
the blood can only reach the lungs through the ductus arteriosus, which
therefore persists after birth as a permeable tube."
These lesions, however, although they allow, more or less, the mingling
of arterial and venous blood, do not always cause symptoms of morbus
caruleus. Indeed, there are many examples (Gelau, Longhurst) showing
that excellent health and absence of cyanosis have for many years been
compatible with the mixing of the arterial and venous blood. Another
factor is therefore reqilired to produce morbus caeruleus, and the lesions
most favourable to tliis result are those wliich do not allow the mixed blood
to be properly oxygenated in the lung.
Examination of the blood has shown an increase in the number of red
corpuscles (hyperglobulia), which may reach 8,000,000 or more. This
hyperglobulia is often accompanied by an increase in the diameter of the
red corpuscles (Vaquez). These phenomena have been compared to the
hyperglobulia of higli altitudes, and have also been looked on as a means of
defence on the part of the organism, which seeks to obtain compensation
for the difficulty in oxygenation of the blood.
432 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Description. — The bluish coloration is most marked in the lips, the
nostrils, the lobes of the ears, the ends of the fingers and toes, and the
mucous membrane of the tongue and pharynx. The cyanosis is not always
of the same intensity, and diminishes during sleep or after a long rest, while
slight effort causes it to return. The fingers, in addition to the violet tint,
show marked deformity, the last phalanx being swollen and rounded, while
the nails are tliick, broad, and curved.
Respiration is short and painful, the voice is shrill and jerky, and the
patient cannot take exercise without feehng short of breath and suffering
from palpitation, angina, and syncope. He is conscious of the lowering
of his temperature (95° F., Tupper), and the slowness of his movements
somewhat resembles those of cold-blooded animals.
The cyanosis, dyspnoea, somnolence, apathy, and coldness are explained
by the fact that the blood contains too much carbonic acid and not sufficient
oxygen. The duration of life depends upon the nature and gravity of the
lesion. Some patients die from asphyxia or syncope, while others become
tubercular.
Examination of the heart gives uncertain information as to the precise
site of the lesion. The area of dullness varies with the hypertrophy of the
ventricle, and palpation sometimes reveals a continuous thrill with rein-
forcement.
The murmurs heard on auscultation vary. Perhaps the systolic murmur,
with its maximum at the fourth dorsal vertebra, indicates tiie persistence
of a ductus arteriosus.
CHAPTER III
DISEASES OF THE MYOCARDIUM
Myocarditis, or carditis, is inflammation of the heart. Virchow described
two varieties : parenchymatous, or inflammation of the muscle ; and in-
terstitial, or inflammation of the connective tissue.
The former is usually found in acute cases, while the latter obtains in
mo.st of the chronic cases. At the present day the general term of fibrosis
of the heart is more often used.
I. ACUTE MYOCARDITIS— FATTY DEGENERATION OF THE
HEART.
>Etiology. — Acute primary myocarditis is very rare (chill, injury).
The causes of the secondary form are : (1) Rheumatism. The heart alone
may be affected, or may be involved with the pericardium and endocardium.
(2) Infectious diseases. Amongst these we must quote, as of primary impor-
tance, typhoid fever, variola, scarlatina, diphtheria, erysipelas, puerperal
fever, purulent infection, and ulcerative endocarditis. AlcohoUsm, syphihs,
overwork, and previous cardiac lesions, also favour its development.
In certain infectious diseases, such as diphtheria, the pathogenic agent
does not enter the blood, and yet acute myocarditis is fairly frequent. In
these cases toxines appear to play the chief part, just as in acute myocarditis,
experimentally produced by injection of a filtered culture of the Bacillus
pyoci/aneus into the veins.
In other affections, however, such as typhoid fever, the pathogenic
microbe has been found between the inflamed muscular fibres, and it may
then be asked whether the micro-organism acts directly on the myocardium,
or secondarily by its secretory products. The latter explanation is more
generally accepted. In all these cases a certain role must be assigned to
waste products which have accumulated in the blood, and, indeed, they
alone (scurvy, experimental overwork) may be capable of affecting the
vitality of the heart muscle.
Pathological Anatomy. — The heart is generally enlarged, and its walls
arc llabby and pale. (Ju section the dead-leaf tint of the muscular tissue
433 li.S
434 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
is very clear. The tissue tears easily, explaining the ruptures of the musculi
papillares and the intracardiac haemorrhages. Under the microscope the
muscular bundles show more or less advanced changes : the striation is less
clear than usual, and we find in the fibre fine fatty granules, which mask its
structure. Vitreous or amyloid degeneration may be seen. The nuclei
are swollen and sometimes increased in number. Metchnikoi!, however,
says that this nuclear multiphcation is only apparent, and the increase is
simply the result of the penetration of phagocytes into the inflamed fibres.
In some cases the fibres are separated, and their anastomoses broken,
as though the cement had been dissolved. The arterioles present clear
traces of endarteritis and periarteritis.
The question of inflammation or of degeneration has been much dis-
cussed. Virchow, Zenker, and Hayem regard the condition as a parenchy-
matous inflammation. Cohnheim, Cornil and Ranvier, and Rindfleisch, who
base their opinion on the almost constant integrity of the interstitial tissue,
hold that the lesions are degenerative. Hanot has cleared up the question
by showing that the pathogenic agents may affect both the mucular and
the comiective tissue. Each element reacts in its own way, but in both
cases the condition is due to an inflammatory process.
Suppurative myocarditis is rarer, and is chiefly seen in purulent infection
and puerperal conditions. The pus may infiltrate the tissue, but is more
often collected in the form of an abscess. The abscess may open into the
pericardium or into the ventricles, and cause embohsms in the lesser or
greater circulation. It may undergo caseous change and favour the forma-
tion of an aneurysm.
Description. — Acute myocarditis is not a self-evident affection, and its
diagnosis demands careful search. Since it nearly always supervenes as
a comphcation of some other disease, it often passes unnoticed. Weakness
and irregularity of the heart-beats and of the pulse are the general signs.
We also find disappearance of the first sound, while the second sound persists,
but is muffled and distant. The second sound may, indeed, be replaced by a
shght rusthng. When the myocarditis is less severe, the first sound may
be replaced by a soft murmur, which is limited to the apex, and shows a
marked tendency to alter from one moment to another.
Under the same conditions we sometimes hear a " bruit de galop," due
to a diastolic shock, indicating the ventricular dilatation which accompanies
the change in the myocardium. Arrhythmia, which is often present, has
been divided into regular and irregular. In the former the cardiac contrac-
tion exists, but is so weak that it cannot be recognized either by ausculta-
tion or by examination of the pulse. Sphygmographic tracings alone show
that the arrhythmia is only ajDparent, and that an abortive pulsation really
corresponds to the interval of silence. Lastly, the cardiac rhythm may
DISEASES OF THE MYOCARDIUM 435
resemble that of the foetal heart, the condition being called embryo-
cardia. The prognosis in these cases is very bad.
Acute myocarditis is generally painless, although Peter has remarked
that pain is caused by percussion of the third and fourth intercostal spaces,
and radiates along the course of the phrenic nerve and the cardiac plexus.
In some cases of typhoid fever painful crises resembhng those of angina
pectoris have also been observed.
In conjunction with the troubles affecting the power and rhythm of the
heart-beats, we may note in some patients tachycardia, cyanosis, oedema,
and chilhness of the extremities — in short, all the signs of algid collapse ;
in others the phenomena of acute asystole predominate (cardiac form of
typhoid fever). Lastly, we may see repeated attacks of syncope, wliich at
times prove fatal. In typhoid fever in particular, some authorities, of whom
I am not one, have attributed sudden death to acute myocarditis. This
question will be treated in detail under Typhoid Fever.
When recovery follows, Landouzy and Siredey think that the myo-
cardium may preserve some rehcs of the profound change which it has
undergone, and that this change may ultimately assist in the development
of chronic mischief.
Counter-irritation to the precordial region and cardiac tonics, such as
digitaUs and caffein, are the measures generally employed for feeble action
of the myocardium, but I would only recommend the use of these drugs
with reserve. Degeneration is often irregular, especially when it is dependent
upon a change in the nutrient vessels of the heart. In these cases the wall
of the ventricle, especially at the apex, is often thinned.
The symptoms of acute fatty degeneration of the heart resemble those
of parenchymatous myocarditis. As regards chronic fatty degeneration,
the symptomatology is practically that of fibrosis of the heart, with this differ-
ence, however — that the phenomena of cardiac excitation are wanting. At
first the striking fact is the weakness of the heat-beats, the increase in the
size of the organ, showing its dilatation, and lastly, the phenomena of peri-
pheral and visceral stasis. Accordingly, after some time asystole follows
unless sudden rupture of the heart causes death.
Fatty Degeneration. — Fatty degeneration of the heart has more in
common with acute myocarditis. Ranvier, indeed, denies the latter
disease, which would therefore be characterized solely by a fatty change in
the muscles of the heart.
Many conditions give rise to fatty degeneration. (1) Certain poisons
(phosphorus, arsenic^^tc.) cause complete degeneration in a few days (acute
degeneration) ; (2) alcoholism, lesions of the heart and of the valves which
impede the circulation in the coronary arteries, gout, and old age cause
chronic degeneration.
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436 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
In the second group we must also place cachectic conditions, resulting
from chronic diseases, deep-seated suppuration, intense anaemia of long
duration due to repeated loss of blood, chronic diarrhoea, and athrepsia.
It is, however, important to distinguish between fatty degeneration and
fatty overgrowth. The latter chiefly occurs in obese patients. It may
exist alone for a long while before the malnutrition of the heart, due to
accumulation of fat on its surface and between its muscular bundles, causes
changes.
Some causes (alcoholism), however, may produce simultaneous over-
growth and degeneration.
The macroscopic appearances are the same as in parenchymatous myo-
carditis, but the microscope shows that the nuclei of the muscular fibres are
intact, while the interior of the fibres is replaced by droplets of fat, which may
be large, and which have taken the place of the sarcolemma. Frequently,
also, a certain degree of granulo-pigmentary degeneration is seen. The
coronary vessels, especially in chronic affections of the heart, are thickened,
and their lumen is constricted or obliterated, proving the joermanent nature
of the obstacle opposed to the nutrition of the myocardium.
II. FIBROSIS OF THE HEART.
Fibrosis of the heart, or inflammation of the connective tissue, corresponds
in part to the old interstitial myocarditis of Virchow.
It may be circumscribed or diffuse. When circumscribed it commences
around foreign bodies in the walls of the heart — e.g^.,, hydatid vesicles or
syphilitic gumma ta.
It is also seen in areas of pericarditis or of endocarditis. In adherent
pericardium the fibrosis may extend deeply and cause pericardogenous
myocarditis (Brouardel, Poulain). Interstitial endocardogenous myo-
carditis is much rarer. In children, however, we see constriction of the
infundibulum due to tliis origin.
The diffuse form constitutes fibrosis of the heart properly speaking.
It has lately been the object of important work, which has profoundly
modified our conceptions of the diseases of the myocardium. It nearly
always begins with arterio-sclerosis of the arteries of the heart, and occurs
chiefly in persons poisoned by alcohol, lead, and tobacco ; in arthritic, gouty,
or syphilitic patients ; or in those who suffer from Bright's disease and
malarial cachexia. It is also seen in elderly or overworked persons. It is
important to remember that in all these cases more or less pronounced
fibrous change is also present in most of the organs. Many are dependent
upon atheroma or on arterio-sclerosis (Gull and Sutton, Debove, etc.).
It may also be seen, as a secondary lesion, in patients suffering from valvular
DISEASES OF THE MYOCARDIUM 437
affections. According to Du Pasquier, the large fibroid heart is associated
with blood-stasis and ischemia.
The fibroid heart is increased in size, of a brownish colour, and firm con-
sistency. It cuts with difficulty, and we find at the most diseased points
greyish-white patches, due to the inflammatory process. These patches
are more frequent in the left than in the right heart, and more marked in
the pillars of the interventricular septum, and especially near the apex.
In some hearts these islets of fibrosis are only visible under the microscope ;
they then appear to be composed of fibrillary connective tissue that is more
or less dense, according to the age and interweaving of the elastic fibres
(Letulle). Some develop around an artery affected by endoperiarteritis,
while others are situated at a distance from the arteries. In the latter case
we find no trace of periarteritis. Endarteritis exists alone, and shows itself
at first sight by a narrowing in the calibre of the vessel. The second
variety is the more frequent. Each may exist alone, but they are sometimes
found together in the same patient, the fibrosis being mixed.
The muscular bundles situated at the periphery of the fibrous islets are
atrophied and broken up ; at the centre of the islet they have quite dis-
appeared. Those situated externally to the inflammatory or degenerative
process are enlarged, but their contents have often undergone fatty changes
or amyloid degeneration (Letulle).
These changes may lead to diminished resistance of the walls of the
heart, with the formation of aneurysms, which generally develop at the
spots where the pressure is most marked and the lesions in the muscle are
most pronounced — namely, near the apex and in the left ventricle (Pelvet).
Symptoms. — When the fibrosis has caused an aneurysm, sudden death
may occur from rupture of the heart. In some cases very sharp precordial
pain, due to the tearing of some deep muscle bundles, precedes the rupture
by some days (Robin). Sudden death has also been noted in many cases
of diffuse or circumscribed gummatous myocarditis (Mauriac).
In general, fibrosis of the heart is of slow evolution and characterized
by no pathognomonic symptoms. At the onset the patient complains of
palpitation, breathlessness, dyspnoea, and sometimes of angina pectoris.
The pulse is full ; the impulse is forcible. The apex of the heart is lowered
and carried towards the axilla ; the first sound of the heart is dull ; the
second, on the contrary, is ringing. The first sound is often reduplicated.
This gallop rhythm, however, indicates arterio-sclerosis, rather than fibrosis
of the myocardium. The pulse gradually becomes weak and irregular, the
respiratory troubles increase, stasis-phenomena appear, and, after repeated
truces, asystole finally results, just as in the case of uncompensated
valvular lesions. The symptoms, due to the concomitant fibrous lesions
in the kidneys, are often present as well, and these complex cases tax the
438 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
skill of the physician in recognizing, from the symptomatology, the part
belonging to each.
Huchard says that it is possible to distinguish four chief forma of
cardio-fibrosis : (1) A painful form, angina pectoris ; (2) an arrhythmic
form, or " incurable claudication of the heart " ; (3) a tachycardiac form
often associated with the preceding one ; (4) a myovalvular form characterized
by mitral or aortic murmur, with evident fibrous lesions.
Treatment. — At the onset we must employ means which lower the
tension — e.g., milk diet, massage and passive movements, balneo-therapy
at Bourbon-Lancy, Royat, or at Evian. An alcohohc solution of trinitrine,
in doses of from 2 to 10 drops daily in water, may be prescribed. Tetra-
nitrol has been advised in doses of y^ to ^ of a grain several times daily.
Iodide of sodium is especially indicated. Later we may employ, but with
great care, cardiac stimulants, such as caffein, digitahs, and strophanthus,
for symptoms of asystole.
We must never forget that cardio-fibrosis may be syphilitic in origin, in
wliich case injections of biniodide of mercury are indicated.
III. ANEURYSMS OF THE HEART— INFARCTS AND FIBROUS
PATCHES, ETC.— RUPTURE OF THE HEART.
Aneurysms of the heart affect chiefly the valves, the interventricular
septum, and the apex.
1. Valvular aneurysms result from acute and especially from infective
endocarditis. " The multiphcation of cells, their embryonic condition, the
softening of the intercellular substance, and the disappearance of the elastic
fibres — phenomena which are associated with endocarditis — deprive the valve
of its power of resistance." As a result of this inflammatory process, two
things may happen : the valve is perforated, or remains distended, and forms
an aneurysm.
Aneurysms of the sigmoid and mitral valves always have their opening
at the side upon which the blood-pressure acts. A sigmoid aneurysm opens
on the upper or arterial surface of the sigmoid valves, because the blood-
pressure acts on this surface, while a mitral aneurysm opens on the inferior
or ventricular surface, which supports the pressure of the blood during
systole, when the valve is closed. Valvular aneurysms rarely preserve their
spherical shape. They are more or less torn by the blood-stream, and the
valve is converted into shreds.
This rupture may show itself by a murmur which appears suddenly in
the course of infective endocarditis. The murmur is due to insufficiency,
and is therefore systohc if the mitral valve is affected, diastohc if the
lesion affects the aortic valves. Apart from these exceptional cases, we find
during hfe no indications of the rupture of the aneurysm.
2. Aneurysms of the interventricular septum usually have the same origin
DISEASES OF THE MYOCARDIUM 439
as the preceding form, and are often simply the extension of a valvular
aneurysm. As a rule, they are found by chance at the autopsy. When they
burst by perforation, communication between the two ventricles allows
arterial and venous blood to mix.
3. Aneurysms of the apex of the heart, also called partial, are quite
different in their pathogenesis. They are due to fibrous myocarditis, or
to simultaneous inflammation of the myocardium and endocardium.
The fibrous spots have no reactive power, and readily yield to the blood-
pressure ; dilatation and, later, aneurysm result. Some authors (Kundrat,
Huchard) regard obUteration of the coronary arteries as important. The
area, deprived of nutrient vessels, loses its resistance, and the aneurysm forms
imperceptibly. As pericardial adhesions are frequently present near these
aneurysms, the question has been asked whether these adhesions may not,
by repeated traction, facihtate the production of a partial aneurysm.
These aneurysms are, as a rule, situated in the left ventricle, near the
apex. The tumour is so large that the size of the heart is doubled (coBUr
en bissac). The aneurysm generally opens into the ventricle, and the
blood-stasis within the sac is not sufficiently complete to bring about the
formation of stratified clots. Cases have, however, been noted in which
the aneurysmal cavity was filled with clots of this nature. The limiting
wall is sometimes infiltrated with calcareous salts.
There is, so to say, no symptomatology of these aneurysms. Sometimes
one is found by chance post moYtem ; at other times the patient dies in
asystole, or more often from rupture of the heart. The existence of a diastolic
murmur at the apex, independent of aortic insufficiency, has, however, been
noted, and also a diastolic sound heard over the middle portion of the heart,
and differing from the gallop rhythm in Bright's disease by its clearer tone
(Rendu).
Infarcts and Fibrous Patches in the Myocardium.
Post mortem, we sometimes find on the surface of the ventricles depres-
sions resembling scars. On section of the ventricle we see that these de-
pressions correspond to fibrous tissue which has replaced the myocardium
to a more or less large extent. Sometimes, as in one of my patients, the
muscle of the wall is replaced at the sclerosed patch by fibrous tissue, which
is only one-third or one- fourth of the normal thickness. We find under
the microscope simply connective tissue and dilated vessels.
They are called fibrous patches in the myocardium. Thoy have
long been known, but were until recent years looked upon as the result
of chronic inflammation. We know to-day that these lesions are distinct
from localized fibrosis of the myocardium, and are the result of an infarct ;
they are true cicatrices.
The myocardium may indeed Ijc the scat of an infarct, just as all organs
440 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
and tissues in which the arterial anastomoses are not sufficiently numerous.
The heart answers to this disposition, for the coronary arteries, which
anastomose freely at the base, become terminal at the apex. The seat of
election of these infarcts, caused by obstruction of one of the coronary
arteries, is thus explained. This obhteration rarely occurs from embohsm.
It is in the majority of cases a thrombosis, produced by the lesions of arteritis
obliterans.
The infarct may show itself either as a hmited yellow or red focus, the
colour being due to necrosis of the damaged tissue, or as a haemorrhagic focus.
In the latter case it has been supposed that the blood in the heart cavity
secondarily inundates the focus of necrosis. The formation of some
aneurysms of the heart may be thus explained.
If the patient does not succumb, the infarct changes into cicatricial tissue,
which may undergo calcification, and form the fibrous patch in the myo-
cardium. When this scar is extensive, it forms a weak spot in the wall of
the ventricle, and may lead to aneurysm and rupture of the heart.
Although the production of an infarct may sometimes be revealed by
precordial pain and tachycardia, the lesion has, as a rule, no clinical history.
Rupture of the Heart.
Rupture of the heart occurs in the course of some affections of the
myocardium. Partial aneurysm of the heart, softening of the heart muscle
by rapid obhteration of a coronary artery, fatty degeneration, and infective
myocarditis, are the most frequent causes of these ruptures.
The rupture may take place from without inwards-, but it more often
occurs from within outwards, and is then due to the pressure of the blood
upon the inner surface of the heart. In the former case, on the con-
trary, the contraction of the affected muscle produces the tear. Both
mechanisms may also occur together. In this case the two lines of rupture,
instead of corresponding, are separated by unbroken muscular bundles.
The rupture may be double or triple, but the apex of the left ventricle is
the seat of election. At this point the wall is thinned, especially in cases
of partial aneurysm, or of fibrous myocarditis. The pericardium is usually
full of dark coagulated blood.
The rupture is usually caused by a strain. Cases of rupture during sleep
have, however, been quoted. It shows itself by inexpressible distress and
acute precordial pain, which may radiate to the back and to the left shoulder.
The patient utters a cry, his face becomes cyanosed, the beating of the
heart is tumultuous, the pulse is small and cannot be counted, the breathing
rapidly becomes embarrassed, and the patient dies within a few seconds.
The rupture may be gradual, and may only become complete at the end of
several days. We then see, in addition to the pain and vomiting which
marked the onset of the rupture, the other symptoms just enumerated.
DISEASES OF THE MYOCARDIUM 141
IV. SYPHILIS OF THE HEART.
vEtiology. — Syphilitic lesions of the heart, first noted in 1859 by Virchow,
are now becoming well kno^vn. They are chiefly seen during the tertiary
period, about ten years after infection (JulUen), though they may appear
earUer or later. Parrot has pubhshed several cases of hereditary syphihs
of the heart in the new-born. Letulle and Nattan-Larrier have seen miliary
gummata upon the valves in a syphihtic child who died at birth.
Pathological Anatomy.— S}T)hihs affects the valves more rarely than the
myocardium, especially the left ventricle. The interventricular septum and
orifices are not often involved. Gumma or fibrosis is the usual lesion.
The latter is recognized by its clear locahzation to one part of the heart, the
other zones being free, and by the severity of the arterial lesions at this
point, the arteries of the other regions being healthy. These characters,
however, are not specific, and at most allow a suspicion of syphiUs, especially
in the absence of other visceral manifestations.
Syphilitic gummata in the heart, as in other organs, constitute the
only real specific lesion. Their yellowish appearance, their elastic consist-
ency, their well-defined hmits, their multiphcity, or the coexistence of
miliary gummata in the neighbourhood, and the recognition of lesions in
the liver, kidneys, etc., can hardly allow any mistake. In some cases they
are surrounded by healthy muscular tissue, and project towards the endo-
cardium, or towards the pericardium. The serous membranes are thickened ;
the layers of the pericardium may be adherent. In other cases, on the con-
trary, the endocardium is not thickened, but ulcerated, the gumma having
emptied itself into the ventricular cavity, while the blood has entered the
cavity, hollowed out at the expense of the myocardium. The possibihty
of partial aneurysm is readily seen.
Description. — The disease often remains latent, and is only discovered
post mortem. In other cases we find all the .signs of a chronic affection of
the myocardium — namely, increased precordial dullness, indistinct and
irregular heart sounds (Semmola), arrhythmic pulse, retro-sternal pain,
dyspnoea on effort, oedema, and cachexia. In short, we see the evolution
of cardio-fibrosis or of progressive asystole.
More .striking are the cases in which a syphilitic person previously exempt
from cardiac trouble is taken ill with acute asystole, that proves fatal in
one or two days (Tessier). Rapid death may be due to agonizing dyspnoea,
recalling some pulmonary lesion rather than a cardiac affection. Lastly,
sudden death may be consecutive to rupture of the heart, to syncope, or to
embolism. The pathogenic diagnosis of cardiac syphilis is a matter of
supposition. However, in a patient with old .syphilis, wlio suffers from
symptoms of cardio-fibrosis, sypliilis should always be thought of, and daily
injections of biniodido of mercury be administered.
442 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
V. TUMOURS OF THE HEART AND TUBERCULOSIS OF THE
MYOCARDIUM.
Some rare cases of primary spindle-celled sarcoma are seen. Epithe-
lioma naturally afEects the heart only as a secondary growth. Most cases
of " cancer of the heart " are really secondary nodules of epithehoma, and
are quite exceptional. These nodules are secondary to cancer of the ali-
mentary canal, the lung, etc. ; in most cases they coexist with secondary
nodules in the lung. They are situated in the myocardium, and chiefly
in the right heart or in the interventricular septum. Cancer of the heart
is not as a rule recognized during hfe. In some cases it may give rise to
dyspnoea, tachycardia, precordial pain, etc. I have reported the case of a
patient suffering from pleuro-pulmonary cancer, whose pulse-rate was ex-
tremely quickened. At the autopsy I found a cancerous nodule as large
as a hemp-seed in the interventricular septum.
The other tumours are myxomata, forming pedunculated swelHngs on
the auricular surface of the mitral valve, and hydatid cysts, which may be
present in the myocardium as in other muscles. This affection is exceptional,
and its sole clinical interest hes in the possibility of hydatid emboli, when
the cyst opens into the cardiac cavity.
Tuberculosis of the myocardium is a rare affection, which has no clinical
history, and is found by chance post mortem. As a rule, it is coexistent
with tubercular pericarditis, and frequently with tubercular lesions of the
peritracheal glands.
We may find miUary tuberculosis, but more often we see large isolated
tubercles in which Koch's bacillus has been found. These large tubercles
may be caseous or calcified. Koch's bacilli have been found by Peron even
in the calcified lesions. Tubercular lesions of the myocardium are chiefly
situated in the ventricles, and are most often seen in children.
Tuberculosis of the myocardium is frequent in domestic animals which
have become tubercular (dogs, bovine animals, and pigs), while it is rare
in laboratory animals inoculated with tubercular products (Peron).
VI. HYPERTROPHY AND DILATATION OF THE HEART.
Pathology. — A muscle hypertrophies when it undergoes increased
work. This general law includes the heart, which hypertrophies as the
result of excessive or repeated contractions. The causes of this hypertrophy
may be divided into two classes (Jaccoud) : (1) Simple or purely functional
hypertrophy ; (2) hypertrophy from some mechanical obstacle.
Simple Hypertrophy. — This form, which is also called primary, is due
to nervous palpitation, and consequently to the causes producing this palpi-
tation (adolescence, hypertrophy of growth, excesses of every kind,
DISEASES OF THE MYOCARDIUM 443
abuse of drink, tobacco, tea, or coffee, hypertrophy in exophthalmic goitre).
The whole heart is affected, and the hypertrophy does not as a rule, involve
any special portion of the organ.
Hypertrophy from Mechanical Obstacles. — The causes are : (1) lesions
of the heart ; (2) lesions of the vascular system ; (3) lesions or abnormal
conditions of more or less distant organs.
1. The mechanism by which valvular lesions of the heart cause hyper-
trophy is readily understood. When an obstacle exists at one of the orifices,
whether it is the reflux of the blood-wave, as in insufficiency, or whether
this wave pass with difficulty through the orifice and the cavity, which is
in front of the diseased opening, in order to overcome the excess of pressure,
the walls of the cavity are subjected to exaggerated functional irritation,
which finally produces hypertrophy. The h}T)ertrophy, which is at first
locaUzed to the cavity in front of the diseased opening, finally extends to
the other cavities. For example, lesions of the mitral orifice increase
the blood-pressure in the left auricle, which hypertrophies ; the blood-stasis
in the left auricle increases in its turn the blood-pressure in the pulmonary
veins, the pulmonary artery, and the right cavities of the heart ; the right
ventricle therefore is exposed to excess of work, as well as to exaggerated
functional irritation, which, by its persistence, produces hypertrophy.
This hypertrophy is, within hmits, compensatory to the mitral lesions, but
the excess of blood-pressure in the right ventricle finally reacts on the
venae cavse and the capillaries of the greater circulation. From the capil-
laries the excess of tension reaches the arterial system, and finally the left
ventricle shows hypertrophy.
The lesions of the aortic orifice produce analogous effects, but different
in degree. The power of the left ventricle and the enormous hypertrophy
which accompanies aortic stenosis and incompetence protect the lesser
circulation for a long while, so that the excess of tension in the pulmonary
vessels and the right cavities of the heart appears later, and is less complete
than in mitral lesions.
2. Aneurysm of the aorta or of the great vessels, acute or chronic aortitis,
endarteritis, and general atheroma, are the lesions of the arterial system
which may produce hypertrophy of the left cavities of the heart. How do
such lesions determine hypertrophy of the left ventricle ?
In the normal state the elasticity of the arteries diminishes the resist-
ance experienced by the blood in passing from the heart to the vessels
(Marey). Hence diseases which abolish or diminish this elasticity increase
the resistance and raise the blood-pressure, the result being hypertrophy of
the left ventricle.
This pathology is perfectly applicable to chronic aortitis and to more
or less general atheroma, though it does not sufficiently explain other cases.
444 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
For instance, acute aortitis is nearly always accompanied by hypertrophy
of the left ventricle, which must not be set down to a concomitant lesion
of the aortic orifice, because it occurs in cases in which acute aortitis exists
without comphcations. Aneurysms are often accompanied by hypertrophy
of the left ventricle. In fifty-eight cases of aortic aneurysm hypertrophy
of the ventricle was present in fifty-three. This hypertrophy cannot be
set down to excess of pressure, for physiological experiments have proved
that the presence of an elastic sac in the course of a vessel does not interfere
with the circulation. Aneurysms of the arch of the aorta are by no means
always accompanied by hypertrophy of the heart. In a certain number of
cases (I have verified this fact three times post mortem) the heart was
normal in size, although the aortic aneurysms were large.
Arterial lesions of the lesser circulation cause hypertrophy of the right
ventricle. Congenital or acquired stenosis of the pulmonary artery
leads to hypertrophy and dilatation of the cavity of the right heart,
Arterio-sclerosis of the heart, associated with sclerosis of the myo-
cardium will be discussed under Bright's Disease.
3. The morbid condition of certain organs reacts upon the heart and
determines hypertrophy. Chronic diseases of the lung react on the right
ventricle, which dilates and hypertrophies ; chronic pleurisy and costo-
vertebral deformities may produce the same result ; interstitial nephritis
causes hypertrophy of the left ventricle (Traube, Potain). The mechanism
in this case will be discussed under Bright's Disease. Transitory hyper-
trophy of the left ventricle during pregnancy is generally admitted.
Potain has reported cases of cardiac hypertrophy following lesions of the
brachial plexus. Chronic lesions of the liver may favour dilatation and
slight hypertrophy of the right ventricle (Potain). Cardiac hypertrophy
following growth is said, to result from a want of parallel development
between the heart and the other organs (See). Dilatation of the cavities
of the heart nearly always accompanies hypertrophy (excentric hyper-
trophy). It may be general or local, and as it depends on the lessened
resistance of the walls, it is more marked in the right cavities of the heart.
Often the chief lesion is dilatation, and is seen following diseases
which lessen the resistance of the heart- wall. The dystrophies of the heart
muscle, described under Degeneration and Myocarditis, belong to this
class.
Pathological Anatomy. — In true hypertrophy the size and weight of
the heart are increased. The weight may reach as much as 1,000 grammes
(the normal weight is 300 grammes). The thickness of the left ventricle
reaches 3 or 4 centimetres (12 millimetres being the normal) ; the thickness
of the right ventricle amounts to from 1 to 2 centimetres (3 millimetres bein»
the normal thickness).
DISEASES OF THE MYOCARDIUM 445
The structure has given rise to much discussion (LetuUe). Some hold
that the hypertrophy is due to increase in the number of the primary
bundles, while others admit increase in the size of the bundles, or both of
these causes. Hypertrophy is not due solely to the change in the muscle.
Lesions of the connective tissue, the endocardium, the pericardium, and
the vessels are present in a hypertrophied heart. Nevertheless, the change
in the muscular fibre is most important. There is no proof of the multiplica-
tion of the primary bundles, while their hypernutrition is admitted by all
authorities, and each primary bundle, instead of having the normal diameter
of 15 to 20 fjb, reaches one of 25 to 30 /i.
The muscular hypertrophy is dispersed through the affected regions,
and in proportion as hypertrophy gives place to organic decay, the heart
is invaded by diffuse fibrosis, by endoperiarteritis of the small vessels, and
by disseminated fatty degeneration.
In some cases more or less general cardiac cirrhosis is seen. The
fibrous tissue appears to be localized around the small arteries in the heart
muscle. The fibrosis of the myocardium is said to be consecutive to endo-
periarteritis.
The shape of the heart shows Uttle change when the hypertrophy is
general, but is much modified in cases of partial hypertrophy. In this
manner local hypertrophy of the left ventricle increases the longitudinal
diameter of the heart, giving it an oval shape and an almost horizontal
direction. The septum encroaches on the cavity of the right ventricle, and
the papillary muscles are much enlarged. Hypertrophy of the right ventricle
increases the transverse diameter of the heart, and tends to give it a spherical
shape.
Description. — As Jaccoud has observed, care must be taken to
distinguish the symptoms proper to simple hypertrophy from those of
hypertrophy, accompanied by cardio-pulmonary changes. As long as the
muscle has not undergone fibro-fatty degeneration, hypertrophy of the heart
produces neither blood-stasis nor dropsy. On the contrary, the hyper-
trophied walls sometimes propel the blood with increased vigour, and
cause congestion. Thus the enormous hypertrophy of the left ventricle
in aortic insufficiency is often accompanied by cerebral congestion, with
flushing, dimness of sight, ringing in the ears, headache, vertigo, and epis-
taxis. The impulse of the blood-wave is shown tliroughout the whole
arterial system by pulsation in the carotids, bounding pulse, dilatation
and elongation of the arteries, and the patient complains of palpitation,
precordial distress, and dyspnrjca.
When, however, the hypertrophied and dilated muscles undergo fibro-
fatty degeneration, and compensation begins to fail, the train of symptoms
which we have enumerated several times in the last few sections appears.
446 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The physical signs of hypertrophy of the heart are as follows : The
apex of the heart is displaced downwards and outwards, and the impulse
has its maximum to the left of the sternum if the left ventricle is afiected,
and in the epigastric angle if the right ventricle is involved. The pre-
cordial bulging depends on the extent of the hypertrophy. The dullness
is increased in the longitudinal direction by hypertrophy of the left ventricle,
and in a transverse one by that of the right ventricle. Pure hypertrophy,
apart from valvular lesions, does not show itself by any abnormal sound.
The gallop rhythm present in hypertrophy of renal origin will be studied
under Bright's Disease.
Diagnosis — Prognosis. — The diagnosis of hypertrophy of the heart
is made from the symptoms above mentioned. We must be on our guard
in cases where the size of the heart is masked by the exaggerated percussion
resonance of emphysema. The diagnosis between hypertrophy and peri-
cardial effusions has been discussed under Pericarditis. Purely functional
hypertrophy is not serious, and the compensatory form is favourable, in
that it diminishes for a time the extreme gravity of the valvular lesions.
The phenomena of congestion due to excessive cardiac contractions may
produce troublesome results. In such cases it is necessary to diminish the
tension in the arterial system, and to moderate the cardiac erethism.
VII. ASYSTOLE.
The word asystole must not be taken literally, for the absence of systole
means death. In coining the word asystole, Beau supposed that, at an
advanced period in valvular lesions of the heart, the contractions of the
organ are so faulty that they open the road for congestion, oedema, and all
the symptoms of cardiac cachexia. Beau's description remains true, but
the interpretation of asystole must be modified. Asystole is produced by
any cause which interferes with the contraction of the heart muscle. This
class includes excessive fatigue, overwork, adherent pericardium, valvular
lesions, imperfectly compensated dilatation, and especially degeneration
of the muscular fibre (Stokes). It is proper to add that these causes of
cardiac origin may be reinforced by those of peripheral or vascular origin,
such as malnutrition and defective resistance of the small vessels.
The symptoms and the course of asystole and of cardiac cachexia have
been described under Valvular Lesions of the Heart and their Treatment, so
that it is unnecessary to repeat them.
CHAPTER IV
NEUROSES OF THE HEART
I. PALPITATION.
According to many authors, palpitation is characterized by a change in
the frequency, rhythm, and intensity of the heart-beats. This view of the
question appears to me incomplete. The pulse-rate in fever exceeds 120,
although palpitation is not present. The force of the heart-beats is much
increased in some cases of hypertrophy of the left ventricle, but yet palpita-
tion may be absent (Potain). Intermittence in mitral lesions certainly
does not entail palpitation. Palpitation, then, is not absolutely associated
with changes in the frequency, rhythm, and intensity : it often accom-
panies, but is not the consequence of, such changes.
" Palpitations," says Peter, " are spasms of the heart," and, I may
add, distressing and painful spasms. We are not conscious of the action of
the organs in life : when we are so, we recognize it by discomfort or by pain.
In the normal condition the stomach and intestine execute their movements
without our knowledge. When these movements change in character
(spasms), they become painful.
The heart follows the same law. In palpitation the heart- beats are
distressing or painful to a variable extent, from simple discomfort to pain
with angina and tendency to syncope.
Pathogenesis. — Whatever is the initial cause of palpitation, some trouble
in the nervous system of the heart must finally be acknowledged. In
some cases this nervous trouble appears apart from any material change
in the organ ; in other cases a material change is manifest. Between these
two extremes many intermediate forms are found, but their classification
is impossible.
Nervous Palpitation. — The physiology of the innervation of the heart
has been examined for an explanation of palpitation, and it is said that
the pneumogastric and great sympathetic nerves are antagonists. Inhibi-
tion of the pneumogastric or excitation of the sympathetic produces pnicti-
cally the same effect — namely, the acceleration af the heart-beats. Hence
all causes which lessen the action of tiie former or increase that of tlie latter
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448 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
may give rise to palpitation. Such a statement appears inexact, because
acceleration is not sufficient to produce palpitation, and consequently it is
not evident how causes which diminish the action of one of the antagonistic
nerves may not at the same time enfeeble the action of the other. Ab-
normal irritabihty of the nervous system, cerebro-cardiac neuropathy
(Krishaber), exophthalmic goitre, excesses of every kind, abuse of drink,
coffee, tea, or tobacco, are the usual causes of nervous palpitation. The
so-called palpitations of growth and of reflex origin also enter into this class.
Palpitation with Material Lesions. — In this class we find palpitation,
which accompanies diseases of the heart, such as pericarditis and endocarditis,
myocarditis, hypertrophy and dilatation, or valvular lesions. Acute
inflammation, which at first sight would appear Ukely to irritate the nerve
endings, is rarely accompanied by palpitation, while valvular lesions
frequently are, and it remains to be seen what is the mechanism in these
cases. Every case of stenosis, says Peter, is accompanied by spasm. Patho-
logically constricted tubes, such as the uretlira or the oesophagus, and those
normally constricted, such as the glottis or the biliary ducts, are subject
to spasmodic contraction, and stenoses of the heart also provoke spasms
called palpitations. But how are we to explain palpitation in aortic in-
sufficiency, which is the exact opposite of stenosis ?
Palpitation of Mixed Origin.— Marey has shown that lowering of
the blood-pressure increases the rate of the heart-beats. The heart beats
more quickly when its load is lessened. This experimental fact has been
used to explain palpitation consecutive to haemorrhage, high temperature,
or violent exercise, the blood-pressure diminishing as the result of haemor-
rhage, or of dilatation in the peripheral vessels (vasoinotor nerves). A
fresh element — namely, the quality of the blood, which is poorer in red
corpuscles and in oxygen — is present in the palpitation of anaemia.
Description. — The palpitations may be isolated or grouped in attacks.
In sHght attacks the heart-beats are troublesome rather than painful, and are
accompanied by precordial discomfort. In violent attacks the heart " beats
as if it would burst the chest," its movements are sometimes tumultuous and
disordered (arrhythmia), the pain is agonizing, the patient suffocates, his
speech is interrupted, his face is pale and bathed in sweat, and his hands are
cold ; he is threatened with faintness and syncope.
Examination during an attack yields various results. In some cases
the heart-beats are tumultuous and disordered, but in others they preserve
their regularity. The pulse is not always in exact relation with the heart-
beats. The pulsation in the radial artery may remain normal, in spite of
the apparent intensity of the ventricular contraction.
Palpitation is often brought on by trifling causes : emotion, movement,
or a heavy meal.
NEUROSES OF THE HEART 449
The diagnosis of the cause is the most important feature, and it is neces-
sary to know whether the palpitations are purely nervous or are associated
with some cardiac lesion. The treatment depends upon the recognition of
the cause. The first indication is to eUminate anything which may produce
palpitation (excesses of every kind — tea, coffee, tobacco, emotion, heavy
meals). The preparations of digitaUs are the more indicated in proportion
as the arterial tension is but little raised and the pulse is weak and com-
pressible (Jaccoud).
Bromide of potassium, valerian, the application of ice-bags to the pre-
cordial region, and hydrotherapy yield good results.
II. PAROXYSMAL TACHYCARDIA.
Bouveret in 1889 applied the term " paroxysmal tachycardia " to a
disturbance of the cardiac rhythm, characterized by crises during which
the pulse beats from 180 to 220 times a minute. These crises come on
suddenly without appreciable cause at various intervals, and cease just as
suddenly, after a duration varpng from a quarter of an hour to some days.
Since Bouveret's article many cases have been published, and I have
had a patient under observation for two years. His history will serve as
my type, because all cases of paroxysmal tachycardia are a replica of one
another.
One day, without apparent reason, he felt as though his heart were beating with
extraordinary quicknes.a and violence. The attack, which lasted an hour and a half,
wa.s painless, and passed otf suddenly. Next month a second attack. The crises have
since recurred once or twice a month, and lately almost daily. The attack may be
thus described : Something appears to get loose in the chest, and the heart beats violently.
After a period, varying from a quarter of an hour to four hours, the attack ends as
suddenly as it began. On examination during a crisis nothing special is to be noted
in his appearance ; no distress, no angina ; he talks and is often able to carry on his
work. During the attack a tremor of the chest- wall is seen, and on placing the hand
over the heart, as many as 200 beats a minute may be counted. This condition lasts
from one to three hours. At the end of the attack the patient feels a sudden shock
due to a beat of exceptional force, and the normal rhj'thm is then re-estabhshed.
It is curious that the patient can sometimes stop the crisis by fixing the chest in
forced expiration and holding his breath ; he becomes cyanosed, and the jugular veins
swell. He remains for a moment in this condition, and is sometimes obliged to take
another breath without having strangled the crisis, but at other times he says: "It
has stopped." The tremor ceases, and the pulse suddenly falls to 70 or 80.
In all published cases the crisis has beeij practically identical.
Sharp emotion, blows upon the epigastrium, abuse of cofEee or of tobacco,
digestive, pulmonary, or uterine troubles, and physical or mental strain have
been in turn invoked to explain this paroxysmal tachycardia. As a matter
of fact, we do not know its aetiology. In the patient's previous history,
hysteria, neurasthenia, and hereditary nervous diseases are wanting.
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450 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
As a rule, no valvular lesion is found, Bouveret accordingly called the
disease " essential paroxysmal tachycardia," in order to distinguish it from
ordinary tachycardia seen in cardiac affections. There are cases, however,
in which the disease, while remaining identical from the semeiological point
of view, coexists with mitral or aortic endocarditis. The patient of whom
I have just spoken was suffering from aortic incompetence.
The disease may last for an indefinite period. If the crisis only lasts a
few hours, it is perfectly bearable. When it lasts several days, haemoptysis,
indicative of pulmonary stasis, may occur. If the crisis lasts still longer,
the hver becomes large and painful, the urine is suppressed, the right heart
dilates, oedema and serous effusions form, and the patient appears dying.
But as soon as the crisis ceases, the circulation is re-established, the
oedema is absorbed, the urine becomes abundant, and the patient, who
appears moribund, recovers.
The prognosis, however, is grave, for the patient may succumb in a
prolonged attack. The disease may remain stationary and be prolonged
indefinitely, or it may improve and end in recovery. In my patient the
attacks, which occurred daily, have become less frequent, and he has only
one crisis every week or fortnight.
Post-mortem examinations have been performed in fatal cases. Dilata-
tion of the right heart and venous stasis in every organ have been found ;
the lesions are evidently secondary and terminal. The primary lesions
have not been found ; the neuromotor system of the heart has always
appeared healthy ; the bulb, the spinal cord, the pneumogastric, and the
sympathetic nerves are free from disease, and the heart itself only shows
commonplace lesions.
The characters of the disease are so specific that it is not necessary to
dwell upon the diagnosis. The crises of paroxysmal tachycardia resemble
neither the ordinary palpitation in heart disease nor the reflex palpitation
of dyspeptic or hepatic origin, etc. Tachycardia in Basedow's disease
may supervene in crises, but does not show the sudden passage from the
state of crisis to that of absolute calm and vice versa.
Treatment has so far been powerless to influence this disease.
III. PERMANENT BRADYCARDIA.
The pulse-rate in health is from 70 to 72. As a result of different in-
fluences (intoxication, jaundice), the rate may fall below 50 ; but in this case
the fall is transitory, while this section deals with permanent slowness of
the pulse.
The slowing is so great that the pulse falls to 20 beats, or even less. In
one of my patients the pulse-rate fell to 14 per minute for some days.
NEUROSES OF THE HEART 451
The pulse preserves its regularity. The sphygmographic tracing stows
a short upstroke and a long-drawn-out downstroke. The arterial pressure
is usually higher than normal.
The heart-beats are well marked. The duration of the first pause is
not increased, and it is the increase of the second pause that causes the
slowness of the cardiac rhythm. In short, each heart-beat is normal, but
the interval between the beats is much increased. This interval may not
be completely silent. After the diastohc sound, muffled rumbhng sounds
are heard. Vaquez has shown that they are due to an abortive contrac-
tion of the auricles, and radiography has confirmed his interpretation.
Bradycardia may be associated with perfect health, or may be accom-
panied by morbid phenomena, caused in several ways.
Any lesion that affects the cardiac innervation may result in brady-
cardia, either by stimulating the system that slows the rate (bulb and
vagus), or by inhibiting the system that quickens it (spinal cord and great
sympathetic).
Lesions may be present in the heart, and affect the intracardiac gangha
(syphihtic gumma of the interventricular septum and upper part of the left
ventricle, in Rendu and Massary's case). They may affect either pneumo-
gastric nerve, which is compressed in its intrathoracic course either by the
dilated aorta (Stackler's case) or by enlarged mediastinal glands (Lannois'
case). The pneumogastric may also be injured in its intracranial course
(compression by a gummatous tumour of the cerebellum). Many lesions
may affect the cardio -inhibitory nucleus in the bulb (injury, cervical caries,
syphihtic or tubercular tumours, infectious myelitis).
Lesions of the accelerator system are less often in evidence, yet the
presence of unilateral dilatation of the pupil has shown the lesion to be in
the cardio-spinal centre, which is near the centre for dilatation of the pupil.
All these cases of bradycardia depend upon such gross lesions that there
can be no possible doubt as to their existence ; but the case is different in the
syndrome which Charcot has called " Permanently slow pulse, with syncopal
or epileptiform crises," and for which Huchard has proposed the name
of " Stokes-Adams disease." The patients, who are of advanced years,
often show signs of renal insufficiency ; their arteries are hard and tortuous,
and the tension is high. They are subject to attacks of syncope, which in
one of my cases had the following characters :
The syncope was ushered in by a kind of aura : gonerai malaise, feeling of weight in
tlie chest, buzzing in the ears, cold sweat, pallor, and chilliness. The patient lost
consciousness and looked almost dead, with dull eyes and cadaveric tint. Aft«r two
or three minutes the colour returned, the eyes opened, and she rapidly recovered con-
sciousness. She had no involuntary emission of urine, no epileptiform movements.
After the crisis she comi)laincd of feeling bruised, as though her body had been racked ;
she sometimes felt sick, but did not vomit.
29—2
452 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The syncope may be immediately followed by an epileptiform attack.
Whether the attacks are syncopal or epileptiform, they are often ushered in
by very marked slowing of the pulse.
The attacks succeed one another at variable intervals ; the more fre-
quent they become, the more grave the prognosis. The patient finally dies
during an attack of syncope which is more prolonged than the others, and
the duration of the disease does not exceed three or four years.
No grave lesions are found, as a rule. The kidneys and myocardium often
show fibrous change ; the arteries of the nerve centres are atheromatous ;
arterio-sclerosis of the vessels in the bulb appears to be the chief cause of the
disease.
No treatment has any efiect upon permanent bradycardia. Milk diet
gives some benefit in cases of renal insufficiency (Debove). Rest is abso-
lutely indicated (Hirtz). During an attack of syncope the patient must
keep his bed.
IV. EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE— BASEDOW'S DISEASE.
Medical and Surgical Treatment.
** Many patients will consult you for palpitation of the heart, but you
will at once be struck by their strange look and their prominent eyes," and
you will find hypertrophy of the thyroid gland.
These patients are suffering from exophthalmic goitre, Graves' or
Basedow's disease, characterized in a typical case by the following troubles,
wliich are mostly of nervous origin : (1) cardiac troubles ; (2) ocular troubles ;
(3) hypertrophy of the thyroid gland ; (4) motor troubles ; (5) psychical
troubles. According to the case, these various symptoms may appear in
succession or in combination. In some cases they are predominant ; in
others they are indefinite.
Description — 1. Cardiac Troubles. — Acceleration of the heart-beats
is the essential symptom of Basedow's disease. This symptom is never
lacking ; it is found in early cases, and even after all the other symptoms
have disappeared, the acceleration of the heart-beats persists for some time
longer. This symptom is due to paralysis of the nucleus of the vagus
nerve. In some cases the patient does not notice the tachycardia, but in
others the beats are distressing and cause palpitation. This palpitation
becomes gradually more severe, and supervenes in the form of attacks ;
120 to 150 beats per minute may be counted during the paroxysms. The
palpitation is often violent, and the cardiac impulse so strong that it raises
the chest-wall, while the heart " beats as though it would burst." In
spite of this disturbance, the beats may not be irregular. In another
NEUROSES OF THE HEART 453
variety the beats are irregular ; the heart seems feeble, and its pulsations are
hurried, uneven, and abortive. During the paroxysms the arrhythmia and
cardiac weakness may lead to acute asystole, with dyspnoea, angina, and
cyanosis. In some cases the symptoms of angina pectoris have been
recorded. The symptoms of asystole disappear between the paroxysms.
Lastly, in some patients the troubles of innervation are comphcated by
hypertrophy, dilatation of the cavities, or insufficiency of the tricuspid and
mitral valves. The hypertrophy is attributed to the functional hyper-
activity of the heart, or to an excess of tension consecutive to lesions of the
valves. These valvular lesions (insufficiency of the auriculo-ventricular
and aortic valves) are sometimes entirely mechanical in origin. They may
be caused by dilatation of the ventricles ; the heart muscle, weakened bv
the strain, allows overdistension. These lesions are usually transient, and
cease with the disease, though they may become permanent.
The carotid arteries are tortuous and enlarged. The pulsation raises
the tissues of the neck. These beats are not the contre-coup of the cardiac
impulse, but the vessels in the neck, both arteries and veias, beat on their
own account, and appear to participate in the overgrowth and pulsation
which affect the vessels of the thjToid gland. The sphere of vascular
excitation appears limited to this region, for violent pulsation is not found
in the abdominal aorta, the radial artery, or elsewhere. In spite of these
vascular troubles, the blood-pressure remains normal. Inequality of the
two radial pulses has been found.
2. Ocular Troubles. — Spasms of the upper eyelid may precede or accom-
pany the exophthalmos (Wecker). When the glance is directed downwards,
the upper eyelid no longer follows the ball of the eye, but remains fixed above
it (de Graefe). The exophthalmos is double, and may be so extreme that
the eyeUds can scarcely cover the ball, giving to the physiognomy a strange
expression of astonishment and terror, which Marchal de Calvi called the
" tragic eye." This appearance is partly due to retraction of the levator
palpebrse superioris, which causes considerable enlargement of the palpebral
aperture (Stellwag).
During the paroxysms the exophthalmos increases to such a degree that
luxation of the eyeball has often been seen (Pain). The conjunctiva is
often injected, and the cornea, being continually exposed, may become
infected and ulcerated. The sight is unaffected, and it is rare to see myopia
or j)resbyopia. The ophthalmoscope may reveal congestion of the choroid
and dilatation of the retinal vessels. Galezowski and the wTitcr have seen
retinal haemorrhages.
In patients suffering from Basedow's disease, with or without hysteria,
we sometimes see bilateral paralysis of the motor muscles of the eyeball,
in which case the voluntary movements are chiefly affected, while the
454 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
reflex ones are in part preserved. The whole external musculature — namely,
the recti and the obHqui, innervated by the third, fourth, and sixth pairs —
is paralyzed. In addition, the movements of the eyeball are abohshed, and
only elevation of the upper eyehd is, as a rule, preserved. This inability
to move the eyes gives a strange fixed look, and the patient cannot see an
object to his right or his left without turning his head. The name " ex-
ternal ophthalmoplegia '* has been given to this paralysis of the external
musculature. The internal musculature, i^hich comprises the cihary
muscles and the radial or circular fibres of the iris, and governs accom-
modation and the dilatation or contraction of the pupil, is unaffected in
Basedow's disease. External ophthalmoplegia maybe seen in patients suffering
from both exophthalmic goitre and hysteria, or from either malady alone.
3. Thyroid Body. — The enlargement of the thyroid body results from
dilatation of its numerous vessels. Auscultation of the gland therefore
reveals simple or double blowing murmurs, which are louder during diastole,
as in a cirsoid aneurysm. On palpation, we feel expansile pulsation, as in
an aneurysm. The right lobe is more often invaded than the rest of the
organ, and although the tumour is not as large as an ordinary goitre, it
may, by compression of the trachea or by the excitation of the recurrent
nerves, produce voice changes, spasm of the glottis, and paroxysmal attacks
of suffocation.
4. Motor Troubles. — Tremors, paralysis, and choreiform movements
may appear at the onset or during the course of Basedow's disease.
Tremor is almost constant, but may be so shght that care is required
to discover it. The tremor is most frequent in the upper limbs. The
arms and hands, even during rest, show tremors, which hamper writing and
all the delicate functions of the hand and fingers. In the lower hmbs the
tremor is also present during repose, as well as in walking. During repose
the limbs show a kind of pedal movement. In exceptional cases the tremor
may invade the whole body, including the face and the tongue. Fibrillary
movements are usually seen in all the muscles.
In some cases tremor opens the scene, and attracts so much notice as to
constitute a defaced form of Basedow's disease. On closer inspection,
however, we usually find other symptoms, such as tachycardia, palpitation,
peculiar look, pulsation of the carotids, diarrhoea, rapid wasting, diminished
electrical resistance, etc. (Vigouroux). Although these symptoms may only
be present to a partial extent, they assist in forming a diagnosis. The
syndrome may be reconstructed from the recognition of some one symptom.
Hence we are not liable to confound this tremor with that due to alcoholism,
mercurial poisoning, neurasthenia, or morphinomania. Lastly, we may add
that the tremor in Basedow's disease shows its special tracing (Marie), and
gives about eight or nine oscillations a second.
NEUROSES OF THE HEART 455
Paralytic troubles are manifold (Ballet). Without mentioning external
ophthalmoplegia, the paralyses of Basedow's disease may show the most
varied forms — monoplegia, hemiplegia (Teissier), weakness of the upper
Umbs (Drejrfus-Brisac), diplegia, paralysis of the nuchal muscles (Chwos-
teck), paresis of the lower Umbs (Heyden), and complete paraplegia (Charcot).
These paralyses, whether shght and transient or severe and prolonged,
have been set down to hysteria. As hysteria is sometimes associated with
exophthalmic goitre, it is reasonable to admit that paralyses which are
hysterical in nature may coexist with Basedow's disease. Due allowance,
however, being made for the possible paralyses of hysteria, which, moreover,
have their own characteristics, certain paralyses are inherent to Basedow's
disease, without the need for invoking the intervention of another factor.
Thus, my patient, who showed no signs of hysteria, was a perfect example
of Basedow's paralysis.
As regards the upper hmbs, the paralysis diminishes or aboHshes the
functions of the hands. My patient could neither seize an object nor hold
it. She was incapable of dressing herself, or of feeding herself, so that for
some time she had to be fed by others.
Paraplegia, varying in degree from paresis to total paralysis, is very
common in Basedow's disease. Its prominent features have been given by
Chevaher : " In the upright position, or in walking, although the patient
experiences no feeUng of vertigo, the limbs give way and bend suddenly.
Sometimes during a walk he may fall forward upon his knees. At other
times, though more rarely, the motor weakness takes months to become
complete, as in a case quoted by Charcot, where the impossibility
of maintaining the upright position and of walking lasted nearly a whole
year. These paraplegic troubles do not remain stationary ; they improve
from time to time and grow worse again, and tliis relapse, which is
followed by improvement, shows a certain analogy with the evolution of
the disease. In the intervals the legs frequently collapse while walking, so
that crutches may be needed."
If we do not understand these cases, the idea of paraplegia consecutive
to myeUtis at once enters our mind ; but we should not^ confound the para-
plegia of Basedow's disease with myelitis, for in the former case bladder
troubles are absent, the sphincters are intact, and we sen no trophic troul)les,
no bed-sores on the sacrum. Moreover, we should not confound tliis para-
plegia with that duo to hysteria, because, in addition to the numerous
stigmata of hysteria, such as hemianajsthesia, narrowing of the \isual field,
aboUtion of the pharyngeal and ovarian reflexes, hysterogenous zones, etc,
hysterical paraplegia is soft, and accompanied by anaesthesia of tlio paralyzed
parts, with complete loss of the muscular sense, while the muscles do not
present the diminution of electrical resistance seen in Basedow's disease.
456 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Choreiform movements complete the triad of motor troubles in Base-
dow's disease. They were very marked in my patient at the Hotel-Dieu,
and a cursory examination revealed choreiform movements in the hands,
arms, shoulders, trunk, neck, and face. It has been asked whether chorea
and Basedow's disease are two associated maladies, or whether Basedow's
disease may not be capable of causing choreiform movements, just as it
causes tremors and paralysis. In 1864 L. Gros, comparing exophthalmic
goitre with chorea, described a case of Basedow's disease, with choreiform
movements which affected the upper and lower Umbs, the neck, and the face.
In 1876, at the Congress of Clermont-Ferrand, Gagnon, while studying the rela-
tions between exophthalmic goitre and chorea, quoted the case of a neurotic young girl
who never had rheumatism. For a month this child had wasted, her character had
changed, and she had palpitation. Tliis picture marked the onset of Basedow's
disease. At this time the pulse-rate was 130, and hypertrophy of the thyroid body
was evident. The disease followed its course, and two years later she showed choreic
movements, which finally became general.
In 1881 Gueneau de Mussy pubUshed a case of a young girl suffering from Base-
dow's disease, with choreiform movements. For some weeks the locomotor functions
had been so affected that the patient could not walk. She used to make some regular
steps forwards or backwards, showing that the muscular power was much enfeebled,
in addition to the incoherence of her movements. The cerebral functions were not
spared. The young girl was strange, her memory was not reUable, she had troubled
dreams, and even delirium. At the end of eight or ten months the choreiform and
paralytic troubles disappeared, as well as the mental aberration.
Raymond and Serieux, in a paper on Basedow's disease and mental degeneration,
found in one patient permanent choreiform spasms of the external obhque muscle.
Deleage, in 1894, communicated to the Societe des Sciences Medicales of Gannat a case
of exophthalmic goitre with tremors, paralytic troubles, and choreiform movements.
Is it a question of choreiform movements or of true chorea in these
patients ? Kohler is incHned to look on this symptom as a choreiform
motor trouble ; Dach states his opinion that it is only met with in children,
which is wrong ; and Mobius thinks that it is a question of chorea super-
vening as an accidental complication. For my part, I cannot compare
this condition with Sydenham's chorea. I beheve that it is only a question
of choreiform movements, and my reasons for this opinion are as follows :
If exophthalmic goitre and chorea are indeed two associated diseases, as
some authors think, why does Basedow's disease always precede chorea ?
We do not see exophthalmic goitre during the course or during the decline
of true chorea. Hundreds of children who are affected by chorea never
develop exophthalmic goitre. I think, therefore, that choreiform move-
ments are a part of Basedow's disease, just as are tremors and paralysis.
The choreiform movements, with the tremor and paralysis, constitute
a triad of motor troubles. The triad may be incomplete or complete, and
we can understand how great is the disturbance in a muscular system
affected at the same time by paresis, tremor, and choreiform movements.
NEUROSES OF THE HEART 457
5. Other Nervous Troubles. — The sensory troubles in Basedow's
disease consist in trigeminal neuralgia, intercostal neuralgia, racliialgia,
and hemiansesthesia, which is usually associated with hysteria.
In most patients vasomotor, trophic, and secretory troubles are seen.
Albuminuria, glycosuria, and polyuria, which indicate disturbance in the
bulb, have been noted.
Many patients complain of an exaggerated sensation of heat. They
open the windows, and often complain of being too heavily clad (Basedow,
Teissier). This increase in temperature is appreciable with the thermo-
meter, and sometimes reaches one degree higher than normal.
Changes in the skin, sweating, purpura, pigmented patches, discrete or
confluent vitiligo, alopecia, and chronic urticaria have often been observed,
I have frequently seen pigmentation of the neck, shoulders, and arms, in the
form of more or less large and discrete patches. (Edema is frequent, and
chiefly affects the lower hmbs. Trousseau has seen hypertrophy of the breasts.
We may also find the following series of symptoms :
Dyspnoea, which may be associated with palpitation, is frequent. It
may be continuous, intermittent, or paroxysmal, and is the chief symptom
in some cases. It is probably due to changes in the nucleus of the vagus.
The digestive functions suffer in Basedow's disease. I have found
hypertrophy of the Uver and jaundice; bouhmia succeeds anorexia, and
violent pulsations are seen in the epigastric angle. We may see vomiting
and diarrhoea in the form of crises lasting one or more days. In spite of
the increased appetite, patients waste and pass into a condition of exophthal-
mic cachexia. The general wasting contrasts in a singular manner with
the exaggerated development of the eyes and neck. Wasting may be the
first apparent symptom. I have seen a patient who rapidly lost over a
stone in weight ; wasting and tachycardia were here the only appreciable
symptoms for some months. At first sight such wasting leads us to think
of tuberculosis or of diabetes, and, as glycosuria is often present, the diagnosis
must be carefully considered in order to avoid mistakes.
Menstruation is nearly always affected. It may be irregular or sup-
pres.sed, and the amenorrhoea is often accompanied by leucorrhoea. Re-
estabhshment of the menstrual functions is one of the most favourable signs
in prognosis. Pregnancy has sometimes a beneficial effect. In men im-
potence is usually associated with Basedow's disease.
Haemorrhages are sometimes seen. I have observed purpura, haemop-
tysis, and retinal haemorrhages in the same patient. Cerebral hioniorrhago
and death from apoplexy have been noted. I saw one case of this nature
with Jaccoud.
Vigouroux and Kohler have noted diminished resistance to electric
currents.
458 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
In some cases Basedow's disease and myxoedema have been associated ;
no antagonism exists between them.
6. Psychical Troubles — Mental Condition. — As a general rule, few
patients escape psychical troubles. Trousseau was the first to describe
them : " The changes of character are such that Ufe becomes difficult for
the entourage of these patients, who are irritable and exacting to such a
degree that the disease forms their only excuse. In addition to these changes
in character we may note insomnia — a cruel comphcation which reduces
patients to extreme despair." Trousseau mentions psychical troubles in
most of his cases, and assigns such importance to them that he gives them
a prominent place in his wonderful description of exophthalmic goitre.
All authors who have studied exophthalmic goitre have laid stress upon
the psychical troubles. " In nearly all patients suffering from exophthalmic
goitre," says Ball, " there exists a certain degree of exaltation. They nearly
all have strange ideas, and these morbid manifestations may end in the most
acute mania." According to JofEroy, " the patient is restless, often a
prey to exaggerated activity, and yet incapable of methodical work or of
prolonged mental effort. Among the first changes which exophthalmic
goitre imprints upon the character of patients, we find in some cases
depression ; or in others excitation." Boeteau thus describes the psychical
troubles : " The chief symptom is profound melancholy, which more and
more enters into every one of the patient's thoughts, so that he entertains
ideas of suicide. At the same time the victims become impatient, surly,
and remarkably emotional. Their will-power, when not quite absent, is
often very feeble ; they are incapable of fixing their -attention upon any
subject, even for a minute ; they cannot remember next day what they did
the day before. They show complete indifference not only to what concerns
them, but to everything which affects their family, even to those who are
most dear to them ; and this indifference may sometimes amount to
aversion."
Psychical troubles may exist from the first — sometimes, indeed, as the
initial symptom — so that the diagnosis remains in doubt until forcible
beating of the heart, exophthalmos, goitre, tremors, etc., appear. The
interpretation of the psychical troubles is not decided. Some authors
consider them to be a direct part of the disease ; others, on the contrary,
look upon them as due to hysteria and neurasthenia. To those who make
these psychical troubles subordinate to hysteria, we may answer that there
are cases of exophthalmic goitre in which hysteria is absent, and cannot,
therefore, be the cause. Neurasthenia appears to be open to the same
objections. It is undeniable that individuals may suffer at once from
exophthalmic goitre and from neurasthenia or hysteria, but this is no reason
to bring in neurasthenia in every case.
NEUROSES OF THE HEART 459
It is perhaps more logical to admit that Basedow's disease, like chorea,
awakens psychical troubles in predisposed persons. The psychical troubles
of chorea show very great analogy with those of Basedow's disease. We
find the same intellectual depression, the same inaptitude for work, lapses
of memory, changes in character, melancholy, indifference, and irascibihty.
Must we say that neurasthenia or hysteria has for some weeks been associated
with chorea ? I think not. We must say (omitting cases in which the
association does exist) that chorea can extend to the whole cerebro-spinal
system, and excite slight or severe psychical troubles. The same reasoning
appHes to Basedow's disease. Are we to say that, at the onset, neurasthenia
comes to our rescue by bringing in its contingent of psychical troubles ?
I think not. We must say that Basedow's disease can extend to the whole
nervous system, and excite psychical troubles ju^t as it excites nervous
troubles of every kind. Further, as Toulouse has remarked, " neuras-
thenia has succeeded in donning the mental troubles which formerly belonged
to exophthalmic goitre alone."
These psychical troubles are usually transitory, and tend to recover.
I shall now deal with certain serious mental troubles or true psychoses
" running crescendo through the whole gamut from transitory or fugitive
deUrium to inveterate mania " (Boeteau). These psychoses include acute
and chronic mania, delirium with ideas of persecution, melancholia, irresistible
impulses, and apprehensive madness, and have been repeatedly discussed
(Raymond and Serieux, Joffroy). '
Resume of cases :
Young woman, -without nervous antocedonts, taken ill with acute mania during
Basedow's disease. She became violent and refused all food ; excitation gave way
to depression ; her mental condition improved, but she died from cachexia. — A young
woman, without personal or hereditary antecedents, had Basedow's disease compUcated
by melanohoha. She refused food, tried to throw herself out of the window, and
suffered from delusions. She recovered some months later. — A woman, suffering
from typical exophthalmic goitre, was seized with irresistible impulses and delirium.
She felt an impulse to kill her children, but she was able to resist the impulse, though
she feared the greatest misfortunes. Her insomnia was persistent, and her distress
was intolerable. A year later, however, recovery was complete. — My patient, with
exoj)hthalniic goitre, had hallucinations of sight and hearing, was liaunted with ideas of
persecution, and imagined that j^eople hid in her room in order to kill her.
The psychosis in Basedow's disease, therefore, may assume very different
forms. Difficulties begin when we have to interpret its intimate nature.
Some authors say that these mental troul)les form an integral part of tlie
disease. Whether the cerebral symptoms are slight, as is usually the
case, or whether they are severe, with hallucinations, impulses, maniacal
excitement, or delirium of every kind, it is none the less true tliat they are
symptoms of a cerel)ral nature, and form part of Basedow's disease, in the
same way as the other nervous troubles. This conception of Basedow's
460 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
disease makes it a morbid entity, a neurosis, or a neuropsychosis, in which
every part of the nervous system is more or less affected.
Other authors enunciate a different opinion and divide up the disease.
They say that the mental troubles, melancholia, delirium, or delusions —
in short, every form of mental ahenation — must be set down as psychoses
which do not spring directly from the disease, but are associated with it,
just as the same authors would associate hysteria and neurasthenia with it.
These morbid conditions which evolve in the same patient are not, therefore,
hybrids in the true sense of the word ("in neuropathology," says Charcot,
" hybrids do not exist "), but are associated, each association preserving
its autonomy, characters, degree of gravity, and therapeutic indications.
Tliis grouping of morbid conditions, neuroses, and psychoses, is said to have
heredity as its cause.
This opinion is seductive, although it is far from agreeing with the facts
of heredity, and though it forms an incomplete explanation of the fact that
heredity is sometimes direct, sometimes intermittent, and that there may
be heredity of transformation, and also homologous heredity. According
to some neuropathologists, persons affected with psychoses in Basedow's
disease are really degenerates. " In many cases," say Raymond and
Serieux, " Basedow's disease may be only a special locahzation of functional
troubles which supervene in degenerates, or in predisposed persons, in some
part of the cerebro-spinal axis. Magnan's theory of this failure of equiU-
brium in the centres of the cortex or of the spinal cord (paralysis, or erethism
of these centres) may be apphed to these different manifestations.
Toulouse, in a critical review of the relations betw-een exophthalmic
goitre and mental alienation, discusses this question, and shows us the
defects of too hasty conclusions. " At this time," says he, " the tendency
evident in psychiatry, thanks to the works of Morel and Magnan, is to
refer mental diseases to some distant hereditary cause, and to overlook
the closer causes. This psychopathic predisposition cannot be denied, but
it is too general an idea, although it forms the basis of all mental ahenation.
The hypothesis of predisposition does not suffice to explain the appearance
of mental disorders in exophthalmic goitre, as in other maladies in which
psychoses appear."
The discussion, therefore, takes this form. There is a question of fact
and of theory. Chnical facts show that many persons suffering from Base-
dow's disease, especially women, may have psychical troubles and mental
disorders as well as motor troubles (tremor, paralysis, choreiform movements)
and nervous troubles of every kind (crises of diarrhoea, sweating, albuminuria,
glycosuria, and visceral congestions), all of which depend upon the nervous
system. Is it necessary to isolate these groups and claim for them an
autonomous or hereditary origin in every case, independent of Basedow's
NEUROSES OF THE HEART 461
disease ? I do not think that we need go so far. The question of soil and
of acquired or hereditary disposition play, not only in neuropathology, but
in the whole domain of pathology, too large a part for me to attempt to
belittle their importance. I think, on the contrary, that heredity in all
its forms is the conducting wire which helps us to assign things to their
proper place ; but it does not furnish sufficient reason for cutting up a morbid
entity and disjoining the pieces. Here, as elsewhere, I repeat, acquired or
hereditary predisposition plays a leading part in' the production of psychical
symptoms and mental troubles. These cerebral troubles, however, have
undoubtedly arisen in persons who, neither in personal nor hereditary
antecedents, have had anything which could explain the appearance of a
psychosis apart from their Basedow's disease. Sometimes psychical troubles
and mental disorders begin with this disease, increase during its paroxysms,
and then disappear with the other symptoms, or even before them. There
is, indeed, under these conditions, such affinity or agreement in the evolution
of the different symptoms which comprise Basedow's disease, that it is very
difficult in this case to see only the coupling of morbid conditions, and it
appears to me more reasonable to admit the development of a series of nervous
troubles of various kinds, assuming the form of neuroses or of psychoses,
but having indeed a common origin. However this may be, the appear-
ance of mental troubles is always of ill omen.
Course — Termination. — Basedow's disease is rarely quite t5rpical.
One of the cardinal symptoms may be absent or sHght, while other nervous
troubles or symptoms are prominent. Sometimes the disease is more or
less abnormal in appearance.
The course is usually slow and progressive, and the disease may last
for ten or twelve years, or even more. In some cases it runs an acute
course. The symptoms follow one another rapidly, and the clinical picture
is complete in a few weeks — indeed, it may be so in the space of twenty-four
hours. My patient at the Hotel-Dieu, after terrible emotion, developed
in a single night, tremor, paralysis, exophthalmos, hypertrophy of the
thyroid gland and cardiac palpitation, and the mental condition appeared
later. Trousseau quotes the following typical example of this sudden onset :
A woman lost her father. She was much upset, and cried during the night. Next
day she suddenly felt that her eyes swelled and the eyelids became raised, while the
thyroid gland enlarged and showed unusual pulsation. She also felt violent palpita-
tion of the heart. Four days later she came and consulted Desmarcs, who found ex-
ophthalmic cachexia.
Terrible paroxysms, described by Trousseau, may supervene in the
course of the disease. After some prodromata, or, indeeti, suddenly, the
patient has an acute attack of dysjmcea; the tliyroidghiiid bocoiiies eiihirged;
palpitation is severe ; the eyes start from their sockets ; the face is bathed in
462 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
sweat ; the vessels in the neck show rapid pulsation ; the dyspnoea is accom-
panied by stridor and sucking-in, and death sometimes appears imminent.
Quiet is, however, re-estabHshed, and the paroxysm ends. Acute paroxysms
are much more serious than chronic ones. In a case quoted by Trousseau
the patient was seized with such terrible attacks of suffocation that prepara-
tions were made for tracheotomy. The paroxysms may only recur at in-
tervals of months or years. They show infinite variation in their duration
and gravity, and may even reappear every month or every few days.
Exophthalmic goitre is a grave malady, for the mortahty amounts to
20 per cent. Death results from cachexia or from intercurrent trouble,
such as paroxysms, pulmonary hsemorrhage, intestinal and ^cerebral haemor-
rhage (Hirsch), multiple gangrene, mental alienation, angina pectoris, or
pulmonary tuberculosis.
etiology. — Exophthalmic goitre is a disease of the middle period of
life. It is much more frequent in women than in men, and is often
associated with a nervous temperament, hysteria, epilepsy, chorea, mental
ahenation, diabetes, chlorosis, or pathological conditions of the genital
system. It may appear after moral or physical shock, accident, emotion,
fright, violent anger, or injury (De Graefe). Pregnancy has sometimes a
beneficial influence on the progress of the disease, but, on the other hand,
the goitre may appear during pregnancy.
Heredity plays the chief part in its aetiology, and the parents may
themselves be sufferers from goitre, or from one of the nervous diseases
above quoted.
As regards direct heredity, I do not know a more interesting or conclu-
sive case than that of the family of Les , natives of a place near Soissons,
where goitre is endemic. I have seen several members of this family, which
in three generations has furnished six cases of Basedow's disease.
I could quote cases in which the children of parents suffering from
Basedow's disease were born with a goitre. For many years the goitre
remained the only sign of the disease, and ten or fifteen years later other
symptoms, such as exophthalmos and palpitations, appeared as the result
of acute emotion, menstruation, or pregnancy.
A more singular fact is that, in countries where goitre is endemic, we
see goitre in persons who are not descended from parents affected with
Basedow's disease, and yet at some period of their Uves exophthalmos
and tachycardia appear in addition to the goitre.
Diagnosis. — At first the diagnosis is very difficult, especially when the
disease is abnormal, because we may only have a single symptom. Mistakes
are rare when the chief symptom is goitre or exophthalmos ; but when the
patient only complains of pulsation, tremor, rapid wasting, or attacks of
dyspnoea, we must be able to reconstruct the disease by grouping certain
NEUROSES OF THE HEART 463
symptoms, or traces of the more or less important symptoms above
enumerated.
In women the general symptoms may simulate chlorosis, but the accelera-
tion of the pulse, the pecuUar look, the prominent eyes, the tremor of the
hands and feet, the pigmented spots, the pulsation of the cervical vessels,
and the shght sweUing of the thyroid body should indicate the diagnosis.
As the exophthalmos in Basedow's disease affects both eyes, and is not
accompanied by squint, it shows no resemblance to unilateral exophthalmos
of orbital or of cranial origin. The prominence of the eyeball in myopic
patients will be readily distinguished.
The origin, appearance, and progress of exophthalmic goitre do not
allow confusion with goitre, properly so called. Many cases will call for a
minute inquiry into the symptoms present.
Nature of the Disease. — Exophthalmic goitre is a cardio- vascular
neurosis, resulting doubtless " from profound disturbance in the vasomotor
nerves " (Trousseau). It is a neurosis of bulbar origin (See).
We may, I think, be satisfied with Ballet's conclusions : The possible
association of external ophthalmoplegia, of paralysis of the facial, the hypo-
glossal or the motor branch of the trigeminal nerves, with exophthalmic
goitre forms an argument in favour of the theory which refers Basedow's
disease to some trouble in the central nervous system, and particularly in
the bulb.
The common troubles of the disease depend on nuclear paralysis of the
vagus, wliich causes tachycardia, dyspnoea, and gastric troubles; and on
paralysis of the vasomotor centres, which gives rise to flusliing of the face
and neck. The goitre and the exophthalmos result from the coexistence of
vasomotor paralysis and tachycardia. These paralyses do not depend upon
a material lesion, but are simply functional troubles, capable of improve-
ment, aggravation, recovery, or relapse.
It follows from the preceding statements that Basedow's disease is
especially a bulbar neurosis. Troubles of medullary or of cortical origin
may also appear, and therefore Basedow's disease is often associated with
other neuroses, such as unsoundness of mind, epilepsy, and especially
hysteria.
Treatment. — I will give here the treatment of Basedow's disease described
in my lectures at the Faculte. Let us consider this treatment from two
different points of view — (1) during the paroxysms, and (2) during the
course of the disease.
In dealing with an acute paroxysm, in which the thyroid and cardiac
trouble are most severe, we must at once act because the paroxysm will
last for half an hour or more, and may cause death, if we do not intervene
immediately. Distress and dyspna^a are extreme. The excessive swelhng
464 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
of the thyroid body compresses the trachea, causing stridor and preventing
the free passage of air. In such conditions tracheotomy appears imperative,
and, indeed, it would be indicated but for the danger arising from the
dilatation of the vessels of the neck, which are gorged with blood, and the
fatal haemorrhage which might result, as in a case quoted by Trousseau.
How, then, are we to reheve the thyroid and cardiac troubles ? The
first indication is fulfilled by the application of ice-bags to the thyroid until
the crisis disappears. We should treat the cardiac excitation by digitahs,
in large doses, as advised by Trousseau — e.g., 2 grains of the dried leaves in
powder every half-hour for two or three hours, according to the severity
and duration of the attack, while an ice-bag is applied to the precordial
region.
If this gives no relief, we must resort to bleeding, to the apphcation
of leeches to the neck, and to careful inhalations of ether or of chloroform.
The paroxysm ends more or less rapidly, and the patient is for the time
being saved.
We must, however, not forget that the disease remains, that it is dan-
gerous in these cases, that other crises will appear, and that one or other of
them will be fatal. Therefore we must be on our guard, and ready to
act in a similar manner. It is, above all, necessary to prevent them^ — that
is, to direct our attention to the disease itself. The physician must adopt
the same course, although the patient has shown no paroxysms, because
great improvement in the symptoms can be effected by rational and well-
directed treatment.
Many drugs have been extolled in exophthalmic goitre, and the chief
among these are iodine and the iodides. Cheadle prescribes tincture of iodine,
taken internally. This drug is certainly efficacious in simple goitre, but
renders no service in exophthalmic goitre. Trousseau has even given his
opinion against this method of treatment, and most writers agree with his
advice.
Bromides are indicated for the cardio- vascular excitation and erethism.
Although this drug does not act directly on the disease, it at least has a
favourable effect upon the symptoms, when given in large doses.
Extract of valerian, or valerianate of ammonia, produces manifest
improvement in the palpitation and the dyspnoea.
All authors are unanimous in advising digitahs in the treatment of
exophthalmic goitre. While it has the disadvantage of raising the blood-
pressure, it has the advantage of slowing the heart-beat in severe tachy-
cardia ; therefore its disadvantages must be passed over, and we must only
think of reheving the patient. The dose varies according to the suscepti-
bihty of the patient. In some patients 1 or 2 grains of the dried leaves will
be sufficient, while in others it will be necessary to increase the dose, the
NEUROSES OF THE HEART 465
whole point being to estimate the susceptibility of the patient. Except in
rare cases, fligitalis is an excellent drug.
The use of belladonna has in some cases caused improvement of all the
symptoms, except the hypertrophy of the thyroid gland.
Hydrotherapy, in spite of unfavourable criticism, is none the less an
excellent method. The cold douche should not be given at first, but shower-
baths at a temperature of 75° F. should be first given, and the temperature
of the water should be gradually reduced.
Electricity is certainly very efficacious. The continuous current appears
to have given the best results. The following procedure is usually adopted :
Two rheophores are applied on either side of the neck over the superior
cervical ganghon, then over the vagi, and a current of from 3 to 8 miUi-
amperes is allowed to flow for eight or ten minutes. A daily sitting is given
for three to four weeks ; the treatment is then stopped and resumed at the
end of a week. For some time past the faradic current has met with some
credit (Vigouroux). This rapid survey of the different methods of treat-
ment shows that digitahs, valerian, bromides, the continuous current, and
hydrotherapy give the best results.
As regards treatment with thyroid extracts, opinions are much divided.
Voisin has quoted a case in which sheep's thyroid gland gave excellent
results. In answer to Voisin's communication, Dreyfus-Brisac and
Beclere declare that thyroid treatment for exophthalmic goitre has always,
in their experience, increased the symptoms, and they are not alone in this
opinion.
For my part, I have for a long time used ipecacuanha. The idea of
giving ipecacuanha in Basedow's disease occurred to me on seeing the
success obtained in haemoptysis.
These patients have erethism of the cardio- vascular and vasculo-pulmonary
systems. The pulse is hard and vibrating during the haemoptysis. In
such cases we give ipecacuanha in emetic doses if we desire to arrest abundant
haemoptysis, or in fractional doses so as to cause nausea if we are treating
more chronic bleeding. The pulse diminishes in frequency and force, and
the haemoptysis improves or ceases. In Basedow's disease the treatment
of cardio-vascular erethism is also one of the indications to be fulfilled.
I have therefore given ipecacuanha with digitahs and opium in pills :
I^ Powdered ipecacuanha . . . . • • gi'- iV
Powdered digitalis leaves . . . . • ' S^- s^
Extract of opium . . . . • • g^- ^V
To make one pill. Take four pills at equal intervals in the
twenty-four hours.
In giving ipecacuanha we should not cause vomiting, but only very
shght nausea. We must then diminish the number of pills to three, or even
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466 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
two, in the twenty-four hours, and gradually increase the dose up to the
limit of tolerance. With ipecacuanha I am fond of giving valerianate of
ammonia in a daily dose of 2 or 3 teaspoonfuls, and I also employ
hydrotherapy.
I have treated many cases of exophthalmic goitre in this manner, and
marked improvement, especially in the dyspnoea, has been the rule. It
was particularly striking in two cases, and I do not think that any other
method of treatment would have given a better result. The effect of
this treatment is shown by the appreciable improvement after a few days,
and very marked benefit after some months. The only inconvenience
of this treatment is diarrhoea, which disappears as soon as tolerance
conmaences.
Surgical Treatment. — Surgical treatment consists in operations upon
the goitre or upon the cervical sympathetic nerves. Let us first consider
operations upon the goitre. The idea of partial or total removal of the
gland or of enucleation by drawing it out of the wound and allowing it to
waste (exothyropexia) arises from the somewhat erroneous conception that
the hyperthyroidization is the chief cause of the symptoms and complica-
tions of Basedow's disease.
According to this theory, the goitre produces too much secretion, poisons
the nerve centres, and produces auto-intoxication from functional hyper-
activity. This theory, to be accepted, should be appHcable to every case.
We find, however, nothing of the kind. The exophthalmos, tachycardia,
etc., may be already marked, while the goitre is absent or slight. These
defaced forms are far from rare, and we cannot, under such conditions,
invoke primary hyperactivity of the thyroid gland. Abadie has quoted
cases in which the exophthalmos was so marked that complete loss of both
eyes had resulted, while the enlargement of the thyroid body was scarcely
appreciable.
In order to appreciate the question better, let us consider the operations
upon the thyroid body and their results. Allen Starr gives statistics of
190 cases of thyroidectomy in Basedow's disease, with the following results :
Recovery in 74, improvement in 45, failure in 3, and death in 33 cases.
As a rule death was not expected, and occurred soon after the operation,
or two or three days later. Whatever theory be used to explain the
deaths, the patients succumbed with nervous symptoms — viz., excessive
tachycardia (pulse-rate 180 to 200), sudden rise of temperature, angina,
restlessness, profuse sweating, and collapse.
Brissaud published a case in which Poncet performed exothyropexia,
which is a benign operation, and consists in exposing the thyroid gland.
The patient died without any warning.
Lejars witnessed the following accident :
NEUEOSES OF THE HEART 467
A girl eighteen years of age had tachycardia, slight exophthalmos, tremor, etc.
The goitre was very moderate ; the right lobe of the thyroid body appeared to be the
larger. It was firm, could be depressed, and showed neither nodules nor induration.
The right lobe was removed en masse, after freeing the upper and lower cornua and
ligaturing the vessels. The operation was satisfactory, and the patient rested well
during the day. About eleven o'clock at night she was suddenly seized with intense
dyspnoea and considerable acceleration of the respiratory movements. No flushing of
the face, no asphyxia. She died in three-quarters of an hour. The autopsy revealed
no operative lesion ; the recurrent, vagus, and sympathetic nerves, with their cervical
branches, were absolutely intact. The fact, says Lejars, remains that a simple
operation, performed A^ithout mishap, was followed by sudden death, which could not
be explained at the autopsy, but appeared to be related to acute bulbar trouble.
Jaboulay, in one of his cases, adds :
Diminution of the mass remaining after partial extirpation of the goitre usually
follows when the case is one of ordinary goitre. Section of the isthmus, for example,
may cause atrophy of both the hypertroiahied lobes, and unilateral thyroidectomy
produces diminution in the size of the remaining lobe. I have seen the opposite result
in a case of Basedow's disease. Acting on the theory, which subordinates the other symp-
toms to perversion of the secretion, I have several times operated upon her thyroid
gland, and have left it exposed on two consecutive occasions. As each intervention
was only followed by temporary improvement, I decided last year to remove the right
lobe. Three months later the left lobe was enlarged, and quite recently the middle
lobe formed a goitre as large as a small orange. After each operation upon the thyroid
itself the symptoms showed genuine improvement, and the tremor in particular speedily
disappeared ; but relapses occurred, with palpitation, tremor, and fresh goitre.
Poncet sums up the matter thus :
After various operations which I Have performed in exophthalmic goitre, including
simple exothyropexia, I have seen a fatal result. Such results, and also the frequent
return of symptoms which had yielded for a very short while before the operation, have
made me very circumspect. For my part, I shaU not again meddle with the thyroid
body in a case of Basedow's disease.
It must be admitted that the results just quoted are hardly encouraging,
but for a correct decision let us also take into account the successes obtained.
Tillaux has reported a case of cure :
At the Societe de Chirurgie, Tuffier presented two young women suffering from
exophthalmic goitre, both treated by partial thyroidectomy, involving the right lobe
and tlio isthmus. The first patient had been under medical treatment for two years
at the Salpet^lere, with no result. After thyroidectomy the exophthalmos and the
nervous troubles were cured. Later the tachycardia and the tremor ceased, so that
two and a half years after the operation the patient was in good health. The left lobe
of the th3Toid gland remained larger than normal, but had not increased in size since
the operation.
The second patient was a young woman whose condition was very grave when
TufBer operated. She had taken tabloids of thyroid gland for six months, instead
of tabloids of thymus glands. Symptoms of acute thyroidism, which demanded re-
moval of the gland, appeared. Before the operation her contUtion was very grave :
Enormous exophthalmos, violent dyspmca, incessant palpitation, pul.se 1-44, tliyroid
gland double its normal size and showing marked pulsation, insomnia, tremor, (i-doma
of the lower Umbs, and profuse diarrhrx-a. The results of the operation were remark-
able. Next day the erethism of the vessels disappeared, the diarrha'a ceased, and tho
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468 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
pulse fell from 125 to 72. Condition quite satisfactory a month after operation. Ex-
ophthalmos still present, although less, tremor cured, no trace of dyspncea, sleep good,
no nervous symptoms. The future will show the ultimate worth of the operation.
In spite of the successes above set down, as well as two other cases
reported by Doyen, it is none the less true that operations in exophthalmic
goitre expose the patient to very grave danger.
We may therefore form a judgment upon the advantages or disadvantages
of such operations in Basedow's disease. It seems, however, well estab-
lished that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Operation, even
when performed under the most favourable conditions, does not protect
the patient from very grave risks, nor the surgeon from terrible surprises.
The results obtained are temporary or incomplete. For these reasons I
should be very loth to advise this operation.
Another operation — viz., double section of the great cervical sympathetic
— was first performed by Jaboulay. Trousseau had seen that the chief
symptoms and vascular troubles in Basedow's disease do not extend beyond
the area of the cervical sympathetic. The carotid arteries, with the thyroid
vessels and their branches, are alone affected by the expansive pulsation,
wliile the other vessels, such as the radial, the femoral, or the abdominal
aorta, beat normally. Accordingly, the great sympathetic nerve has been
considered as the cause, and theories, some based upon excitation, others
upon paralysis of its branches, have been brought forward. None of these
theories, however, were applicable to all the symptoms. The brilhant
discovery of Dastre and Morat has thrown much light upon this ques-
tion. These physiologists showed that the vasodilator fibres of the cervical
sympathetic have a distinct origin, and upon this fact Abadie has built
up an ingenious theory.
Be this as it may, it is none the less true that double section of the great
sympathetic nerve has given remarkable results. Out of six cases published
by Jaboulay, one is absolutely characteristic :
A woman fifty -five years of age had for three months suffered from exophthalmos,
tachycardia, and tremor. Hypertrophy of the thyroid gland was absent. She had
gained no benefit from thyroid extract. When she came under Jaboulay's care,
" her look was indeed alarming from the exophthalmos, which had al&ost dislocated
the left eye from the orbit, and the tremor was excessive. She suffered from tachy-
cardia and from such intense dyspncBa that the possibihty of surgical intervention was
discussed." Double ablation of the superior cervical ganglion was performed. The
result was immediate. Three days later her face had lost its terrible expression, while
the eyes, and the left eye in particular, had almost regained their normal position.
Tremor, dyspnoea, and precordial pain completely disappeared, but the tachycardia
persisted, and the pulse varied between 100 and 120.
In his communication of October 21, 1896, at the Congres de Chirurgie,
Jonnesco (of Bucharest) brought forward two cases of exophthalmic goitre,
treated by double resection of the cervical sympathetic.
NEUROSES OF THE HEART 469
Reclus and Faure's case is comparable to that of Jaboulay. The
result of the operation was remarkable, but it is necessary to see, as Reclus
says, what will become of the patient, for it may be only a case of transient
improvement.
The following case was pubUshed by Gerard-Marchant and Abadie :
A young woman suffered from a defaced form of Basedow's disease, characterized
chiefly by exophthalmos. Tachycardia absent ; thyroid body showed very slight hyper-
trophy of the right lobe ; exorbitism was so marked that the lids did not cover the eye.
Gerard-Marchant performed resection of both cervical sj'mpathetic nerves. The
exophthalmos gradually diminished, but did not quite disappear. " This rdsult,"
say the authors, " was not maintained. Under the influence of emotion and fatigue,
exophthalmos reappeared, although in a less degree than before the operation. It is
right to add that there is no trace of goitre, and that her physical and moral condition
has remained excellent."
Chauffard and Quenu have published the following case :
A man, aged twenty-five, admitted with the classical symptoms of Basedow's disease.
Eyes very prominent, complete closure of the eyelids impossible. Goitre bilateral and
pulsatile. Heart-beats very forcible, and rate 110 a minute ; dyspnoea and palpita-
tion on the least effort. Carotids showed marked pulsation. Marked tremor of the
hands and limbs. Patient irritable, unstable, and showed stigmata of hysteria.
Quenu performed bilateral resection of the cervical sympathetic. After the operation,
aggravation of the tachycardia and appearance of arrhythmia, which did not exist
before, became manifest. Some days later heart showed a rate of 110. As regards
the heart the benefit has therefore been nil, the goitre has been slightly affected, and the
circumference of the neck, which before the operation was 38 centimetres, varies from
36| to 37 centimetres, since the operation. The eyes may be less prominent, but this
is very doubtful. In short, the benefit obtained has been nil. We may, indeed, ask
whether the patient has not rather suffered than profited by operation, since in two
months he has lost 6 pounds in weight.
In short, the results obtained by bilateral resection of the cervical
sympathetic are so far too much at variance to yield definite information
as to the value of this intervention. Besides the truly remarkable results
(Jaboulay and Reclus' cases) there are others in which the good results are
doubtful (Gerard-Marchant and Abadie's cases) or absent (Chauffard and
Quenu's case).
It is therefore impossible at present to give surgical treatment the
preference over medical means. Both of them show defects and are often
ineffectual, but medical treatment at least does not endanger the patient's
life (I allude to operations on the goitre), and may result in recovery.
CHAPTER V
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS
I. PHLEBITIS— PHLEGMASIA ALBA DOLENS.
Phlebitis is inflammation of a vein. This question is in part surgical ;
thus phlebitis consecutive to injury of veins, operations, inflammation, etc.,
is of traumatic or external origin. This variety was thoroughly described
by Hunter (1795), Ribes (1816), and Dance (1828), who divided the condition
into suppurative and adhesive phlebitis. This side of the question does not
concern us, and, further, it is no longer of interest, since aseptic procedures
are employed in surgery. The phlebitis which now occupies our attention
arises from internal causes, and infectious phlebitis figures in the first rank.
Sometimes the deep tissue of organs is the seat of phlebitis, at other times
the miscliief develops in the veins of the trunk and the limbs. Phlebitis
may pass unnoticed when deeply hidden in the splanchnic cavities, or show
itself by symptoms depending upon its locahzation (portal vein, sinuses of
the meninges) ; at other times it produces embolisms described under
pulmonary embolisms.
When phlebitis affects the veins of the limbs, it shows itself as phleg-
masia alba dolens. The word phlegmasia is derived from (f)\iyfjia,
(^Xe'yixaro'i, which in old-time medicine signifies phlegm (oedema). The
literal translation of phlegmasia alba dolens is painful white oedema.
I shall here describe the different kinds of phlebitis and phlegmasia alba
dolens.
Pathological Anatomy. — We have to study a double lesion : the one
affecting the walls of the vein, or phlebitis ; the other affecting the blood,
which forms a clot inside the vein — i.e., the obturator clot or thrombus.
The name thrombosis is given to the process which ends in obliteration of
the vein by a thrombus.
1. Phlebitis — Mechanism of Thrombosis. — A vein, when affected by
phlebitis, is often obliterated by a blood-clot. Ancient theories considered
phlebitis the initial phenomenon, and thrombosis the consecutive one.
Later, at the instigation of Virchow, an entirely opposite theory has been
admitted : thrombosis is the initial phenomenon, and phlebitis the secondary
470
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 471
one. In spite of the infatuation for German researches, Vulpian fought
against the too exclusive doctrine of Virchow, and taught that the coagula-
tion of blood in the veins is preceded by a change in the vascular
epithelium.
Modern researches prove that Vulpian was right. In some cases the
primary lesion of the vein is self-evident (varices, injury) ; in other cases it
is at first sight less apparent. What do histology and bacteriology teach
us ? In the great majority of cases phlebitis, Uke endocarditis, is due
to microbic agents. Widal has found the streptococcus of puerpural
infection in the clots of phlegmasia. Bacteriological examination must be
made with material from the uterine veins, because coagulation starts in
them, and gradually reaches the femoral veins, although we may not be
able to find any trace of characteristic streptococci in the clot which ob-
literates them. Chantemesse and Vaquez have found Koch's bacillus
in phlebitis among tubercular patients. More often in the lesions of phlebitis
we find not one specific bacillus, but the ordinary micro-organisms of sup-
puration — viz., staphylococci or streptococci. In the latter case phlebitis
supervenes as a secondary infection. In this manner the cases of phlebitis
in influenza, typhoid, cancer, tuberculosis, cachexia, and possibly also
chlorosis, are explained. The microbic agents are often present in the
vessel wall and in the clot. Whether these agents penetrate the walls of
the vein by the vaso vasorum, or whether the microbes circulating in the blood
directly cause irritation of the vascular endothelium, matters Httle. The
essential fact is that phlebitis precedes thrombosis.
How does tluombosis arise ? Different interpretations have been given
as to the formation of the thrombus : (1) An increase of the plasmin
(spontaneously coagulable fibrin) ; (2) sloAving of the blood-stream. In-
crease of plasmin is associated with cachectic conditions (cancer and phthisis),
the puerperal state, and chlorosis. Slowing of the blood-stream is due to
the pressure of aponeurotic laminae, situated in the course of certain veins
(crural), to compression caused by the foetus, to degeneration of the heart
muscle, and to cardiac paresis (Jaccoud) in severe fevers and cases of p}Texia.
According to Hayem and Bizzorero, the haematoblasts, or blood- platelets,
play a considerable part in the coagulation of the blood.
However this may be, the lesion commences with granulo-fatty degenera-
tion of the endothelial cells; the tunica intima becomes thickened, and
granular and stratified layers of fibrin are deposited upon this granular
tissue. This is the origin of the thrombus. The fibrinous clot is adherent.
" All attempts to break down this adhesion are useless, and it is difficult
to delimit exactly the wall of the vein which undergoes progressive thicken-
ing. At the central point of the clot the wall presents a reddish bud,
which arises from the deep tissue of the vein, and becomes lost in the
472 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
coagulum " (Vaquez). After these preparatory changes the partial or total
obUteration of the vein by coagulation of the blood is readily understood.
2. Thrombus. — We may now consider the clot itself. The clot fills
the cavity of the vein more or less, and may be parietal or obhterating.
The portion in contact with the vein is whitish and very adherent — " the
clot of pulsation " (Hay em) — while the portion which obhterates the vessel
is reddish, " the clot of stasis." The central end of the clot sometimes
ends in a tapering manner. This end, struck by the current of blood, or
detached by the stream from a collateral vein, may become an embolus.
The thrombus may undergo one of the following changes : (1) Its
elements may become disaggregated and disappear by absorption ; (2) it
may be invaded and broken up by vasculo-connective vegetations of the
tunica intima, and the vein is sometimes converted into a cord of cavernous
tissue ; (3) the peripheral portions of the clot may alone undergo fibrous
change and retract, so that the circulation is re-estabUshed through the centre;
and (4) the thrombus may be broken up, and the detached fragment may
cause embolism in the right heart or in the lung. The clot sometimes
softens at its centre, and presents a puriform appearance which has been
wrongly taken for suppuration, but is really a disintegration of the clot
with granulo-fatty change. If the particles enter the blood-stream, they
may cause infarcts in the lung ; and if bacteria are present in the thrombus,
the capillary embohsms are also septic, and lead to septic infarcts and miUary
abscesses in the lungs or in the heart.
Description. — I shall give a general description of phlegmasia alba
dolens, and return later to the pecuharities which each phlebitis may present,
according to the cause which has given rise to it. Phlegmasia alba dolens may
affect the veins of the upper and lower limbs, the neck and the face, but shows
a remarkable predilection for the veins of the leg, and usually begins in the
veins of the calf. It has an insidious onset, which is rarely febrile, and shows
itself by pain, which is at first diffused through the whole Kmb, and later
is locaHzed in certain points. In the leg, wliich is the ordinary seat of the
lesion, the pain is more marked in the calf and the groin ; the limb is heavy
and swollen, and the hypersesthesia is at times excessive. In some cases
the patient complains of joint pains, simulating rheumatism ; in other cases
pain may be completely absent. The bluish network under the skin shows
that the circulation is impeded in the deep veins, and tends to re-estabhsh
itself by the superficial ones. The deep veins are sometimes transformed
into a hard, tortuous cord, which may be felt in the calf and followed up-
wards, as far as the ring of the adductor magnus. The knee-joint is some-
times filled with fluid ; the movements of the leg are difficult, as though the
muscles were affected with paresis. Transient loss of power in the Kmb, with
or without muscular atrophy, has also been noted.
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 473
The obliteration of the veins causes oedema which has special charac-
ters : white, because the skin is bloodless ; smooth and hard, because the
areolae of the skin are distended by serous fluid ; painful, from the com-
pression of the nerve endings. It does not, therefore, resemble the oedema
of cachexia, or of diseases of the heart and kidney. In some cases, however,
it may be shght, or its absence may make an error in diagnosis easy. It
may only appear days, or even weeks, after the pain. In some patients it
is almost the only symptom of the lesion. The oedema often begins in the
foot and leg, and later reaches up to the thigh. In puerperal phlegmasia,
however, the oedema often begins at the root of the Hmb, and spreads from
above downwards.
Phlegmasia has a variable duration. We see sUght forms, as in a tuber-
cular patient in whom the trouble only lasted about twelve days ; as a rule,
it lasts four or five weeks. Patients feel the effects of the disease for a long
time. For months and years walking tires them, and severe exercise causes
the oedema to reappear. The cellular tissue and the skin are often the seat
of ill-defined induration.
Venous thrombosis fer se very rarely causes gangrene, which more
usually supervenes in the course of phlegmasia, because the inflammation
extends from the vein to an artery.
In rare cases the clot breaks up, and is carried away by the blood-current ;
the thrombus becomes an embolus, which gets stranded in the right heart,
or passes through into the lung. Disastrous complications are the result :
cardiac emboUsm may produce fatal syncope, while pulmonary embolism,
according to its extent, produces rapidly fatal asphyxia, attacks of dyspnoea,
pulmonary gangrene, and mechanical or septic infarcts in the lung. These
complications, described under Pulmonary Embohsm, show how great may
be the gravity of the prognosis.
It is of interest to know at what period embolism is most to be feared.
It is rightly admitted thar the accident in question is no longer to be feared
six weeks after the appearance of phlebitis. The exceptions, however,
must be reckoned with, as in the case quoted by Trousseau, where fatal
embohsm supervened three months after the onset of phlebitis.
The diagnosis is generally easy. It must not be forgotten, however,
that pain and oedema, which are the chief symptoms, may be absent. Cases
have been quoted in which the disease was almost latent, and yet the patients
succumbed rapidly from pulmonary embohsm. On the other hand, phleg-
masia may be of value in diagnosis.
When we hesitate, for example, between ulcer and cancer of the stomach,
the appearance of phlegmasia confirms the existence of cancer. Trousseau,
who brought this fact so clearly to hght, was able to apply the senieiological
value of phlegmasia to his own case. The appearance of painful oedema
474 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
in the leg led him to diagnose the gastric cancer from which he died six
months later.
Varieties. — After this general description, let us consider special cases :
1. In puerperal women phlebitis appears some days after accouche-
ment, rarely later than two weeks. It is often ushered in by fever. Puer-
peral phlebitis is usually absent when the accouchement has been normal,
and is generally seen only in cases in which the patient has shown some
infectious phenomenon, foetid lochia, difficult or artificial deUvery, slight
fever, etc. In other cases, after accouchement or miscarriage, no sign of
infection may occur, and yet phlegmasia develops three or four weeks later.
Phlegmasia of puerperal origin improves after three or four weeks, but may
last much longer. I cannot direct too much attention to a variety of
phlebitis which also has a uterine origin, although it may not be puerperal.
I allude to the cases of deep phlebitis or of phlegmasia alba dolens which
supervene after operations for diseases of the ovaries and uterus, and
especially fibroids.
2. Phlegmasia in typhoid fever usually supervenes during the decline
of the disease or during convalescence. Its onset is often febrile. It may
afEect the veins of the upper Hmbs and the neck, and may be associated with
arteritis.
3. Painful phlebitis occurs in influenza, and recent epidemics have
provided material for its careful study. In the pubhshed cases the
phlebitis affected the veins of the lower hmbs or of the arm.
4. Phlegmasia is frequently associated with tuberculosis. It usually
supervenes in the cachectic stage. In some cases, however, it may appear
early.
5. I would make the same remark concerning cancer. In most cases
phlegmasia supervenes in the stage of cachexia, but in other cases (Trousseau
was himself a memorable example) it appears during the first stage of cancer,
before other positive symptoms. It is therefore a typographical error
which states that Trousseau diagnosed cancer of the stomach a month
before his death, on the appearance of phlegmasia. It was several months
before liis death that the appearance of phlebitis in the calf led Trousseau
to diagnosw cancer, although no other positive signs of organic disease were
present. 1 am able to state this fact because I saw the case.
6. Phlegmasia associated with chlorosis presents pecuhar interest.
Possibly this phlebitis, hke so many other cases, is due to a superadded
infection. Certainly phlegmasia of chlorotic origin is far from being rare,
and in some cases has been followed by pulmonary embohsm and death.
In several cases death has supervened from phlebitis of the pulmonary
veins.
7. Phlebitis has been noted in acute articular rheumatism and in pneu-
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 475
raonia (Obrecht). The importance of gouty phlebitis will be considered
under Gout.
8. Phlebitis of the limbs may occur in the course of blennorrhagia.
9. Appendicular phlebitis is not uncommon. I have seen it in a woman
suffering from appendicitis, which was operated on later by Segond. The
phlebitis usually affects the left leg. It may appear as an infectious com-
pUcation, even though the appendicitis be slight.
Treatment. — In a patient suffering from phlegmasia we must avoid
massage, and movement of every kind which may favour the displacement
of a clot and the formation of an embolus.
The affected hmb should be placed in a trough-spHnt in order to obtain
complete immobiUty. The pains may be reheved by the following ointment :
VaseUne, 10 parts ; methyl saHcylate, 3 parts. Salt must be excluded
from the diet. Since Widal showed that the oedema in Bright's disease
disappears by excluding salt, Chantemesse has apphed this treatment
successfully to phlegmasia in enteric fever. I have seen the good effects
of milk diet in women suffering from post-operative phlebitis. The cure
at Bagnols (Department of Orne) is of much service.
II. SYPHILITIC PHLEBITIS.
Description. — Although sj^hiHtic phlebitis may not appear tiU some
one or two years after infection, i€ is usually a much earUer manifestation
of the disease. In one of Roussy's cases it appeared five months after
the chancre. In one of my cases it supervened two and a half months after
the chancre. Thibierge has recorded phlebitis of the internal saphenous
and cephahc veins two months after the chancre. Fournier noted its appear-
ance in the internal saphenous, median basiUc, and median cephaUc veins
six months after the primary sore. Phlebitis, therefore, may appear witliin
a few weeks or months of the chancre ; it may precede or coincide with the
roseola and the mucous patches. Le Noir and Girdwood state that the
sldn rash may not appear until several days after the onset of superficial
phlebitis. Fournier and Loeper have recorded the fact that in one case
phlebitis appeared two days before the papules in the skin. The disease
does not always begin in the same way. A sensation of weight, formication,
or cramp may be noticed in the Umb ; on the other hand, prodromata may
be absent, the pain is acute from the first, iind oedema appears.
In one patient the phlebitis had a sudden onset. He was returning
liome when he felt acute pain in the left thigh, along the course of the
saphenous vein, in the popliteal space, and in the leg. Next day the wliolc
limb was oedematous. Mauriac's patient was in hospital when he felt a
sharp pain in the right calf ; phlebitis had just commenced. Charcot speaks
476 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
of a syphilitic patient who felt acute pain on the inner side of the left thigh ;
phlebitis had just begun in the internal saphenous vein.
Fever is exceptional or slight, and throughout the disease " the symp-
toms," as Fournier says, " begin Hke those of a subacute phlebitis, which
almost at once becomes of the apyretic variety, in which the affection com-
prises simply a plastic induration of the venous trunk."
The veins of the leg are more often affected than those of the arm. We
find, in order of frequency, the internal saphenous, the external saphenous,
the basihc, and the cephahc veins.
The vein is not always involved along its whole course : the phlebitis is
often partial. In one of Fournier's cases induration was noticeable over
the internal malleolus, and did not appear again until above the knee,
whence it extended to the groin.
This segmentation has often been noted in the median cephahc and
basihc veins. It is also common in syphihtic arteritis, where healthy and
diseased segments alternate.
We must note the multipUcity of phlebitis in the same patient. Other
diseases besides syphihs cause multiple phlebitis, but this pecuHarity
is, I think, nowhere more marked than in sypliihs. In thirty-six cases
twenty-two patients had multiple phlebitis. In my patient both legs were
affected. In Fournier's patient the left leg, the right leg and arm were
involved. In Fournier and Loeper's case phlebitis was present in the left
leg and in the right leg and arm.
Syphihtic phlebitis is fairly often symmetrical. It is prone to relapse.
A patient who thinks he is cured has a fresh attack some weeks or months
after the first attack.
Phlebitis is far more common in the superficial than in the deep veins.
Mauriac, however, has seen a case of deep phlebitis with thrombosis. Andry
and Constantin have seen phlebitis of the pophteal vein, resembhng in every
way phlegmasia alba dolens.
Pain and oedema are not as a rule as severe in the syphihtic as in the other
forms of phlebitis. Nevertheless, when my patient was admitted to the
Hotel-Dieu, the oedema extended from the foot to the trunk.
Recovery occurs in a few weeks, and the veins regain their elasticity.
This is the reason why specific phlebitis does not leave behind it, as the
other forms do, interminable oedema, which reappears on the least provoca-
tion, and obstinately resists all treatment, including massage and the cure
at Bagnoles. We must not, however, suppose that syphihtic phlebitis is
always of short duration ; in some cases the disease lasts five or six months,
owing to the multiplicity of the lesions and to the relapses which occur.
But a capital difference, which would alone suffice to distinguish the
syphilitic from the other forms of phlebitis, is that it is not complicated
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 477
by emboKsm. In phlebitis due to puerperal or typhoid fever, to pneumonia,
influenza, appendicitis, cancer, tuberculosis, gout, etc., the chief danger
lies in emboHsm and infarcts. Nothing of the kind is found in syphihtic
phlebitis, fatal embolism or infarcts having never been noted.
The diagnosis comprises two stages. We must diagnose phlebitis and
prove that it is syphilitic. The signs of phlebitis include pain in the course
of a vein, the transformation of the vein into a rigid and at times indurated
cord, and the appearance of oedema, which may be sUght, in the subjacent
region of the Umb! We must not, however, confuse it with syphihtic
lymphangitis, which also forms a superficial rigid, painful cord, with or
without reddish tracks in the skin. Lymphangitis gives rise to enlarged
and painful glands. Further, the rigid cord in lymphangitis does not coincide
with the course of the vein. The decision as to the specific nature demands
a survey of all the causes which may engender phlebitis. If we find no such
cause, and if, on the other hand, the phlebitis appears a few weeks or months
after the chancre, but especially at the same time as the secondary symp-
toms, the lesion is specific.
I have so far coasidered early phlebitis. The tertiary forms are (^uite
exceptional. They may appear as gummatous tumours of the vein, or as
generalized phlebosclerosis with dilatation of the veins.
Pathological Anatomy. — This question has been worked out upon the
living subject, because no one has died of the malady. Mendel reports a
case in which Lion found a clot totally obhterating the resected segment
of the vein.
Darier and Civette have published the following conclusions on the
pathological anatomy of phlebitis. Among the manifestations of severe
secondary syphiUs we may find hard, movable nodules under the skin.
Their anatomical situation is in the walls of the subcutaneous veins, their
structure is that of a syphiloma, and they give rise secondarily to ordinary
thrombo-phlebitis. Mercurial treatment brings about their disappearance,
with an apparent return of the tissues to their normal integrity.
The recognition of the spirochsete in the lesions of the vessel wall is the
specific hall-mark of syphihtic phlebitis. Benda has outUned the findings
in a case of syphihtic arteritis, while Nattan-Larrier and Brindeau have
given a complete description of the lesions in a case of specific arteritis and
phlebitis. These authors systematically examined eighteen syphihtic
placentae, which showed such multiple vascular lesions as endophlebitis and
endarteritis obliterans aut vegetans.
In five placenta) they found stainable spirochaetae in the vascular layers
of the veins and arteries, which correspond to the tunica media. This
finding shows the importance and the action of the spirocha}tc.
The first point in treatment is to immobihze the hmb. I know that this
478 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
procedure may appear somewhat umiecessary after the statement that
syphiUtic phlebitis has never caused embohsm. I would not, however,
depend on it, because the unexpected may happen, and I therefore kept my
patient at absolute rest in bed in the Saint-Christophe ward.
Specific treatment must be employed. Iodide of potassium is not of
much use in my opinion, and I prefer injections of a watery solution of
biniodide of mercury daily for ten days, the dose being | grain. The treat-
ment can be suspended, and then repeated if occasion arise.
III. ARTERITIS— ATHEROMA— ARTERIO-SCLEROSIS.
Anatomy. — Before undertaking the important question of diseases of the arteries, I
will briefly describe their normal structure. The arteries are made up of elastic, muscular,
and connective tissue, an endotheUal layer, nutrient vessels, and nerves. These tissues
vary in extent according to the size of the artery and its functions, just as the arterial
lesions vary according to the size of the vessel.
An artery is composed of three coats : (1) The tunica externa, or adventitious coat,
is composed of bundles of connective tissue, mixed with elastic fibres, and receives the
vaso vasorum, which do not penetrate into the tunica media, except in pathological
conditions. (2) The tunica media is the characteristic portion of the artery. In the
large arteries (aorta, carotid, pulmonary arteries) the elastic tissue predominates,
and the muscular elements are scanty. The elastic fibres and laminae form, as it were,
a felting, whence the name fenestrated membrane.
These elastic elements are supported upon the internal elastic lamina, which is
more important than the external one. In arteries of medium size the tunica media is
less rich in elastic tissue and more rich in muscular tissue ; the elastic felting is less impor-
tant ; the internal lamina persists, but the external lamina has disappeared. The smooth
muscle fibres form bundles which are transverse in direction,, and are inserted into the
network of the tunica externa. In the arterioles the elastic tissue is only represented by
the internal elastic lamina, which appears festooned in transverse sections, because the
muscular fibres contract and the elastic lamina undergoes retraction. The connective
tissue has disappeared. The nerves of the artery belong to the tunica media. (3) The
tunica intima varies according to the artery : the endothelial layer, formed by endotheUal
cells, is everywhere the same ; but in the large arteries of the elastic type we find a fibro-
elastic layer, which is divided into two — the one showing longitudinal, the other trans-
verse striation (the lesions of atheroma begin in the fibro-elastic layer). In arteries
of the muscular type the longitudinal layer alone persists ; in the arterioles the tunica
intima is formed by the endothelium alone.
History — Discussion. — Since the commencement of the century,
arteritis has been more or less intimately allied with questions of doctrine,
Pinel, in his classification of fevers, gave the name of angiotenic to a tran-
sient fever which originated, as he thought, in inflammation of the arteries.
He said that this inflammation was shown post mortem by the redness of
these vessels.
Bouillaud did not agree with Pinel's narrow classification. In his
opinion inflammation of the vessels and of the heart is not only a cause of
fever, but represents fever taken in its widest sense. This forms the famous
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 479
angiocarditic fever, the anatomical proof of which Bouillaud also found in
the redness and phlogosis of the hning membrane of the heart and vessels.
At this time, moreover, medicine was dominated by the doctrine of inflam-
mation, gastroenteritis according to Broussais, angiocarditis according to
Bouillaud, or, in other words, gastro-intestinal inflammation, on the one
hand, and cardio-vascular inflammation on the other ; but it was always
inflammation causing slightly different types, according to the intensity of
the inflammatory process. Two renowned men had been brought to this
pass by adhering to system.
Reaction, however, occurred. Trousseau and Rigot had abeady shown
that the redness of the arteries, the so-called phlogosis, was only the result
of cadaveric imbibition, and Bretonneau, in his memorable work, partly
destroyed the doctrine of inflammation, and replaced it by the admirable
doctrine of specificity, which has in our day been rejuvenated and confirmed
by the discovery of microbes. Whilst medicine was led astray as to inflam-
mation of the arteries and its consequences, surgeons pubhshed excellent
works, and Frangois proclaimed that arteritis causes obhteration of the
arteries and spontaneous gangrene. The German school next took the field
with the doctrine of embohsm (Virchow), and from that time two causes of
arterial obliteration were recognized — the one by thrombosis, the other by
embolism.
From this time two fines of study were estabfished : the one studied
chiefly arterial degeneration, and it appears that the active process was
rather neglected ; atheroma was found in every case — " this vital rusting,"
according to Peter's happy expression ; " a man is as old as his arteries,"
according to the dictum of CazaUs. On the other hand, the active process
was especially studied, endarteritis and periarteritis, obliterating endar-
teritis and dilating arteritis, being described. Small mihary aneurysms of
the brain, associated with cerebral haemorrhage, were discovered (Bouchard,
Charcot), and descriptions were given of the small aneurysms in pulmonary
cavities, resulting in fulminant lia3moptysis (Rasmussen), while ectasia of
the vessels in bronchial dilatation and the profuse haemorrhage which they
jjroduced, were proved (Hanot).
Our knowledge of these lesions has gradually progressed up to the
present time, when we consider chiefly the pathogenesis of arteritis and the
part played by infectious diseases and their agents. I must now, however,
deal with another important question, that of arterio-sclerosis.
In 1S72 Gull and Sutton described a kind of fibroid change in tlio
arterioles and capillaries under the name of . arterio-capillary fibrosis.
They showed that the change in the kidneys which results in atrophy ia
simply the extension of a morbid process which has begun in tlic small
vessels of this organ. The doctrine of arterio-sclerosis was thus created.
480 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
What, then, is arterio-sclerosis ? It is arteritis of the arterioles, and especi-
ally of the visceral arterioles. Endarteritis results in fibrous thickening of
the tunica intima, in constriction of the arterioles, and in fibrous change in
its walls.
Atheroma and arterio-sclerosis, which are so unlike at first sight, result
from the same causes, except that the result is atheroma in the large arteries
or in those of medium size, and arterio-sclerosis in the visceral arterioles.
Atheroma of the large arteries is said, therefore, to be the result of arterio-
sclerosis of their vasa vasorum.
The characteristic point is that the process commences in the small
vessels, but as it does not remain limited to them, the process becomes
extravascular, and extends to the connective tissue and the elements of the
organ, which are replaced by newly-formed fibrous tissue. The change
arises in the arterioles, and extends to the neighbouring regions in the form
of bands and islets of fibrous tissue.
Arterio-sclerosis, when once present, shows no Hmit. According to
some authors (Martin, Huchard, Weber), it sums up the pathogenesis of
nearly all the chronic affections of the viscera.
Certain forms of nephritis, formerly considered as having an inter-
stitial or epitlielial origin, including senile nephritis, which has been looked
on as epithelial (Charcot and Gombault), would therefore be cases of renal
sclerosis of vascular origin.
Arterio-sclerosis of the coronary arteries would embrace the whole of
cardiac pathology. The heart in Bright' s disease, the senile heart, the
fatty heart, hypertrophic fibrous myocarditis, and myocarditis associated
with valvular lesions, would all depend on arterio-sclerosis. Valvular
lesions of the heart would depend upon the primary vascular lesions, and
without arterio-sclerosis of the coronary arteries angina pectoris would not
exist.
The lesions of the aorta and the large arteries are also secondary to
arterio-sclerosis. Atheroma only shows itself in arteries provided with
vasa vasorum, and is the result of endarteritis and arterio-sclerosis of these
vasa vasorum. The proof lies in the fact that the vasa vasorum, which
correspond to the atheromatous patches, are always affected by arteritis
obliterans (Martin).
In the nerve centres arterio-sclerosis plays a considerable part, so that
tabes, general paralysis, many syphilitic lesions, etc., may have their origin
in arterio-sclerosis.
The genito-urinary apparatus is also under the ban of arterio-sclerosis,
which causes fibrous hypertrophy of the prostate and the bladder. I shall
describe later the lesions of the kidneys.
The stomach and spleen present changes due to arterio-sclerosis. The
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 481
portal vein, too, may be affected by phlebo-sclerosis (Laennec's atrophic
cirrhosis).
Such are the chief local manifestations of arterio-sclerosis. In different
cases it may remain localized to a single organ, such as the kidney, heart, or
lung ; it may attack several organs at once, or even become general and be asso-
ciated or not with lesions of the large arteries, and especially with atheroma.
These views of arterio-sclerosis are of much interest, but it must be
admitted that for some years arterio-sclerosis has been singularly abused.
It has become all-invading, and has been held to explain everything, so
that when any difficulty is experienced in finding a pathogenic or chnical
interpretation, the reply is : '"' It is arterio-sclerosis !"
Does such a constant relation between the cause and effect really exist ?
Is the arterio-sclerosis always the primary lesion, and are the fibrous lesions
in the viscera always secondary to sclerosis of the small arteries ? When
these visceral lesions are not in the immediate neighbourhood of the dis-
eased arteriole., the partisans of this doctrine say that we must then admit
either capillaritis or pericapillaritis ; but then we have reached the confines
of the capillary network in the innermost layers of the tissues. Why,
then, may it not be admitted that the irritant sclerogenous substance,
whether bacillus or toxine ; whether animal, vegetable, or mineral ; whether
alcohol or lead, may be able to act upon the cells of the connective
tissue and of the organs ? The desire to reduce all visceral scleroses to
arterio-sclerosis appears to me exaggerated. Reaction is taking place in
this matter. Bard and Phihppe, in their interesting paper, have shown,
as regards the heart, that side by side with vascular sclerous hypertrophic
myocarditis there is room for interstitial myocarditis, in which the arterio-
sclerotic lesion is secondary. In general paralysis, according to Joffroy,
encephalitis is much more probably of parenchymatous than of vascular
origin. Some authors, confounding the lesions and its effects, find it a
simple matter to set down to arterio-sclerosis the symptoms of " Brightism,"
which are really symptoms of toxicity. The result is the confounding of
the vascular lesions of the kidneys with the multiple effects of intoxication
from insufficiency of the urinary depuration.
After this general discussion, let us pass to the detailed study of arteritis
and arterio-sclerosis. Arteritis may develop under the most varied con-
ditions, and may have almost identical results, although its origin is very
different. It is therefore necessary to divide up arteritis.
Traumatic Arteritis.
These cases belong chiefiy to the domain of surgery. Some, however,
are of interest both to the physician and the surgeon, such as tlioso which
develop in the neighbourhood of superficial or of deep ulceration of the
482 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
skin, or of a viscus. In this case the walls of the artery do not escape the
inflammatory and destructive process which affects the surrounding tissues,
and, accordingly, two eventualities may happen. If the inflammatory
process predominates, the walls of the artery become thickened and pro-
liferate, the cahbre of the vessel is diminished, the blood coagulates, and the
artery is gradually converted into an impermeable fibrous cord, which may
ultimately be destroyed, without untoward consequences. If, on the other
hand, the ulcerative process is rapid (ulcerative or suppurative arteritis),
the walls of the artery are destroyed from without inwards, before coagula-
tion of the blood can take place, lose their resistance, and finally give rise
to an aneurysm. This sometimes happens in the interior of tubercular
cavities or on the surface of gastric ulcers. If, at a given moment, the arterial
tension increases, the resistance of the walls is insufficient, the aneurysm
bursts, and fulminating haemorrhage occurs.
The arterial lesions which occur when an artery is obliterated by em-
bolism are also related to traumatic arteritis. The irritation produced by
the foreign body, whatever may be its point of departure and its nature,
leads to inflammation of the tunica intima and to lesions analogous to those
which we shall describe later.
Infective Arteritis.
Pathogenesis. — This group comprises those cases which supervene
during or after general diseases. They have been verified by pathological
anatomy and by bacteriology, and their existence is indisputable. They
are most often seen in acute diseases, such as typhoid fever, etc. (Taupin,
Potain, Vulpian, Hayem) ; diphtheria (H. Martin) ; puerperal conditions
(Simpson) ; scarlatina, measles, variola (Brouardel) ; malaria, rheumatism
(Lancereaux, G-ueneau de Mussy), etc. Among the more chronic diseases which
may cause arteritis, tuberculosis and syphihs specially deserve mention.
The data acquired as regards the evolution of the tubercle bacillus show
that propagation occurs both by the bloodvessels and by the lymphatics.
If it is arrested in an arteriole, a colony of microbes develops at this point.
The irritation thus produced in the walls of the artery, whatever be its size,
suffices to cause specific inflammation. In this manner the starting-point
of most tubercular granulations is explained.
Syphihtic arteritis will be studied in the next section.
As regards infective arteritis, developing in the course of the maladies
enumerated above, it is probable that the arterial lesion is directly caused
by the micro-organism which produces the infection, unless the toxines
secreted by it can be also incriminated. These cases of arteritis would,
therefore, in their mechanism resemble another class — namely, the toxic class
of arteritis. They have, however, this distinguishing point— namely, that
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 483
in infective arteritis the number of diseased arteries and the extent of the
lesions are always hmited, while toxic arteritis affects a large number of
vessels, and involves each vessel to a large extent.
Pathological Anatomy. — The following lesions are found in infective
arteritis : (1) When a large artery, such as the aorta, is affected, the inner
wall is red, rugose, and in places glazed, while other parts are depressed in a
cuplike form, and resemble the pustule of variola {vide Aortitis), and the
external surface shows a close network of capillary vessels filled with blood.
(2) In the small arteries and in those of medium size the lesions are not visible
to the naked eye, but under the microscope they are identical with those
found in the large arteries. They comprise an increased thickness of the
tunica intima (endarteritis), wliich projects into the lumen of the vessel —
sometimes at one point only (parietal arteritis, Barie), at other times
around the whole circumference of the vessel. When the artery is affected
upon one side only, the granulation rarely projects sufficiently to ob-
literate the lumen, which is simply constricted. If, on the other hand, the
arteritis is circumferential, the lumen of the vessel rapidly disappears
(obliterating arteritis), and the circulation is interrupted in the whole area
suppHed by this artery, unless the collateral circulation supphes the defect.
The thickening of the tunica intima depends on the multiphcation of the
anatomical elements, and on the infiltration of leucocytes between these
new-formed elements.
Endarteritis may exist alone, 'but as a rule there is also some periarteritis.
In this case the tunica externa is thickened, and pushes aside the structures
in contact with it. In this case also the inflammation is characterized by
the appearance of embryonic cells between the connective and elastic
bundles of the tunica externa. All the elements show great tendency to
undergo fibrous change.
Symptoms. — The symptoms of arteritis in acute diseases vary according
to the cahbre of the vessel, and to the organs which it supplies. 1. If the
aorta is affected (syphiUs, variola, puerperal state, and malaria), the severe
symptoms of acute or of subacute aortitis will appear. 2. If the artery is
of medium size, as in a limb (typhoid fever), the patient experiences very
acute pain along the artery, or at the extremity of the Umb, and the pain
is increased by pressure and movement. At the same time the pulse
diminishes or disappears completely, and the limb becomes cold, blue, and
insensitive. A hard cord which rolls under the finger is felt along tlie course
of the artery. If the obliteration is complete and the collateral circulation
is not re-established, pustules form, livid patches appear, and the limb is
affected by dry or moist gangrene. In some cases the results are not always
so serious : the pulse gradually returns, the hard cord disappears, and the
cyanosis only remains in the form of violet-coloured patches. Walking
31—2
484 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
may cause oedema, lasting several months, but gangrene is averted, and
recovery, although slow, is the usual termination. In some cases arteritis
makes very rapid and acute progress, as we shall see under Typhoid Fever.
If arteritis affects a cerebral artery (typhoid fever, syphilis), the resulting
troubles depend on the functions of the area supphed by the diseased vessel.
As the arteries of the motor zone are most often affected, the symptoms
are nearly always very grave, and include hemiplegia, aphasia, contracture,
etc. In the case of syphilitic arteritis, however, these troubles often improve
and even disappear under antisyphiHtic treatment, when the artery recovers
its permeabihty, as in a case of syphilitic arteritis of the temporal arteries
pubhshed by Leudet. For further detail I refer to the section on Cerebral
Syphilis.
3. If the diseased arteries are of small calibre, such as those of the muscles
or of the viscera, the lesions are identical with those already described. In
some cases the nutrition of the invaded tissues is severely compromised.
If a muscle is affected, the myositis may cause softening, and end in rupture.
If the arteritis arises in the heart, for example, inflammation of arterial
origin, which may give rise to all the lesions and chnical signs of myocarditis,
results. As a general rule, these inflammations are transient. Lately,
however, cases of chronic myocarditis (Landouzy and Siredey), encephahtis,
myelitis (Marie), and nephritis, originating in infective arteritis, have
been published.
Toxic Arteritis— Atheroma— Arterio-Sclerosis.
We shall include in this group arterial lesions consecutive to pathogenic
agents, to their toxines, and to vegetable or mineral poisons. The arterial
lesions in alcohohsm may be taken as our type. Still, plumbism, gout,
rheumatism, diabetes, old age, and the infectious diseases, may give rise
to them. In some cases the irritative element differs, but the inflammatory
processes are identical.
They may be reduced to two chief groups :
1. As in the preceding case, the artery may be affected by endoperi-
arteritis, which diminishes its cahbre and changes it into a fibrous tube.
We then say that arterio-sclerosis is present (Gull and Sutton).
2. The tunica intima may be affected, but only in the layers subjacent
to the endothehum. At this level yellowish cupHke patches are formed,
having the dimensions of a lentil and filled by a fatty pulp, atheroma,
which flows out when the endothehal covering is punctured. If the fluid
as well as the fatty matter is reabsorbed, the calcareous salts only remain,
and then give to the patch a rigid consistency. These atheromatous centres,
which may exist in great numbers in the same vessel, may finally fuse, and give
to the artery a cartilaginiform or ossiform rigidity. Accordingly, the name
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 485
of ossification of the arteries has been given to this disease, although it is
not a correct term. The affected vessel loses its elasticity, bursts easily,
and allows distension (aneurysm), while the irregularity of its internal
surface favours coagulation of the blood (tlirombosis).
These lesions, which are sometimes isolated, sometimes contiguous,
occur almost exclusively in the arteries of the greater circulation. They
are usually diffuse and always run a very slow course. When the whole
arterial system is invaded, atheroma cliiefly affects the large arteries,
while arterio-sclerosis develops by preference in the visceral arterioles.
Arterio-sclerosis causes changes of two kinds in the viscera : (1) Peri-
arterial inflammation which proceeds by foci, in the centres of which adiseased
artery is always found (inflammatory sclerosis) ; (2) a lesion of degenera-
tion, in which foci of sclerosis are also formed, but are always at a very long
distance from the diseased vessel (dystrophic sclerosis, H. Martin), showing,
therefore, the exact opposite of what occurs in the preceding case. Some-
times these two kinds of change are found side by side (mixed sclerosis).
Of the symptoms of atheroma and arterio-sclerosis, some are due to the
arterial lesions themselves, while others depend on the visceral changes
which they produce. Among the former (atheroma) we will cite the tor-
tuous course and rigid character of the arteries and the increase of arterial
tension, which is shown with the sphygmograph by a sharp line of ascent,
followed by a flat top and a wavy line of descent ; the second sound,
wliich is accentuated, and has a. ringing character; and the frequency of
purpura and gangrene of the extremities.
Among the troubles consecutive to the visceral changes we may note
cerebral troubles, such as vertigo, loss of memory, giddiness, successive
attacks of hemiplegia and aphasia, and faihng intelligence, which may
result in complete dementia. In some patients the heart is cliiefly affected
by arterio-sclerosis, palpitation, hypertrophy of the heart, angina pectoris,
and paroxysmal dyspnoea are frequent. In other patients the digestive
functions are first affected — loss of appetite and frequent indigestion.
Lastly, in a fair number of cases renal changes open the scene and cause
insufficiency of urinary depuration, and the numerous symptoms of
Brightism, which must be carefully elucidated before the appearance of
the grave symptoms of confirmed uraemia.
The treatment of atheroma and arterio-sclerosis is based on the use of
iodides, milk diet, and remedies which will lower the arterial tension
(Huchard).
486 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
IV. SYPHILITIC ARTERITIS— ARTERITIS OBLITERANS—
SYPHILITIC GANGRENE— ARTERITIS ECTASIANS
—SYPHILITIC ANEURYSM.
In the course of syphilis the arterial vessels maybe affected alone, without
any lesion of the neighbouring tissues. These cases only have a special
clinical history. Sypliihtic arteritis of the brain, spinal cord, aorta, etc.,
is dealt with under syphiMs of these organs. I shall deal at present only
with peripheral arteritis, and in particular with arteritis of the limbs, which
forms a distinct and very interesting pathological group.
The process (either in the arteries of the Umbs or in the cerebro-meningeal
ones) may result in two different kinds of lesions : on the one hand, more
or less complete obliteration of the vessel ; on the other hand, ectasia of
the vessel or aneurysm.
Arteritis Obliterans — Gangrene. — I do not know of a more typical
case than that presented by Leudet (of Rouen) at the Blois Congress in
1884.
The patient -was syphilitic, and suffered from painful obliterating arteritis of the
anterior frontal branch of the left superficial temporal artery. This primary arteritis
obliterans, limited to an arterial segment, was soon followed by symmetrical arteritis
obliterans of the right side. Leudet was able to follow all its phases, including indura-
tion, obliteration of the artery, diminution and cessation of the pulse ; then, under the
influence of antisyphilitic treatment, he was able to follow the re-establishment of the
arterial circulation, return of the pulse, permeability of the artery, and finally cure.
SyphiUtic arteritis obhterans of the limbs may be followed, just as
atheromatous arteritis, by mummification of the extremities, which is in
every way comparable to ordinary senile gangrene. Here is a case :
An old woman came under my care for gangrene of the right leg and foot, which
had come on suddenly with sharp pain two months before. The toes were blackish
and shrivelled ; the dorsum of the foot was li\id. A large slough had invaded the
lower part of the limb. The pulse was absent in the dorsahs pedis and in the tibial
arteries, the skin was cold and insensible, and the picture was, in a word, that of senile
gangrene. One thing, however, struck us : Over the forearm and abdomen there were
irregular pigmented scars, mth polycyclical outUnes, and on the left upper eyelid a
large copper-coloured papule, with scalloped edges. These lesions were syphiUtic.
I at once concluded tliat the gangrene of the leg was due to syphiUtic arteritis obhterans.
The patient was given injections of biniodide of mercury, but the treatment came too
late, and amputation became necessary. The patient soon succumbed.
Examination of the amputated hmb showed that the gangrene had invaded most of
the posterior muscles, in the form of huge lardaceous infarcts of a waxy-yellow colour.
The femoral artery was healthy ; the branches of the pophteal, the tibio-peroneal
trunk, and the posterior and anterior tibial arteries were obUterated in segments. At
these spots the wall of the artery showed a ring-like thickening, and the lumen was
obhterated by adherent thrombus. Between the segments the lesions were absent or
very slight. Everywhere else, as was found later at the autopsy, the arteries were
healthy and free from atheroma. Microscopical examination showed that this process
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 487
originated in the deep part of the subendothelial layer of the tunica intima, above the
internal elastic limiting layer, and the organization of a thrombus had rapidly com-
pleted the obhteration.
Cases of this kind are relatively rare. Aune, however, has collected seven,
and several analogous ones have been pubhshed.
Syphihtic arteritis attacks the lower hmbs (Charcot, Fournier, Podres,
Hutcliinson) as often as the upper ones, and may. be bilateral, symmetrical,
or multiple, as shown by Magrez's case, in which arteritis obhterans invaded
in succession the right arm and the legs, with gangrene of the left leg.
The onset is sometimes progressive, with functional troubles, loss of
muscular power, and intermittent claudication ; at other times sudden, with
very sharp pain. Numbness, formication, coldness, cyanosis, and oedema
then appear. The arterial pulsations disappear in the affected segment,
and if the artery is superficial a painful cord may be felt.
The slow forms may be arrested by treatment ; the permeabiUty of the
vessel becomes re-established, and the threatening symptoms disappear,
although a fresh attack of arteritis may show itself in some other part. In
cases of sudden onset and rapid course the obhteration results in dry gan-
grene. Accordingly, when a patient suffers from sharp pain, intermittent
claudication, chiUiness, cyanosis, and gangrene of the foot, syphihtic arteritis
must be thought of, and careful search made for other stigmata of syphilis.
From the anatomical point of view our patient showed the chief characters
of syphihtic arteritis. We see cases of departmental arteritis affecting a
limited area of a limb. In this region the lesions do not show the same
intensity at all points ; one segment of the artery is respected, while another
is obliterated. In the limbs, as in the brain, arteritis obliterans is chiefly
segmental, and at times symmetrical (Magrez's case affecting the lower limbs,
and Leudet's case affecting the temporal arteries). When these anatomical
characters are clear, it is easy to distinguish between syphilitic and athero-
matous lesions, which are diffuse and general ; but there are exceptions, and
syphihtic arteritis may be also more or less general, and result in similar
lesions to those of atheroma (Cornil).
The histology of syphilitic arteritis obliterans shows nothing specific.
At a late period the three coats of the artery are thickened and infiltrated,
with or without miliary nodules, resembUng microscopic gummata (Joffroy).
The lesions frequently commence with endarteritis, rarely with periarteritis.
Obliteration may occur as the result of two processes. Sometimes we find
only endarteritis vegetans, which obliterates the artery more or less com-
pletely, and converts it into a fibrous cord, without any appreciable throm-
bus ; at otlier times (this is the more frequent) there is thrombo-a^-teritis
obliterans : the endothelium desquamates, or becomes necrosed, and the
thrombus contributes very largely in obhterating the vessel. In both cases
488 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
the arteritis may be chronic or subacute. It appears possible to differentiate
it from ordinary atheroma by the greater activity and the more rapid course
in the direction of obUteration, as well as by the lessened tendency to
degenerative lesions.
Syphilitic Aneurysm. — The second type of syphiHtic arteritis in the
limbs results in dilatation and aneurysm. The dilatations result from the
same process of embryonic infiltration of the coats of the vessel ; the middle
coat, wliich is much infiltrated, has lost all power of resistance, and yields
at one or at several points. We may see upon some vessels buds of endarter-
itis and aneurysmal dilatations. Here, as in the brain, these dilatations
may be cyhndrical and extensive, or circumscribed and aneurysmal.
Aneurysms sometimes develop in several arteries (pophteal and innominate
trunks, Croft) ; they chiefly affect the femoral, popliteal, subclavian, brachial,
and radial vessels. I have seen syphilitic arteritis of the left radial artery
at the wrist, which had resulted in the formation of an aneurysm.
The patient had been previously treated for a large serpiginous ulcer on the right
arm. I saw him again two years later for a syphiUtic cavity in the right lung. Under
mercury and iodide of potassium, in large doses for a long period, all symptoms were
cured. When he came to me some years later for cerebral troubles, I noticed that he
wore a wrist-strap. He informed me that for some weeks past faii'ly firm pressure had
been employed for a painful aneurysm of the left radial artery, and that an operation had
been decided upon, as no benefit accrued from the compression. I asked to see the
aneurysm, which was as large as a small nut, and said that this aneurysm might be
the result of syphiUs. I commenced treatment with large doses of mercury and iodides.
The aneurysm gradually diminished in size, and three months later had quite dis-
appeared.
Treatment is very efficacious when commenced early, before the lesions
are irremediable. It consists in giving daily an injection of the solution of
biniodide of mercury. Iodide of potassium may be given in addition to the
mercurial treatment.
V. ACUTE AND CHRONIC AORTITIS.
^Etiology. — Both acute and clironic aortitis occur. Primary acute
aortitis does not, however, exist. " In the immense majority of cases the
lesions of acute aortitis develop in those vessels which have previously been
attacked by chronic affections." Accordingly, these different varieties of
aortitis should be described in the same chapter. Consequently, all causes
which favour the development of atheroma, including old age, gout, and
alcohohsm, find their place in the aetiology of aortitis. Syphilis has a pre-
eminent place in the pathogenesis of aortitis and aortic aneurysms. Injury,
blows, and contusions may be held guilty. Infectious diseases, typhoid
fever, rheumatism, tuberculosis, variola, scarlatina, and influenza may the
more excite attacks of acute aortitis in proportion as the aorta has already
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 489
been the seat of chronic lesions. It is probable that bacteriological researches
will finally discover the pathogenic agents of these acute attacks. Cuzzatini
has found the pneumococcus in a case of aortitis set down to cold.
Pathological Anatomy. — When aortitis is frankly acute the aorta is
dilated, and its inner surface is uneven. The lesion commences in the sub-
endothelial coat of the tunica intima (Cornil and Ranvier). The tunica
intima shows prominent patches, which vary in size from a pin's head to
that of a small coin ; they have been named gelatiniform patches, on account
of their transparent and gelatinous appearance. These patches are formed
of spherical, nucleated, embryonic cells, and some branched, flattened cells,
which normally are found' in the hning membrane. The patches may be a
hundred times as thick as the normal membrane, and the inflammatory
process, which is more active in the layers bordering on the endothelium
when the aortitis is acute, especially affects the deep layer when it is chronic.
These patches are sometimes of a dark brownish colour.
Small fibrinous clots may be deposited on these patches, and at times
become the origin of emboli. The middle coat is but httle altered, while the
external coat is thickened and vascular. In some cases acute aortitis is
ulcerative, or may even be suppurative.
The lesions of acute aortitis may spread around the vessel, and cause
pericarditis, pleurisy, lesions of the cardiac plexus, and consecutive angina
pectoris, a comphcation which plays a large part in the symptoms of aortitis.
Chronic aortitis, Uke chronic - arteritis, which is frequently associated
^vith it, is often called atheroma; but these two words, arteritis and
atheroma, have not the same signification, for the word atheroma, which
means a " pulp," denotes only one stage of chronic arteritis. Atheroma,
" this vital msting " (Peter) and chronic arteritis may produce such changes
in the artery that these lesions have been differently called deforming and
nodular endarteritis, or arterial atheromasia.
The lesions of chronic aortitis are characteristic. The aorta is nodular
and dilated ; it is rigid to the touch and hard on section ; on its inner surface
we find yellowish, calcareous, atheromatous patches, and dilatations of
different shapes. The inflammatory process in chronic aortitis is analo-
gous at the onset with that of the acute disease. The lesion begins in the
subendothelial layer of the tunica intima, and forms patches which later
undergo fatty and calcareous change— that is to say, atheroma.
These degenerations, however, are not always the result of an influm-
matory process, for cases occur in which fatty degeneration of the arterial
walls is the primary lesion in point of time ; this lesion may affect all
three coats, and may in its turn produce slow irritation and foci of chronic
aortitis, so that these various lesions resemble one another, or are complete
in themselves. According to some authors, these atheromatous lesions,
490 TEXT -BOOK OF MEDICINE
which are apparently primary, are the result of arterio-sclerosis of the vasa
vasorum (Martin).
Whatever be their origin, the lesions of chronic aortitis are always
accompanied by atheromatous centres and calcareous patches. The gela-
tiniform patches of the tunica intima, by their fatty change, finally form an
atheromatous centre, composed of fatty detritus, cholesterine, and crystals.
The fibrillary groundwork which surrounds these foci takes on a chondroid
appearance, and becomes infiltrated with calcareous granules. If the wall of
the vessel is intact the focus projects into the artery as an atheromatous
pustule, but if the endothelial layer bursts the contents of the focus are carried
away by the blood-stream ; the blood enters the focus, and the blood-pressure
at this point may cause dilatation and aneurysm. In some cases atheroma
prepares the way for spontaneous rupture of the aorta, especially of its intra-
pericardial portion. The blood filters between the atheromatous patches,
dissects the tunica externa, and rupture occurs into the pericardium, pleura,
or cellular tissue. In chronic aortitis the tunica media in turn undergoes
change, and disappears in places, as the result of fatty degeneration ; it
loses its resistance and elasticity, while the tunica externa often becomes
fibrous, so that the whole vessel is invaded ; endarteritis, mesarteritis, and
periarteritis are all present (Peter). The aortic orifice and valves often par-
ticipate in the process of aortitis. In some cases chronic aortitis is associ-
ated with generalized atheromasia.
Description. — I shall first deal with acute aortitis, or at least with acute
attacks which supervene in the course of a chronic process that is often
latent. Acute aortitis behaves differently, according ,to the case ; it may
pass unnoticed, just as acute endocarditis may do, or it may be accompanied
by a feeHng of weight and oppression in the precordial and epigastric regions,
or, lastly, it may give rise to the symptoms of angina pectoris.
Pain and dyspnoea are sometimes the chief symptoms. The pain is
retrosternal, stabbing, continuous or paroxysmal, and radiates to the arms,
neck, back, intercostal spaces, larynx, oesophagus (dysphagia), stomach
(gastric crises), or liver (false hepatic coUc). The dyspnoea is also continuous
or paroxysmal, but the respiratory rhythm is not increased. During the
attacks of pain and dyspnoea we see pulsation of the carotid and subclavian
arteries, and the patient is sometimes seized with fits of cougliing, and brings
up bloody expectoration. On auscultation, fine rales, indicating congestion
and oedema of the lung, are found over a somewhat limited area. These
attacks of congestion are not solely hmited to the lungs ; they affect the liver,
which becomes enlarged and painful, and also cause intestinal dilatation and
ballooning of the belly (Rendu). Sometimes acute infective aortitis results
in the formation of a purulent collection, which opens into the vessel, and
presents the clinical picture of pyaemic endocarditis.
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 491
Let us now consider chronic aortitis. The signs of chronic aortitis vary
with the situation of the lesion ; let us take the most frequent case — namely,
that of atheroma of the arch of the aorta. In the normal state the transverse
dullness of the aortic and pulmonary trunks together is about 2 inches
(Peter) ; in chronic aortitis the dullness may exceed 3 inches, according to
the dilatation of the vessel.
The aorta by its expansion raises the subclavian arteries, so that we can
easily feel them in the supraclavicular hollows. Auscultation may reveal
differences of tone or blowing murmurs (Potain). The first aortic sound,
which in the normal state depends on the sudden tension of the aorta, may
become exaggerated, harsh, and blowing as the result of the atheromatous
roughness of the vessel wall. The second sound, which in the normal con-
dition depends on the closure of the sigmoid valves, may be echoing and
metalhc if the valves have lost their suppleness. A diastolic murmur, due
to concomitant aortic insufficiency, may also be heard. The pulse is hard,
while the radial artery, which often participates in the atheromasia, is
tortuous and indurated. Atheroma of the aorta, hke general atheromasia,
is always accompanied by hypertrophy of the heart.
The chnical picture varies according as chronic aortitis comprises the
whole disease, or as it is associated with a lesion of the aortic orifice, aortic
aneurysm, nephritis, more or less extensive atheromasia, or local arterio-
sclerosis.
In short, chronic aortitis alone may remain silent for a long time, and is
usually revealed by attacks of acute aortitis, while several of the symptoms
which accompany it are borrowed — viz., hypertrophy of the heart, aortic
insufficiency, angina pectoris, Bright's disease, etc.
Aortic aneurysm and chronic aortitis present many common signs and
symptoms ; among other distinctive signs there is one which has some worth
— namely, that chronic aortitis does not form a tumour as aneurysm does,
and consequently does not produce symptoms of compression.
Blood-letting with leeches or cupping, blisters, the actual cautery, sub-
cutaneous injections of morphia and antipyrin, form the general plan of
treatment. Iodide of potassium should be administered in large and con-
tinuous doses in acute and chronic aortitis.
VI. ANEURYSMS OF THE THORACIC AORTA.
etiology. — Aneurysm of the aorta is very rare before the age of thirty-
five years, and its aetiology is closely related to that of acute and clironio
aortitis. In the enumeration of its causes heredity should not be forgotten.
Injuries of the thoracic region and heavy manual labour have an
influence on aneurysm, but syphihs is tlie chief cause.
492 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Pathological Anatomy. — Aneurysm of the thoracic aorta affects, in
order of frequency, first, the ascending aorta ; second, the convexity of the
arch ; third, the descending aorta. The aneurysm varies in size from a small
nut to that of the foetal head, and its shape is extremely variable ; it is said
to be sacciform when the dilatation is limited to a part of the circumference,
hke a sac hanging from the vessel ; it is said to be fusiform when the dilata-
tion is equally distributed over the whole circumference of the invaded
segment. The small hemispherical aneurysms found chiefly at the origin of
the aorta are called cupuliform; the name dissecting is given to the
aneurysm which results when the blood infiltrates between the internal and
middle coats, and separates them to a certain extent. Two or three aneurysms
in the course of the aorta are sometimes found in the same patient.
There has been lengthy discussion upon the way in which the sac forms,
and, according to the part assigned to the different coats of the vessel, the
classification of aneurysms into mixed internal, mixed external, etc., has
been proposed, but the question should be simphfied. When an artery is
affected by chronic arteritis, the tunica media disappears, and the sac of the
aneurysm is formed by the joined internal and external coats ; often, indeed,
the walls of the sac are formed by the internal coat alone, which has been
modified by the inflammation. " The newly-formed tissue which, wholly
or in part, constitutes the sac is made up of flat cells, separated by a fibrillary
substance, and undergoes fatty change, atheroma, and petrification ; we may
also see old sacs formed of an inextensible calcareous shell " (Cornil and
Ranvier).
These lesions explain the formation and development of the aneurysm ;
the tunica media disappears as the result of endarteritis and periarteritis,
and the resistance of the vessel becomes insufficient, so that the artery yields
to the blood-pressure, and the vulnerable points permit distension. The
distension of the vessel does not necessarily induce thinning of its walls, for
the growth of the morbid tissue continues ; at some points, however, thinning
may result and favour the rupture of the sac.
When the sac is opened, blood-clots and laminated fibrin are found.
The clots are soft and recent, the layers of fibrin are elastic and greyish ; the
older ones are found nearer the walls of the sac and are resistant, but no
trace of organization is seen.
Aneurysm of the aorta is not always associated with extensive athero-
masia or with arterio- sclerosis ; indeed, atheroma may be only present in the
aorta and nowhere else — that is to say, the aorta may be diseased on its own
account, independently of any other arterial lesion.
The heart, which some authors regard as being always hypertrophied in
cases of aortic aneurysm, often preserves its normal size, as I have several
times found.
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 493
The neighbouring tissues and organs in contact with the aneurysm
undergo important changes ; the bones show excavations : this is not the
result of mechanical wear and tear, due, as was first supposed, to the move-
ments of the aneurysm, but is the result of an irritative process, or osteitis,
which brings about the absorption. In other cases the sac is bound dowai
to the neighbouring organs, and spreads the inflammatory process, which
leads to softening, ulceration, and perforation of the invaded tissue or organ.
The fact is thus explained that the aneurysm may open into the pleura,
pericardium, oesophagus, trachea, pulmonary artery, superior vena cava, or
right auricle.
The communication between the aortic aneurysm and the veins gives rise
to an arterio-venous aneurysm.
Patients suffering from aneurysm of the aorta are frequently tubercular
— e.g., eighteen times in forty-six cases. Various interpretations of this
secondary phthisis have been given ; it has been supposed that the disease is
brought about by the compression of the pulmonary artery, and it has been
compared to the tuberculosis that accompanies constriction of this vessel.
In one of my patients suffering from an enormous aneurysm of the aorta,
death resulted from left tuberculai broncho-pneumonia, which had developed
consecutively to compression of the bronchus and of the left pulmonary
artery by the aneurysm.
Symptoms. — Aneurysm of the thoracic aorta is sometimes latent, and
the person affected may be suddenly carried off without any previous
warning. I do not know a more conclusive case than one published by
Roux of a young soldier, twenty-two years of age, who died suddenly from
an aneurysm which opened into the pericardium. As a rule, events do not
take this course, and the aneurysm shows itself by certain symptoms and
signs ; their frequency and value I shall now discuss.
1. Pain.— Pain may be the first symptom. Its situation and its nature
depend on the nervous network affected by the tumour, so that we see spinal
pain and intercostal neuralgia (lesions of the spinal nerves at their point of
exit from the vertebral column), pains in the arms or in the hands, and cubital
neuralgia (lesions of the brachial plexus), the agonizing pains of angina
pectoris (lesions of the cardiac plexus), diaphragmatic pain and phrenic
neuralgia (lesions of the phrenic nerve). These pains may be continuous,
intermittent, or paroxysmal, and many persons who have aneurysm of the
aorta think that they are suffering from simple intercostal neuralgia, or from
angina pectoris.
2. Dyspnoea. — The respiratory troubles vary much. One patient may
have spasm of the glottis, with attacks of suffocation ; another has
paralysis of the posterior crico-arvtonoid muscles, which open the glottis ;
while a third suffers from hiccough, accompanied by angina and thoracic
494 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
constriction (phrenic nerve). The dyspnoea is sometimes continuous, or
nearly so, being excited and increased by the least efiort ; inspiration is
painful, and accompanied by stridor (compression of the trachea or of a large
bronchus). Stridor, whether it is complete or incomplete, is a symptom of
great value ; when the patient is at rest, the stridor is but Httle marked, and
only a slightly prolonged and rough inspiration is audible, but, as the result
of effort, true stridor appears. When a large bronchus is compressed,
auscultation reveals abolition or diminution of the vesicular murmur in the
corresponding lung. Some patients have fits of coughing which resemble
whooping-cough.
3. Vocal Troubles. — We find, according to the case, dysphonia or
bitonal voice (Jaccoud), hoarseness of the voice, and aphonia. These vocal
troubles may be intermittent or continuous, and depend on paralysis
of the vocal cords, and especially of the left cord, as may be readily seen
with the laryngoscope.
4. Dysphagia. — The trouble may be continuous or intermittent, and
depends upon many causes : compression of the oesophagus by the aneurysm,
paralysis or excitation of the vagus and the recurrent nerve, which supply
the constrictors of the oesophagus and pharynx.
Physical Signs. — On examination of the thorax we find dullness which
is in direct relation to the size of the tumour, and we may sometimes discover
bulging in the aortic region. If the tumour is visible externally, it shows
pulsation, so that we might say there are two hearts in the chest (Stokes).
The pulsation of the tumour may be single or double ; the first beat is due to
the blood-wave which enters the aneurysm; the second beat has been
differently interpreted : it may be due to the return of the blood- wave into
the sac, or to the reflux of blood from the collateral arteries. Perhaps the
two beats only represent the distension of the aneurysmal tumour at two
different periods (Franck). The beats which occur later than the cardiac
systole are expansile, and are sometimes accompanied by thrill.
Auscultation over the sac reveals splashing and blowing sounds, which
may be single or double, and audible in the anterior thoracic region, and
sometimes in the interscapular region. The first splashing sound is due to
the shock of the blood-wave upon the walls of the aneurysm, while the second
is due to the closure of the sigmoid valves. The first blowing sound is due
to the roughening of the aorta from atheroma, or its compression by the
aneurysm ; the second sound {souffle de retour) is due to the return of the
blood-wave into the sac, or to the aortic insufficiency wliich sometimes
accompanies aneurysm.
The radial pulse presents peculiar characters, the fines of ascent and
descent being practically of the same length, because the jerky movement of
the arterial pulse is converted into an almost continuous movement by
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 495
the presence of an extensible sac in the course of the arterial tree (Marey).
If the aneurysm is proximal to the origin of the large arteries, the radial pulse is
isochronous on both sides ; if the aneurysm is situated between the left sub-
clavian artery and the innominate trunk, the left radial pulse is delayed.
This retardation of the pulse depends chiefly upon the extensibility of
the walls of the aneurysm ; the blood-wave is weakened and delayed. If,
however, the sac of the aneurysm is but httle extensible, and covered with
stratified or calcified clots, it loses its extensible properties, and then the
conditions change. The signs given by the expansile pulsations in the
tumour, the double beats, the splashing and blowing sounds, and the
characters of the pulse, all depend on the degree of extensibihty in the walls
of the aneurysm.
In some cases total suppression of the radial pulse has been noted. It
may depend on obHteration of the subclavian artery by clots in the sac, or
on a patch of atheroma that has developed at the orifice of the collaterals
of the aorta, in which case the pulsation of the subclavian artery can no
longer be felt ; the suppression of the radial pulse may also depend on
arterial obhteration, caused by an embolus detached from the fibrinous clots
in the aneurysm, in which case the symptoms appear suddenly ; it may, lastly,
depend upon constriction of the artery from endarteritis obliterans, in which
case the symptoms of obHteration are much more gradual.
Compression of a venous trunk (vena cava or innominate vein) may cause
oedema and collateral venous circulation, as described under Tumour of the
Mediastinum. When the circulation in the superior vena cava is inter-
rupted, the head, upper limbs, and trunk — that is, the regions drained by the
superior caval system — are cyanotic, oedematous, and show a network of
dilated veins, while the abdomen and lower limbs are of normal colour.
Condition of the Pupil. — The presence of a tumour may cause in-
equahty of the pupils, the one being smaller or larger than the other ; if the
sympathetic nerve is destroyed by the aneurysm, the pupil on the corre-
sponding side is contracted (myosis), because the paralysis of the dilator
fibres permits the free action of the constrictor fibres which arise from the
common oculo- motor nerve.
If the sympathetic nerv6 is irritated but not destroyed by the aneurysm,
the pupil on the corresponding side may be dilated (mydriasis) from over-
action of the dilator fibres. In any case the light reflex is not abolished.
Inequality of the pupils is an important sign of aneurysm, and may help to
distinguish aneurysm from aortitis in which a tumour is absent.
InequaUty, however, does not always indicate the presence of a tumour ;
it may be found, according to Babinski, in syphilitic persons who have
neither aneurysm nor mediastinal tumour. They may have mydriasis or
myosis, but the important point is that the light reflex is lost (Robertson's
496 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
sign). The inequality of the pupils is due to syphilis of the nervous system;
and is associated with lymphocytosis in the cerebro- spinal fluid.
Inequality of the pupils in an aortic case may therefore have no direct
relation to aortitis or aneurysm, but may be a functional effect of syphilis if
the patient has that disease. Babinsld has pubhshed cases in support of
his opinion ; Vaquez, Widal, and Lemierre have confirmed his view, and I
have seen the following case at the Hotel- Dieu :
A man, tliirty-six years of age, who had had a severe attack of angina pectoris,
was admitted under my care. He had been picked up moribund and brought to the
hospital. Some hours elapsed before he could give us exact information. He gave
a clear history of angina pectoris ; for months past he had had similar attacks. His
heart was hypertrophied, and a to-and-fro murmur was heard in the second»right space.
The attacks of angina pointed to suprasigmoid aortitis. Eight pupil much dilated.
If we had been unable to push investigations farther, we might have stopped at aortic
enlargement.
The hght reflex, however, was also absent. Syphilis of the nervous system was
showTi by lymphocytosis of the cerebro-spinal fluid. He had had syphiUs twenty years
before. The inequality of the pupils was therefore dependent upon syphilis, and it
was possible to exclude a tumour. The autopsy showed the accuracy of this diagnosis :
aortitis, no enlargement, no tumour of the aorta ; the lesion in the nervous system
was posterior spinal meningitis.
Inequality of the pupils in disease of the thoracic aorta may depend on
two different causes : it may be due to interference with the sympathetic
nerve by an aneurysm, or it may depend on a specific lesion of the nervous
system coexisting or not with syphihtic aortitis ; in the latter case we find
Argyll-Robertson's sign and lymphocytosis.
Inequahty of the pupil in lesions of the aorta does not therefore of
necessity imply the existence of an aneurysm.
Topographical Diagnosis. — The existence of an aortic aneurysm will be
recognized by the signs and symptoms just enumerated. Its exact position
must also be diagnosed as accurately as possible, because it appears to me
that its gravity depends more upon the situation than upon the size.
It is generally beUeved that the largest aneurysms are the most for-
midable ; there is some truth in this assertion, but it is far from being the
rule. Some aneurysms of small size are more formidable than large
aneurysms. An aneurysm which grows towards the exterior may exist for
many years, in spite of its great size, before compromising the patient's Hfe,
while small aneurysms, in relation with a bronchus or the trachea, may
produce rapidly fatal haemorrhage in patients who have been almost ignorant
of the lesion. Careful study of symptoms will help us to locahze the exact
situation of the aneurysm.
Aneurysms which develop in the convex portion of the arch and those
of the anterior portion may reach a very large size, without causing ulceration
and perforation of the trachea, with which they are in no immediate relation.
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS
497
These aneurysms grow forwards and upwards towards the sternum and
ribs, which become eroded by rarefying osteitis. They show themselves by
dulhiess, blowing murmurs, and expansile pulsation : signs most marked
over the tumour ; while their intensity is in relation with the prominence of
the aneurysm, and the more or less complete disappearance of the chest-wall.
Rupture into the trachea is not to be feared — at least, as long as the tumour
does not affect the whole cahbre of the artery, including its posterior wall,
and does not cause ulcerative mischief in the direction of the trachea.
On the other hand, these mishaps are relatively frequent when the
aneurysm is close to the loop of the left recurrent nerve. This variety
merits special recognition ; I have called it aneurysm of the recurrent
type.
In this region the aorta beyond the bifurcation of the pulmonary artery
is placed in front and a little to the left of the trachea, and proceeds towards
Fig. 20. — Aneurysm of the Aorta, Recurrent Type.
A, Section of the aneurysm of the aorta ; b, bronchus; r, recurrent nerve ; ce, oesoph-
agus ; t, trachea ; I, larynx ; p, pneumogastric nerve ; c, common carotid
artery.
the loft bronchus, around which it passes from before backwards, and from
right to left. At this point the aorta is in immediate relation with the lower
part of the trachea and the origin of the left bronchus ; it is contiguous to the
air-passages on its concave side and its anterior segment. Accordingly, from
the point of view of prognosis, aneurysms are here formidable, even when
they are of small dimensions, because experience proves that opening of
the aneurysm into the trachea or into the bronchi, with most terrible
liyL'morrhages, occurs most often in this region (Ordonneau).
How can the situation of these aneurysms be recognized ? Dysphagia,
a3sophagism (spasms of the oesophagus), pharyngism (spasms of the
pharynx), and fits of suffocation and of strangulation (spasms of the
glottis), vocal troubles (want of synergy of the vocal cords), and attacks
of precordial pain, are among the symptoms which help us in the topo-
graphical diagnosis of aortic aneurysm of the recurrent type.
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498
TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
These symptoms are nearly all due to the close relation of the loop of
the left recurrent nerve, which serves as a guide to the troubles it
occasions.
The importance of this variety of aneurysm wiU justify tiie following
details :
The two recurrent or laryngeal nerves which arise from the vagus and from the
internal branch of the spinal accessory have different relations. The recurrent nerve
on the right side arises at the level of the subclavian artery, which it embraces, forming
a curve with its concavity upwards. It has no thoracic portion, and therefore usually
escapes in tumours of the mediastinum and in aortic aneurysms. The left re-
current nerve, on the contrary, has a thoracic portion, that corresponds to the first
two dorsal vertebrae. It arises to the left of the fibrous cord, that represents the
obliterated ductus arteriosus, turns round the lower and posterior portion of the arch
of the aorta, which it embraces, forming a curve with its concavity upwards, and is
therefore exposed to pressure from mediastinal tumours and aortic aneurysms.
Fig. 21. — Recuekent Nerves : Posterior View.
A, Arch of the aorta ; ce, oesophagus ; c, common carotid artery ; I, larynx ; t, trachea ;
h, b, bronchi ; j3, p, pneumogastric nerves ; r, r, recurrent nerves, one of wliich (the
left) coasts the arch of the aorta, and ascends along the oesophagus and the
trachea towards the larynx ; the other, in a hke manner, coasts the innominate
trunk on the right side.
The recurrent nerves give off the following branches (Hirschfeld) :
1. Cardiac branches, which arise from the loop of origin of the recurrent nerves,
and pass either directly to the cardiac plexus or by their union to the cardiac branches
of the great sympathetic and vagus.
2. (Esophageal branches, which arise from the left recurrent nerve, and are dis'
tributed to the coats of the upper portion of the oesophagus. The lower portions of
this tube receive their nerves directly from the vagus.
3. Pharyngeal branches, to the inferior constrictor of the pharynx.
4. Tracheal branches, which arise in part from the right recurrent nerve.
6. After the recurrent nerves have passed through the inferior constrictor of the
pharynx, their terminal branches supply all the muscles of the larynx, except the crico-
thyroid muscles, which are innervated by the external laryngeal branch of the superior
laryngeal nerve.
The recurrent nerves send motor iibres to the laiynx, but furnish mixed fibres to
the oesophagus, pharynx, and trachea. These different organs, further, receive a direct
and indirect innervation from the spinal accessory and vagus nerves. The indirect
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 499
innervation is supplied through the intermediary tract of the recurrent nerves ; the
direct innervation is supplied by branches arising directly from the spinal accessory
and vagus.
The researches carried out by French physiologists have established the following
conclusions (CI. Bernard, Chauveau), as regards the respective part played by the spinal
accessory and vagus in the compUcated movements of these organs :
The vagus is the motor nerve of the oesophagus, either by its direct branches or by
the intermediary of the recurrent nerve. The vagus and spinal accessory in part
supply the larynx. The inferior constrictor receives fibres from the vagus through
the recurrent nerve, and the upper part of the superior constrictor receives a direct
branch from the spinal accessory.
Among the muscles of the larynx the larger number, including the constrictors
of the glottis and the vocal muscles, properly speaking, are innervated from the spinal
accessory through the recurrent nerve. The other muscles arc innervated by the
pneumogastric, and include the crico-arytenoid muscles, which make the vocal cords
tense, and receive their nerve supply directly from the vagus by the exterior laryngeal
nerve ; and the posterior thyro-arytenoid muscles, which dilate the glottis, and are
consequently respiratory muscles, suppUed by the vagus tlirough the recurrent
nerves.
It is now easy to understand the production of the symptoms present in aortic
aneurysm of the recurrent type.
1. The attacks of dysphagia and the spasms of the oesophagus and of the pharynx
are exjjlained by excitation of the recurrent nerve, some branches of which pass
to the upper part of the oesophagus and to the inferior constrictor of the pharynx.
They are accorchngly symptoms of excitation, and not of paralysis, for dysphagia due
to paralysis of a recurrent nerve would be incomplete, and would produce continuous
embarrassment. There would not be paroxysmal attacks of pain, which are proper
to muscular spasms.
2. The attacks of suffocation and strangulation, as well as the vocal troubles, are
also explained by excitation of the recurrent nerve. For a long while these troubles,
due to dyspnoea, were not clearly understood. The authorities, Avho considered them
due to lesions of the recurrent nerve, were near the truth, though they were wrong in
referring them to paralysis of the nerve and to consequent relaxation of the vocal
cords. Krishaber, in 1866, in a paper " On the Occasion for Tracheotomy in
Aneurysms of the Aortic Arch," was the first to give the true interpretation of this
dyspnoea. This monograph, in which the author shows himself to be equally expert
as an experimenter and as a clinician, deserves to be quoted in extenso.
The attacks of suffocation that supervene in persons suffering from aneurysm of
the aorta, are not due to paralysis of the recurrent nerve, as had been supposed. The
nerve, instead of being paralyzed, is stimulated by its close relation to the aneurysmal
sac. The muscles of the larynx are in a state of contraction as a result of this stimulus,
instead of being relaxed. The glottis is in consequence narrowed spasmodically, and
the embarrassment in breatliing is due to this naiTowing. This statement has been
confirmed by experiments and Vjy laryngoscopic examination.
Section of one recurrent nerve in an adult animal produces relaxation of the corre-
sponding vocal cord, with dysphonia, but the respiration is in no way affected. In
a similar manner, paralysis of one recurrent nerve in man produces relaxation and
immobility of the corresponding vocal cord, but suffocation does not follow. Paralysis
of the recurrent nerve is sometimes seen in aortic aneurysm, and Potain has iiublishod
a case in which paralysis of the vocal cord, recognized with the laryngoscope, confirmed
the diagnosis of an aneurysm of the aorta.
When, on the contrary, the recurrent nerves of the animal are stimulated, tlio
intrinsic muscles of the larynx enter into action, and as the constrictor muscles act
32—2
500 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
chiefly upon the single dilator muscle, the glottis becomes constricted, and the animal
is suffocated.
A similar phenomenon occurs in man. How, then, can stimulation of one recurrent
nerve affect both vocal cords at once, and produce spasms of the glottis ? How can
unilateral excitation produce a bilateral effect ? Paralysis of one recurrent nerve
causes paralysis of the corresponding vocal cord. Why, then, does excitation of
a single nerve, such as occurs in aortic aneurysm, or in any other mediastinal tumour,
produce spasm of both lips of the glottis and attacks of suffocation ? Krishaber has
given us an explanation of this interesting fact by studying the role of the arytenoid
muscle.
This muscle, which is single and inserted on the two edges of the thyroid cartilages,
always has the effect of bringing its two insertions together when it contracts. It is
the only muscle in the economy which exerts its action simultaneously on both sides
of a symmetrical organ. Accordingly, excitation of one of the recurrent nerves deter-
mines, on the one hand, constriction of the interhgamentous glottis by the action of
the lateral crico-arytenoid muscles and of the thyro-arytenoid muscle on the corre-
sponding side, and, on the other hand, the complete occlusion of the respiratory glottis
by the bilateral action of the arytenoid muscle. Respiratory and vocal troubles result
from this action.
These experimental results have been verified with the laryngoscope in a patient
during an attack of suffocation caused by an aortic aneurysm. The whole left cord
(side on which the recurrent nerve was stimulated) was drawn over to the middle line.
The right vocal cord remained in its normal position, as regards its anterior two-thirds,
but the space between the arytenoid cartilages — that is to say, the respiratory glottis —
was completely closed. Extreme embarrassment of respiration resulted from this
spasm of the glottis, and the voice was altered in character. The alteration of the voice
was due to the tetanization of one vocal cord, to the forced approximation of the
arytenoid cartilages, and to the respiratory distress. In another case the left vocal
cord was paretic, while the voice was hoarse and bitonal. During the attacks of suffoca-
tion, however, the laryngoscope showed that the two cords were in a condition of
spasm, and almost completely obliterated the glottis. The spasm affected both vocal
cords, although the left nerve (as was verified at the autopsy) was alone affected by the
aneurysm.
This research explains the attacks of suffocation, strangulation, dysphonia, aphonia,
pharyngism, and oesophagism which often accompany aneurysm of the recurrent type.
These symptoms may appear alone, in succession, or in combination. It is difficult
to explain why the presence of a tumour in the region of the recurrent nerve produces
at one time paralysis and at another time excitation. It would seem, theoretically,
that the nerve would be excited at first, while its fibres are still intact, and paralyzed
later, when the fibres are in part destroyed by the pressure of the tumour. Nothing of
the kind, however, occurs. In some cases the paralytic stage is not preceded by a
phase of excitation, and in other cases almost complete destruction of the recurrent
nerve has been found post mortem, although the patient has shown no recurrent symp-
toms. It is also difficult to say why the symptoms of excitation, suffocation, and
strangulation come on in the form of intermittent attacks, wlien the determining cause
is in continuous action. Such an occurrence is fairly common in troubles of the nervous
system, which frequently assume an intermittent form, although the provoking cause
is continuous.
However this may be, the symptoms allow the localization of an aneurysm in the
neighbourhood of the left recurrent nerve — that is to say, in the region where
aneurysm is most grave, because it so often opens into the trachea and the bronchi.
The aneurysm may not be as large as an egg or a nut, but it is very serious when situated
in this region.
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS
501
Termination. — Aortic aneurysm takes several years to develop ; recovery
is unfortunately the exception, and death occurs in various ways. In about
half the cases death supervenes without rupture of the aneurysm : the
patient dies from pneumonia, for suppurative pneumonia is frequent in
aortic aneurysm, from pulmonary phthisis ; from asphyxia, consecutive to
compression of the trachea and bronchi ; from complications caused by
compression of the pulmonary vessels or of the vena cava ; or sometimes
from attacks of angina pectoris, as in two cases which I have recently seen.
When death results from rupture, the opening involves, in order of
frequency, the trachea, the bronchi, the pleura, the pericardium, the lungs,
the oesophagus, and, very rarely, the skin.*
When an aortic aneurysm opens into the trachea or a bronchus, the result-
ing haemoptysis is sometimes so severe and sudden that death occurs in a
few minutes. I have seen sudden death on two occasions. In other cases,
however, the aortic aneurysm, whatever the point of rupture, may cause a
series of small haemorrhages, that lasts for days and weeks before inducing
death. In a certain number of cases the patient, for several days and on
several occasions, brings up bloody sputum, which is the prelude of fatal
haemoptysis.
Rupture into the pleura is fairly frequent ; the blood may filter slowly
into the pleura producing a pleural haematoma, the origin of which is
sometimes misunderstood. Thoracentesis is performed once or twice, and
when the patient dies, we are surprised to find post mortem an effusion of
blood into the pleura consecutive to the opening of an aortic aneurysm.
Rupture into the pericardium is not rare, as Godart has collected
forty-seven cases.
* The relative frequency of these perforations is as follows (Ball and Charcot,
" Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales," tome v., p. 546) :
Right auricle
Pericardium
Pulmonary artery
Pleura -; . ,
(right
Anterior mediastinuiii
Left lung
Trachea
[left
Bronchi J right
(both
Gilsophagus
Duodenum
Peritoneum
SuVjperitoneal tissue
Cellular tissue of the anterior thoracic wall
Rupture externally . .
Death without rupturu
1
8
2
11
8
8
6
3
3
1
3
3
1
2
5
2
4
54
502 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Rupture of the aneurysm through the skin takes place under different
conditions ; the perforation may occur externally, or may be subcutaneous
and cause wide effusion of blood.
Diagnosis. — Aneurysm of the thoracic aorta and chronic aortitis, with
atheroma and general dilatation of the aorta, have many symptoms in
common : pain, dyspnoea, attacks of angina pectoris are seen in both cases,
as well as rupture of the aorta and consecutive heemorrhage. An aneurysm,
however, forms a prominent tumour, which gives rise to distinctive signs ;
the tumour alters the character of the radial pulse, gives the sensation of
two hearts beating in the chest, and determines compression of the trachea
with stridor ; compression of the veins with oedema and varicose dilatations ;
and compression of the recurrent nerve with the symptoms already described.
Tumours of the mediastinum also cause pressure symptoms, but they
do not present a double impulse beat, the murmurs of aneurysm, or the
inequality and want of synchronism in the two pulses.
It is also necessary to make the diagnosis from arterio-venous aneurysm,
for the aorta may communicate with the superior vena cava, the auricles,
the pulmonary artery, and the right ventricle ; but diagnosis is sometimes very
difficult, for the symptoms are, as a rule, simply an exaggeration of those
already produced by compression of a venous trunk — i.e., oedema, cyanosis,
collateral circulation, and tendency to coma. On auscultation a continuous
blowing murmur, with systohc reduplication, may be heard.
Lastly, the diagnosis between aneurysm of the aorta and that of the
innominate artery must be made. In the latter case the distinctive signs
are as follows : Prominence of the right clavicle ; bulgi'ng and dullness in the
right clavicular region ; pulsation and murmurs in this region ; compression
of the veins on the right side, with stasis in the right jugular vein, cervical and
tracheal pains, which are more marked on the right side.
Treatment. — The treatment of aneurysm of the aorta is general and
local. Local treatment of the sac by electro-puncture has given good results,
and this means, which is still on trial, has appeared to be of some efficacy. A
definite opinion as to injections of gelatine caimot yet be given (Lancereaux).
Mercurial treatment will be considered under Syphihtic Aneurysms.
VII. SYPHILIS OF THE AORTA— SYPHILITIC AORTIC
ANEURYSMS.
At the Hotel-Dieu* I have devoted three lectures to this important
question ; they will serve as my material for this section.
Discussion. — Syphihtic infection may cause numerous lesions, including
subacute and chronic aortitis, atheromatous and gummatous degeneration,
* " Syphilis de I'Aorte," Clinique Medicale de V Hotel-Dieu, 4"^^ 5^% et 6™^ le§ons,
1897.
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 503
lesions of the aortic orifice and sigmoid valves, large aneurysms, sacciform
aneurysm of the recurrent t}^e, small aneurysms which may be multiple and
cupuhform, coronaritis obhterans, and coronaritis with miliary aneurysms.
Aortic syphihs does not always show itself by diffuse lesions ; in many
cases the lesions are locahzed to a segment of the vessel, forming a kind of
segmentary aortitis, which is somewhat analogous to syphihtic segmentary
arteritis. Distinct cUnical types result, and show a special group of signs
and symptoms. It is therefore not enough to describe as a whole the syphi-
htic changes in the thoracic aorta ; it is necessary, as far as possible, to divide
them into certain forms, and I shall make an effort to do so in this section.
It must, however, be understood that the aortic lesions which we are
about to study, are syphihtic in nature, and no doubts must be left in the
mind as to this fact.
The recognition of syphihtic arteriopathies is of recent date. Not long
ago savants doubted the action of syphihs upon the arteries, and authorities
are still found whose opinions differ from those which I shall now state as to
the action of syphihs on the aorta. That syphihs may attack the arteries,
just as many infectious diseases do, need cause no surprise, and it is clear
that syphihtic arteritis must enter into the hst of infectious diseases of the
arteries. The proof is, however, wanting, both as regards the pathogenic
agent of syphihs, which we do not know,* and also as regards the character of
the arterial lesions which often have no special nature ; but, on the other
hand, we find conclusive proofs and arguments in the efl&cacy of specific
treatment, and also in other considerations.
When a patient suffering from tertiary lesions is at the same time affected by
syphihtic arteritis, whether it be obUterating or dilating, in parts which are accessible
to the sight (hmbs and face), and when under specific treatment he recovers from the
tertiary lesions and from the arteritis, it is evident that the arteritis in question was
of a syphihtic nature.
When an individual who is still young, and has no other cause for arteritis or for
atheroma, contracts syphihs, and in the early months of his infection is affected by
cerebral arteritis, which sometimes results in obliteration of the artery, with all its
consequences, or at other times in aneurysm, with rupture (see section on Cerebral
SyphiUs), a direct relation between the syphilis and the lesion of the artery cannot be
denied.
Now, syphihs, which has a marked predilection for the cerebral arteries, and also
injures the peripheral arteries — i.e., the temporal, radial, pophteal, femoral, or in-
nominate trunks — has no reason for sparing the aorta, and, in fact, it does not do so.
When aortitis, with aneurysm, occurs in a young man about six years after syphihtic
infection, and no other causes capable of explaining the aortitis can be found, it is
rational to consider the lesion of the aorta as due to syphihs (case of Kalindero and
Babes). When an individual is seized four, six, or ten years after infection with agonizing
pains, due to aortitis, which is cured by specific treatment, it is natural to consider
both the angina pectoris and the lesion of tlio aorta as due to syphilis (cases of Hallopeau,
* Cf. p. 477, where mention is made of the spirochaeta. — ^Tkans.
504 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Rumpf, Vicenzo Vitone, and. personal case). When obliterating arteritis of the Syhian
artery occurs in a syphilitic patient, and yields to specific treatment, it is rational to
attribute this cerebral arteritis to syphihs, and if this individual some years later suffers
from aortitis with aneurysm, it is also natural to attribute the aortic lesion to syphilis
(personal case). When aortitis, with its train of symptoms, appears in an individual
suffering from pustulo-crustaceous syphilides, it is very difficult not to doubt that
there are two tertiary manifestations, which occur simultaneously or in succession,
affecting the skin on the one hand and the aorta on the other (personal cases). When
syphilitic perforation of the roof of the j^alate is seen in a woman suffering from aortic
aneurysm, it is only right to admit that in such a patient the tertiary manifestations
of syphilis have attacked successively the aorta and the roof of the palate (Jaccoud's
case). When aneurysm of the aorta supervenes in a syphilitic patient who has lesions
of the parietal bone, liver, and testis, it may be affirmed that the aortic lesion is also
of syphilitic origin (Buehle's case).
These arguments appear to me to be decisive. The aorta is not immune to syphihs.
It may be added that these effects are generally tardy. In this respect there is some
difference between syphihs of the cerebral arteries and syjjhilis of the aorta. In short,
while syphihs may affect the arteries of the brain at a very early stage — even five or
six weeks after infection — I do not think that such an early onset has ever been seen
as regards the aorta, ^\^len I recall, one by one, my cases of syiihilitic lesions of the
aorta, I find that these lesions have appeared only at a very advanced stage. In three of
my patients at the Hotel-Dieu, syphilis of the aorta supervened from fourteen to twenty
years after the chancre ; in two of my patients at the Necker Hospital, the aorta was
infected only at an advanced period ; in one patient at the Saint-Antoine Hospital
the first signs of aortic aneurysm appeared eighteen years after infection ; in one
of Duguet's patients the aortic lesions supervened twenty years after infection.
Mauriac considers that aortic lesions appear, as a rule, about twelve years after the
chancre, and I place among the earliest the case of KaUndero, in which syphiUtic
aneurysm of the aorta came on seven years after, and the cases of Rumpf and
Vicenzo Vitone, in which syphilitic aortitis supervened four years and six years after
infection. These facts are of importance, and serve to emphasize the fact that, if
cerebral arteritis is to be feared during the first year of infect^on, there is no fear of
aortitis for many years.
Division. — We are now clear as to the existence and the time of appear-
ance of syphilitic lesions of the aorta ; let us discuss in detail each of these
lesions and their localizations. From the pathological point of view they
differ but little from the lesions of common aortitis : atheroma is found in its
different forms and stages ; the same deformities of the vessels and the same
tendency to dilatation and to aneurysm are seen. There is notliing, either
in the anatomical or in the histological picture, that can serve to difEer-
entiate the lesions of chronic syphihtic aortitis from those of aortitis due to
other causes. An interesting point, however, is that the aorta is sometimes
the seat of true gummata, which may give rise to small cupulif orm aneurysms,
regarded by some authors as characteristic of syphihs.
These various lesions, including thickening, induration, atheroma, gum-
mata, dilatation, aneurysms, etc., are sometimes diffuse and indefinitely dis-
tributed over the thoracic aorta ; at other times they are localized to a clearly
defined region, and present the following anatomical and clinical types :
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 505
1. Suprasigmoid syphilitic aortitis.
2. Sypliilis of the aortic orifice with incompetence.
3. Large aneurysms of the aorta.
4. Aneurysm of the recurrent type.
5. Small multiple cupuhform aneurysms.
6. Obhterating coronaritis and miliary aneurysms of the
coronary arteries.
This classification is far from being final, and does not include diffuse
aortitis of the thoracic trunk, but it is perfectly applicable to a fairly large
number of cases in which the aortitis is locahzed to a circumscribed region of
the aorta.
1. Suprasigmoid Syphilitic Aortitis.
In this type the lesion is confined to the first portion of the ascending
aorta, thus forming a kind of segmentary aortitis, that may be called supra-
sigmoid.
In this form we find pain and angina (angor pectoris). • The pain, which
may be slight or violent, transient, continuous or paroxysmal and acute,
with suffocation and a sense of constriction in the chest, radiates hke the
pain of angina pectoris, and has its maximum in the sternal or in the pre-
cordial region, which is painful on pressure.
In a patient with these symptoms the attention is at once called to the
aorta. On percussion, no enlargement of the vessel can be made out ; on
auscultation, no murmur is heard. Under such circumstances, and in tlie
absence of any appreciable lesion, every possible supposition is considered,
including neuralgia of the cardiac plexus, smoker's heart, hysteria, cardialgia
of tabes — in short, all the causes that are capable of producing cardiac
neuralgia ; while sufficient consideration is not paid to syphilis, because it
may date back ten, twelve, or fifteen years, and, it may be added, because
this suprasigmoid aortitis has not yet been sufficiently recognized. For my
part, I consider it one of the most frequent manifestations of aortic syphilis.
The situation and nature of the pains which it excites are sufficient to attract
attention and lead to the diagnosis.
These pains should cause no surprise, and no elaborate theories are
necessary to explain them. Let us not forget that syphiUtic arteritis is
sometimes extremely painful. One of Leudet's patients had very severe
pain in the temporal arteries, which were affected by syphilitic arteritis ; one
of my patients suffered much pain in the radial artery, which was the seat of
a syphilitic aneurysm ; persons suffering from syphiUs of the cerebral arteries
(basilar and Sylvian arteries) have at times fearful headache due to the
arteritis. The same remark appUes to syphiUtic aortitis. Why should it
not be extremely painful when the aorta adjoins the nerves of the cardiac
506 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
plexus, whicli is always ready to produce the syndrome of angina pectoris ?
Tlie agonizing sternal or retrosternal pain wliich radiates to the neck and
left arm may be the result of syphilitic aortitis, especially when the supra-
sigmoid segment is affected.
The following cases prove the truth of this view :
About fifteen years ago Potain and myself saw a woman, still young, with
angina pectoris. The pains had been coming on for some weeks past, and had finally
become very severe. They were continuous, yet broken by agonizing paroxysms, Uke
those of angina pectoris. The aortic orifice was healthy ; the aorta showed no dilata-
tion. She was too young for atheroma ; tobacco, hysteria, and tabes, were out of the
question. Treatment proved unsuccessful, though an ice-bag gave some rehef. A
tertiary ulcer appeared on the right thigh. Specific treatment was at once employed ;
the ulcer was soon cured, and the pains of angina pectoris completely disappeared. I
ask, WTiat could this case be, except an attack of syphilitic aortitis which had left the
aortic orifice intact ?
Some years ago, with Duplay and Ramond, I saw a gentleman suffering from
serpiginous ulceration, which had destroyed part of the right thigh. He was finally
cured. Five years later, very sharp j^ain in the cardio-aortic region. Auscultation
revealed no lesion o£ the aortic orifice. I thought of suprasigmoid aortitis. Remember-
ing the serpiginous ulceration, I prescribed specific treatment, which he did not take.
Some months later Ramond was called out to see him. He was suffering from most
terrible precordial pain, and died in a few hours.
Hallopeau has published a very interesting memoir on this subject,
in which he describes syphilitic angina pectoris :
A man of thirty-six years of age, ten years before had had benign syphiUs, which
was properly treated. He was taken ill one night with acute precordial pain, radiating
to the left shoulder. During the next few days the pain recurred several times in the
twenty-four hours, and radiated as far as the left elbow and the end of the last three
fingers. The symptoms of angina pectoris disappeared completely under treatment
with mercury and iodide.
In the monograph to which I have just alluded, Hallopeau has collected
the three following cases :
The first, reported by Rumpf, concerns a man, twenty-nine years of age, who, six
years before, had had chancre, followed by secondary symptoms, when he felt violent
pain in the precordial region, radiating into the back and the left arm. The pain came
back in the form of attacks, and was accompanied by a feehng of thoracic constriction
and palpitations. The attacks at first were some days apart ; later they occurred daily.
Auscultation revealed no abnormal sign at the aortic orifice, proving that the supra-
sigmoid aortitis had not encroached upon it. The age of the patient excluded atheroma,
and syphilis could alone be held guilty. Treatment confirmed the diagnosis, and
recovery finally occurred.
The other two cases are given by Vicenzo Vitone. One of his patients, thirty-four
years of age, was, four years after infection, taken ill with headache and vertigo, and
later with crises of angina, suffocation, and precordial pain, which radiated to the left
arm. These attacks occurred several times a day. On auscultation no lesion of the
aortic orifice was found, doubtless because the aortitis was confined to the suprasigmoid
segment. The condition was due to syphilis, because subcutaneous injections of mer-
cury arrested the attacks.
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 507
The other patient suffered from attacks of angina pectoris, which recurred several
times a day, although on auscultation it was impossible to discover the slightest lesion
ol the aorta or of the heart. In this case too the angina pectoris, which certainly
depended on suprasigmoid aortitis, was cured by subcutaneous injections of calomel.
These cases prove that syphiUtic aortitis may be extremely painful, and,
just as arteritis in cerebral syphilis shows its presence by headache, so
aortitis shows its presence by the symptoms of angina pectoris, from the
most mild to the most severe forms. As long as the lesion remains hmited
to the suprasigmoid segment of the aorta, the valves are not invaded, and
the orifice remains healthy ; the symptoms of angina pectoris are the only
evidence of the lesion, but they are quite sufficient to indicate the diagnosis.
I cannot lay too great stress on suprasigmoid aortitis, which is a favourite
locahzation of sypliihs of the aorta. In a patient suffering from angina
pectoris without atheroma, lesions of the aortic orifice, or dilatation of the
aorta, we are too often incUned to diagnose neuralgia due to tobacco,
hysteria, or arthritis, and to mistake the true nature of the disease ; we accuse
the patient of smoking or of drinking too much, cut off his tobacco, tea, and
alcohol, and then consider our treatment sufficient. We are wrong. We are
not sufficiently familiar with the idea that aortitis may arise ten, twelve,
or fifteen years after infection, at a time when the patient himself no longer
thinks of it, and we do not remember that aortitis, when it is confined to the
suprasigmoid segment, may excite no other symptoms than those of angina
pectoris. It is the more important not to make a mistake, because syphilitic
aortitis, when taken in time, is curable ; if it is left to itself, it may lead to
invasion of the sigmoid valves and coronary arteries, dilatation of the aorta,
formation of cupuliform aneurysms, or rupture of the vessel.
2. Syphilis of the Aortic Orifice — Aortic Incompetence
due to Syphilis.
After having described suprasigmoid aortitis, let us consider the changes
caused by its extension to the aortic orifice and the sigmoid valves. To
give an idea of this process I have only to sketch the history of one of
my patients at the Hotel-Dieu :
A strong policeman, who was forty-five years of age, had for some time experienced
such acute cardiac pain that he was unable to work. He could not wear his tunic
buttoned, because the least pressure over the sternum was unbearable. Moreover,
crises of angina pectoris, with all their train of symptoms, appeared on the least move-
ment, sometimes even without any apparent cause.
For some time life had been intolerable. He could not clean his room, and could
only walk very slowly from one tree to another, as policemen are wont to do on their
beat, without being seized with angina and suffocation, which pulled him up short.
Percussion of the sterno-costal region caused fairly sharp pain. Auscultation showed
that the angina pectoris was associated witii aortitis and aortic incompetence.
Having made the first step in the diagnosis, it was necessary to find the cause of
508 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
the aortic lesion and of the angina. He was not suffering from arterio -sclerosis, in the
true sense of the word, and had no renal disease, for he had no albuminuria and no
symijtoms of Bright's disease. He was an aortic case, with incompetence of the orifice
and hypertroi)hy of the heart.
The aortic incompetence was consecutive to a lesion of the aorta, and not to one of
the heart. The sigmoid valves had been invaded from the side of the endarterium,
and not of the endocardium. This distinction was established by the fact that aortic
insufficiency, consecutive to lesions of the endocardium, and most commonly seen in
rheumatic cases, is rarely painful, and may pursue its course for a long while without
causing symptoms of angina pectoris. On the other hand, aortic insufficiency consecutive
to lesions of the aorta is preceded or accompanied by symptoms of angina.
It was not sufficient, however, to diagnose aortitis and aortic insufficiency ; it was
also necessary to know what was the cause of these lesions. He was free from any
infectious disease which might cause aortitis, but seventeen years before he had had
a chancre, followed by enlargement of the inguinal glands, mucous patches in the
mouth, etc. I was justified, therefore, in making a diagnosis of syphilitic aortitis
with valvular incompetence. The treatment confirmed the diagnosis. I gave fifteen
injections (oily solution of biniodide of mercury), and later a fresh series of twelve
injections. The improvement was so marked that six weeks after admission he returned
to duty. He came back every year for treatment with mercury, and the acute symj)-
toms never reappeared.
This case is a typical one of aortic insufficiency, associated with syphilitic aortitis.
The lesion of the orifice was not improved by the treatment; the diastolic murmur
did not diminish, because the lesion of the orifice was irremediable ; but, at any rate,
the treatment was very effective, as regards the symptoms of pain and dyspna?a, so
that we may hope that the lesion will not be fatally progressive, and that it may be
arrested.
For seven years I heard nothing of him, but in September, 1905, he came to the
Hotel-Dieu, when I inquired as to his health.
" Sir," said he, " for seven years I have had no jsain. I do my own work, and also
do day-work for others. My health is gi-and, and there is not a better worker for
miles round. I dig all day, and in summer I do harvesting from four in the morning
till eight at night."
Such was his statement. Seven years ago he had been under treatment for such
severe angina that death appeared imminent. Fortunately, the angina was due to
syphihs, and injections of biniodide of mercury worked a wonderful cure. The valvular
lesion will always remain as marked as it was seven years ago, but we may say that it
has become harmless. He has gone back to Ardeche to work. Perhaps I shall find
him still in good health in yea.rs to come.
3. Syphilitic Aneurysms of the Aorta.
My opinion is that aneurysms of the aorta are in most cases of syphiUtic
origin. I recognize more than ever that syphihs has a marked predilection
for the aorta. Too much importance cannot be given to early diagnosis.
All treatment depends upon it.
Syphihtic aortitis may result in dilatation of the vessel and in aneurysms
of every size. They may assume considerable proportions, as in a man
suffering from aneurysm of the arch.
The first warnings were of two years' duration. He felt acute pain in the left
cervical region and the left arm, without any symptom of angina pectoris. He had
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 509
so little distr&ss that he could, without the least breathlessness, ascend several stories,
while carrying heavy weights. The pains which he experienced were not like those
seen in cases of aortitis of the preceding type. It must be added that the localization
of the lesion was quite different ; and while, in the other patients, the suprasigmoid
aortitis reacted on the branches of the cardiac plexus in the form of angina pectoris,
here the aneurysm of the terminal portion of the arch left the cardiac plexus intact, but
affected the branches of the brachial plexus.
\Mien this cer\'ico- brachial neuralgia appeared, he consulted Fournier, who
diagnosed syphilitic aneurysm of the aorta. He had had a chancre, followed by
secondary symptoms. In 1884 he was treated for syphilitic endarteritis obliterans of
the left Sylvian artery at the Saint-Antoine Hospital. At this time, after violent
headache, right hemiplegia with aphasia, appeared. I saw the patient some days
later, and at once prescribed mercurial inunctions and iodide of potassium. The
aphasia and hemiplegia tinally ended in complete recovery.
Ten years later he suffered from aortitis of the same nature, which ended in aneurysm.
These details were known to Fournier, who at once recognized the mark of syphilis,
which, ten years apart, affected the Sylvian artery and the aorta. The proof that the
aortitis was really syphihtic is that mercury and iodide of potassium, prescribed by
Fournier, cured the cervico-brachial neuralgia, which no other treatment had been
able to assuage. The aneurysm underwent no change, for it was the result of two
lesions which do not retrocede, but the extreme pain caused by the aneurysm yielded
to the specific treatment. He came to see me for the neuralgia, which had again become
intolerable. Under the influence of specific remedies the pains and insomnia disappeared.
A patient, thirty-six years of age, was admitted into the Saint-Antoine Hospital
for an enormous syphiUtic aneurysm of the aorta. At the age of fifteen he had con-
tracted syphilis, which was followed later by tertiary ulcerations, Avith indelible scars
and painful exostoses. Sixteen years after the chancre, paias appeared in the right
shoulder, and were more intense at night. Later they spread over the whole arm and
right side of the chest. Six months later, oedema of the chest-wall on the right side and
venous dilatation. Millard, finding pulsation to the right of the sternum, diagnosed a
syphilitic aneurysm of the aorta, and prescribed Gibert's syrup, A^ith iodide of potassium.
The redema and the collateral circulation disappeared, but the severe pains soon
returned, and the patient was taken into my ward. At the right of the sternum, in place
of the upper ribs, wliich had disappeared, I found a large aneurysm. The pains in the arm
and shoulder were so sharp that the patient could get no rest. It was clear that he had
suffered from a series of syphilitic troubles, ending in aneurysm of the aorta. I
ordered mercurial inunction and iodide of potassium. The pains diminished, the nights
became better, but no evident change in the aneurysm could be seen. He died sud-
denly from fulminating haemoptysis.
The autopsy revealed enormous dilatation of the ascending aorta and of the arcli,
the walls of which were thickened. The sac was studded with small secondary
aneurysms ; some were hollowed out like a cup, while others projected in the form of
nodes, due to the stratified layers of fil)rin which filled the cup and were raised above
the wall of the artery. Indeed, the sac contained a crop of small aneurysms, due to
circumscribed gummata, as has been described by LetuUe, Kalindero, and Babes.
These tumours may occur at any point of the thoracic aorta. The lesions
found post mortem show sliglit difTerciices. In some cases the process is
disseminated over the aorta, whicli is dilated, thickened, and studded with
atheromatous patches at different spots ; in other cases the aortitis is limited
to a segment upon which the aneurysm develops later, and the vessel is
almost normal in the rest of its extent.
510
TEXT-BOOK OP MEDICINE
4. Aneurysm of the Aorta of the Recurrent Type.
Let us noAv consider the lesion which I have named aneurysm of the
recurrent type. I have employed this name because the aneurysm develops
in the region of the aorta contiguous to the loop of the left recurrent nerve,
and because its most prominent symptoms depend upon the close relation
of this nerve.
The anatomical, clinical, and experimental details of this variety of
aortic aneurysm have been described in the preceding chapter, to which I
refer the reader.
Dysphagia, attacks of pharyngism, oesophagism, suffocation and strangu-
lation, and vocal troubles, locahze the aneurysm in the neighbourhood of the
recurrent nerve. This situation is especially serious, because rupture into
Fig. 22. — Aneueysm of Rectjreent Type.
i. Larynx ; p, p', vagus nerve ; A, aorta ; r, r', recurrent nerves.
the trachea and bronchi most frequently occurs here. The aneurysm may
not be larger than a nut, but it is very serious when situated in this region,
as the following cases prove.
The first of these cases is taken from Ordonneau's thesis.
A man, fifty-eight years of age, came into the H6tel-Dieu at Nantes for violent
pain in the neck and upper part of the chest. His respiration was embarrassed, and
inspiration was characteristic of spasm of the glottis. The voice was hoarse ; swallow-
ing was painful. As he felt better, he left the hospital, but returned soon after in a
much worse state. He was cyanosed, the aphonia was complete, the dysphagia was
more severe, and the attacks of oppression were terrible. As he was syphihtic, we
thought of laryngeal syphihs, with consecutive oedema. Tracheotomy was performed.
He succumbed during the night.
At the autopsy the larynx was found free from disease. At the lower part of
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 511
the trachea, on its left side, there was an aneurysm of the arch of the aorta, no
larger than a nut. The aneurysm was adherent to the trachea, and was skirted
laterally by the left recvirrent nerve. The portion of the trachea which was not in
contact with the aneurysm showed on its inner surface an ulcer a few milhmetres in
diameter. At this point the aneurysmal sac was partly formed by the trachea, and was
so thin that it would certainly have opened into the air-passage in a short time.
This case is an exact reproduction of the statements made above. The syphiUtic
aneurysm was of small dimension, and did not compress the trachea or the cesophagus.
The dyspncea and dysphagia, therefore, were not produced by pressure on these tubes.
Its existence was revealed by aphonia, dysphagia, spasms of the glottis, and asphyxia,
due to the close relation of the recurrent nerve. Even if the patient had survived these
complications, he was threatened by fatal haemorrhage, for the aneurysm was on the
point of bursting into the trachea.
Savard has published a similar case :
A soldier, forty-four years of age, who had contracted syphihs, was many years
after taken ill with vocal troubles and dyspnoea. Later the aphonia became complete,
and the difficulty in breathing was compUcated by terrible attacks of suffocation and
8ucking-in. As auscultation of the chest, the heart, and the aorta, gave negative
results, the possibihty of syphihs affecting the bronchial glands was thought of, and
iodide of potassium prescribed. The situation, however, continued to grow serious,
and on the second day after admission he died from haemoptysis in less than a minute.
The autopsy revealed an aneurysm of the size of a nut, forming a diverticulum, attached
to the aorta. The aneurysm, which was adherent to the left bronchus and to the trachea,
compressed the left recurrent nerve. After the trachea and bronchi had been opened,
Savard found at the origin of the left bronchus a perforation, establishing com-
munication between the bronchus and the aneuiysm. The haemoptysis had taken
place through this oi^ening. This case> which is absolutely typical, proves the gravity
of aneurysms, even of small size, when they are near the loop of the recurrent nerve.
It further proves that these aneurysms may reveal themselves by none of the usual
signs, and may only betray their presence by the signs special to aneurysms of the
recurrent type.
When the aneurysm develops in this region, it almost completely escapes
our methods of investigation, especially if it is of small size ; it causes no
expansile pulsation, no double impulse, no dullness, and no murmurs ; its
presence is not always shown by pain. In some cases nothing can be seen,
heard, or felt, but yet we can arrive at the diagnosis of the aneurysm by the
symptoms I have indicated.
Kalindero and Babes have well brought out the role of gummatous
aortitis and circumscribed gumma in the pathogenesis of syphihtic aneurysm
of the aorta. Among their cases there is one wliich absolutely conforms to
the recurrent type.
A physician, twenty-nine years of age, had contracted sypliilis seven years previously.
Treatment had for a long time kept him free from any manifestations of sypliiUs,
when, six years after the infection, he was taken ill with dyspliouia, cough, ami severe
dyspnrpa. Tlio physicians at Bucharest, after laryngoscopic examination, wore of
opinion tliat tlic tradu-a and recurrent nerve were being compressed l)y asiiuill aneurysm
or by enlarged glands, lu a few months the laryngeal symptoms disappeared, the
512 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
attacks of suffocation were averted, he resumed his work, and his liealth appeared
perfect. One day, without any warning, he died from fulminating haemoptysis in a
few minutes. Before his death, however, he had still the time and the astonishing
presence of mind to -svrite a few lines to Babes, begging him to make a post mortem
and preserve the specimen.
The autopsy demonstrated the existence of patches of syphiUtic aortitis and of a
sacciform aneurysm as large as a nut, which had developed in the concavity of the arch
of the aorta. The aneurysm rested on the left bronchus, and pushed the lower end of
the trachea sUghtly to the right side. The aneurysm had opened into the left bronchus
by a perforation 5 milhmetres in diameter.
It is easy to reconstruct the different stages in this case. We have a young man
who contracts syphihs. Seven years later syphilitic aortitis supervenes, and is chiefly
locahzed to the aortic segment which is in relation with the loop of the left recurrent
nerve. At this point an aneurysm of small size develops, and shows its presence by
symptoms due to the proximity of the recurrent nerve — Aaz., dyspnoea, spasm of the
glottis, and vocal trouble. After this warning everything becomes normal, but the
aneurysm pursues its insidious course, without pain, pulsation, or any visible signs.
One day rupture occurs, and is accompanied by fulminating hsemoptysis.
I have seen a similar case, which shows how aneurysm of the recurrent
type behaves.
I saw, with Dr. Woelcker, a gentleman, fifty years of age, who for some months had
experienced suffocation, with vocal troubles and difficulty in swallowing. Swallowing
was painful and almost impossible during the attacks, while the aphonia was complete,
and the suffocation so marked that the patient repeatedly thought that he was dying.
Between the attacks the voice remained hoarse, deglutition was difficult, and the
breathing was far from being normal. Examination of the cardio-aortic region yielded
negative results. As the patient was syphilitic, I thought of some mecUastinal lesion,
and aneurysm of the recurrent type came into my mind. I told his family of the
possibility of fulminating haemoptysis. In order to gain further informatioD, however,
I asked for a laryngoscopic examination by Dr. Bonnier.
When Woelcker and Bonnier arrived at the house to examine the patient, the
servants told them that he had just died of fulminating haemoptysis. This catastrophe
verified the diagnosis, and I have not the shghtest doubt that this patient, hke those
of KaUndero and Savard, died from rupture of the aneurysm into the left bronchus or
the trachea.
Such cases prove that aneurysm of the recurrent type has its special
symptoms : dysphonia, aphonia, and attacks of sufEocation, of strangulation,
of pharyngism, or of oesophagism, with or without precordial pain, are
therefore found more or less in every case. These symptoms may occur in
succession or in combination. They appear in the form of attacks, and
though they may last only a short while as a kind of warning (Kahndero's
case), they are none the less of the highest importance. They allow us to
locaUze the aortic aneurysm in the neighbourhood of the recurrent nerve —
that is to say, in a region which is especially serious, and in wliich opening of
the aneurysm into the trachea or into the bronchi most usually occurs. It
would therefore be wrong to consider that the largest aneurysms are the
most formidable. An aneurysm which develops towards the exterior, and
sometimes reaches considerable size, as in the case described above, may last
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 513
for several years, in spite of its size, before compromising the patient's life ;
while small aneurysms which are in relation with the bronchus or with the
trachea may cause fulminating haemoptysis in persons who scarcely suspect
the existence of an aortic lesion. By careful study of the symptoms, which I
have tried to put clearly, and by laryngoscopic examination, we can as accu-
rately as possible define the topography of aortic aneurysm of the recurrent
type.
5. Cupuliform Aneurysms— ^Gummata of the Aorta.
Let us now consider syphilitic aortitis with circumscribed gummata,
which result in multiple cupuliform aneurysms, varying in size from a pea
to a nut. Several of these small aneurysms may be counted at intervals in
the course of the thoracic aorta ; we might, indeed, speak of an eruption of
small aneurysms. These aneurysms sometimes develop upon an aorta
which is neither deformed nor dilated ; at other times they are set on the
waUs of a large aneurysmal dilatation. According to several authors, these
small aneurysms are absolutely special to syphilis. The subjoined cases
will give an exact idea of this variety.
On November 9, 1892, a man, forty-three years of age, was admitted for precordial
pains, with angina and suffocation, which used to come on suddenly after a walk, or
after some rather sudden movement, or, indeed, -vnthout apparent cause. On several
occasions the crisis had been so violent that the patient thought he was dying. The
l)ain started in the i)recordial region, and. radiated into the left arm and hand. The
duration was variable. The first crisis 'had been short, but the later ones came on in
rapid succession, and then lasted several hours, practically without any respite. The
I)atient did not dare to walk or to go upstairs : he dreaded lying do\\Ti, because he was
afraid of a reappearance of the crisis.
He evidently had angina pectoris, and it behoved us to search for the cause. When
he uncovered for examination, we noticed above the left clavicle a large and absolutely
characteristic pustolo-crustaceous syphihde, and learnt that he had been syphilitic
for ten years. Percussion and auscultation of the cardio-aortic region gave negative
results. The aorta was not increased in size, and the aortic orifice was absolutely
healthy. The patient had neither lead-poisoning, gout, diabetes, tabes, nor hysteria,
and was not a smoker. As tertiary syphilis was in full activity, it was permissible to
diagnose syphiUtic aortitis.
On the evening of admission he refused to he down, so much did ho dread
a crisis. He was seized with a terrible attack of angina pectoris. He was undressed
and put to bed, but he had scarcely lain down, when he jumped up in agony, said that
he was dying, and passed away in a few moments. At the autopsy my first care was
to examine the aorta. It was not dilated, but on the surface we saw four small
aneurysms, at intervals, from below upwards. The first aneurysm was of the size of a
large pea, and situated at the level of the right auricle. The second aneurysm, of the
same size, was 4 centimetres above the })receding one, in front and to the right of the
aorta. The third aneurysm, of the size of an almond, formed a prominence, aljout
a centimetre higher up, at the junction of the ascending and horizontal portions of the
aorta. A fourth aneurysm, of the size of a cherry, wiis situated on the anterior part
of the aorta, at the origin of tlio innominate trunk. The aorta was opened, and the
integrity of the aortic orifice and sigmoid valves was proved. The vessel was thickcuod
33
514 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
and studded with patches of gummatous and atheromatous aortitis. The first and
third of these aneurysms were excavated in the form of a thin transparent cup, which
would soon have ruptured. The second and fourth aneurysms formed a hard prominent
projection, composed of fibrinous clots, adherent to the wall. On histological examina-
tion of the thirmest portion of the aneurysm, the tunica media had almost disappeared.
The coronary arteries were incised and carefully examined. Their walls showed arteritis
at different points, but their orifice was absolutely free, and the lumen was not ob-
literated.
He had been attacked by acute syphiUtic aortitis, which had rapidly caused multiple
aneurj^sms. The aortic orifice and the sigmoid valves had been spared, and death had
supervened in an attack of angina pectoris, consecutive to aortitis. Let us remark, in
passing, that death was not attributable to cardiac ischemia, consecutive to obhtera-
tion of the coronary arteries, for the heart was not ischemic, and the coronary arteries
were permeable at every point.
A man, fifty-eight years of age, was admitted for agonizing dyspnoea, which had
begun about two years previously, and had soon been followed by precordial pain,
radiating into the left arm. Although the pain and the dyspnoea were present together,
the latter was the chief trouble. On auscultation of the heart, I found a diastohc murmur
of aortic insufficiency, and a systolic one of mitral insufficiency. I therefore made the
following diagnosis : Angina pectoris, consecutive to aortitis which had encroached
on the aortic orifice, \\'ith aortic and mitral incompetence. We had still to discover
the cause of this aortitis, and as, after revie'vnng the probable causes, I could only find
one — syphiUs, which the patient had had nine years before — it appeared to me
natural to put the aortitis down to syphihtic infection. I prescribed mercurial in-
unctions and iodide of potassium. A few days later the patient was seized with a terrible
attack of dyspnoea and pain, which during the preceding days had recurred at closer
and closer intervals, and he succumbed in a few minutes.
At the autopsy our attention was first directed to the aorta. It was dilated with
patches of chronic aortitis. We counted seven small aneurysms at intervals, from
below upwards. The first aneurysm w^as as large as a plum-stone, and situated in front
and to the right of the aorta, on a level with the apex of the right auricle. The second
aneurysm, of the same size, was situated above the preceding one. The third aneurysm
was smaller, and situated higher up. The fourth was situated on the anterior part of
the aorta, near the innominate trunk. The fifth aneurysm occupied the anterior part
of the aorta, near the left carotid. The sixth was situated close to the left subcla\"ian
artery. The size of each of these last three aneurysms was equal to a cherry-stone.
Lastly, a seventh aneurysm, of the size of a walnut, occupied the ascending and lateral
portion of the aorta.
Some of these aneurysms were cupuliform ; others were covered by fibrinous clots,
wliich projected, fike nodes, into the lumen of the vessel. Histological examination
of the more affected parts revealed complete disappearance of the tunica media. The
coronary arteries were carefully examined, but were not obliterated either at their
orifice or in their course. We found only some atheromatous patches 1 centimetre
from the orifice of the i:iosterior coronary. The heart muscle was much hypertrophied,
especiall_y in the left ventricle. Bands of fibrous tissue were found on histological
examination.
These two cases are very instructive. They prove that aortic syphiUs
may take the form of circumscribed gummata, with or without other lesions
of the vessel. In these cases, as in most syphihtic lesions of the ascending
aorta, the angina pectoris was so severe that both our patients died from it.
They died, although there was no inflammation of the coronary arteries,
DISEASES OF THE VESSELS 515
proving that obliteration of the coronary arteries is far from being the
only cause of fatal angina pectoris.
The multiplicity of syphihtic aneurysms was shown by Jaccoud in
1886 in his clinical lectures at the Pitie, where he quotes several well-known
cases.
These include : the case published by VcaUin, of a man forty-fiv'e years of age, who
was syphihtic, and died suddenly from haemorrhage into the pericardium. At the
post mortem four aneurysms were found on the thoracic aorta. — The case of Orlebard,
of a syphihtic j^atient,. twenty-nine years of age, at whose autopsy three anemysms of
the thoracic aorta were found, the first being situated above the posterior sigmoid,
the second a httle higher, and the third below the origin of the innominate trunk.—
Malecot's case of a man, fifty-eight years of age, who was both alcohoUc and syphihtic ;
post mortem three aortic aneurysms were found : one at the origin of the aorta, the
second on the arch, and the third just above the diajDhragm.
Nalty's case (Verdie's thesis) deals with a man who had had sj^phihs five years
before. One day he noticed a beating at the root of the neck. Six months later a
pulsating tumour appeared in the same region, below and a httle to the right of the sterno-
clavicular articulation. This tumour was an aneurysm. As the patient had tertiary
ulcers on the thigh and knee, it was reasonable to ascribe the aneurysm to syphihs,
and treatment was presci'ibed. After transient improvement the situation tjocame
worse, and the patient died. At the autopsy two aneurysms were found — one at the
level of the innominate artery, the other in the aorta. The latter compressed the
trachea behind, and in front projected into the sterno-cIa\'icuIar region. Besides
these two large aneurysms there were upon the aorta several small aneurysms,
characterized, says the author, by erosions of the walls of the vessel and gummatous
I^rojections. Further, numerous guramata, varying in size from a pin's head to a cherry-
stone, were scattered over the surface of the heart and the endocardium.
Jonas has reported the case of a man, thirty-three years of age, who had had syphilis
for nineteen years, and three months before was attacked by cardiac and aortic troubles.
He died, and at the autopsy enlargement of the whole ascenchng part of the aorta was
found. Its surface was irregular and partly calcified, and 4 centimetres above the
aortic orifice eight or nine aneurysms, var^'ing in size from a pea to that of a filbert,
were counted.
In syphilitic aortitis, which has been carefully studied by I^rault and
LetuUe, the whole of the arterial wall is infiltrated at a circumscribed spot
by embryonic lesions. " Round cells, united at different spots into confluent
nodules, have a suspicious appearance. We are generally right at some
period or other, if not in recognizing, at least in suspecting, the formation of
miliary gummata."
Kalindero and Babes are still more explicit on the presence of syphilitic
gummata in the aorta. According to these authors, the multiple small
aneurysms are due to gummata of the walls of the aorta. These authors say
that, in addition to aneurysm of the aorta due to sclerous aortitis, we see
small circumscribed aneurysms, due to the development of syphilitic gum-
mata in the walls of the vessel.
Sy|)liilitic Icsiotis of the aorta arc, liise bacilli, which are non-virulent in the
case of the guinea-pig, kill small })irds that are protected by a preventive injection of
antidiphtheritic serum. Martin has further proved that these non-virulent bacilli can
secrete the diphtheritic toxine in suitable media. Finally, several experimenters have
been able to increase the virulence of these originally inoffensive microbes.
These facts show tiiat, before creating a group of j)seudo-diphthcria l)acilli, very
doHned characteristics have to be found, which will enable us to diiTerontiate tlu^m
from the dij)lithcria bacillus.
Tho diphtlieria bacillus has no tendency to ponotrato the organs ; Barbicr and
ToUoraer maintain, however, that they have discovered the bacillus in the
572 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
cervical and bronchial glands, the spleen, and in tlie medulla (post-mortem
researches).
Experiments. — The diphtheria bacillus is readily cultivated in alkaline veal broth.
Half a cubic centimetre of culture injected into the cellular tissue of a pigeon kills it
in less than sixty hours. A rabbit dies in a few days from an injection of 2 to 4 c.c.
of culture. The guinea-pig is usually selected, and dies in less than thirty -six hours
from a very small injection.
In a few hours local oedema, with a h?emorrhagic patch, develops at the seat of
inoculation. The bacilU remain confined to the cedematous region ; they do not enter
the bloodvessels, the lymphatics, or the organs, and, in spite of their rapid diminution
in the inoculated region, the disease continues its course, by reason of the toxine
which has been formed in situ.
After death the inoculated animals present identical lesions : general dilatation of
the small vessels, congestion of the suprarenal capsules and the kidneys, swelling of the
glands, pleurisy in the guinea-pig, and degeneration of the liver in the rabbit.
By means of pure cultures, it is possible to reproduce the diphtheritic membrane
on the trachea, the conjunctiva, or the pharynx of pigeons and hens, and on the vulva
of the female guinea-pig ; all that is required is to paint the mucous membrane, which
has been previously excoriated. It is possible to cause lesions and symptoms re-
sembUng croup in the trachea of the rabbit. Diphtheria of the skin may likewise be
produced in animals, provided the epidermis has been previously removed.
Diphtheritic Membranes. — In tlie pathological condition the membranes invade
the mucous membrane and the skin, provided always that the skin has been denuded
of its epidermis and the mucous membrane of its epithelium. The membranes appear
spread out, and reform with extreme facility. The membranes are much less common
on the skin than on the mucosa ; they may develop on the surface of blisters, leech-
bites, herpetic vesicles, cracks in the nipple — in short, wherever the integument is
denuded of its epidermis.
Cutaneous diphtheria (for example, diphtheria which develops after a blister) pre-
sents the following characteristics : The invaded part becomes painful, red, and covered
with a firm, greyish membrane, which is difficult to detach. ' The edges of the wound
swell and take on an erysipelatous tint. Pustules form ; the epidermis falls off, and
the bared skin is, in its turn, invaded. The false membranes fall off and reform, but
finally disappear ; the cutaneous surface, however, has a feeble tendency to cicati'iza-
tion, and may remain red, bleeding, and painful for a long time. Cutaneous diphtheria
is usually grave, because it is often associated Math secondary infections (streptococci),
and is sometimes followed by gangrene, but esj^ecially because it is prone to be the
starting-point of general intoxication and malignant diphtheria (Trousseau). The
membranes invade the mucous membranes of the pharynx, nasal fossae, larynx, bronchi,
conjunctiva, eyelids, cornea, vulva, prepuce, anus, gums, mouth. Eustachian tube,
and oesophagus. These various locaHzations of diphtheria, however, are far from
being frequent ; the usual locaUzations are in the nasal fossae (diphtheritic coryza), the
back of the mouth, the pharynx, which we shall study under the name of Diphtheritic
Angina, and in the larynx, which we have described elsewhere under the name of
Croup. The false membranes are only, as I have just said, local manifestations of
diphtheria ; they are the most frequent and formidable manifestation, for the mem-
branes in the larynx and respiratory passages may choke young patients who are not
treated in time. Diphtheria, however, reveals itself also by toxic manifestations
caused by a poison which we shall stud^ later.
Diphtheritic Toxine. — The pathogenic microbe, so plentiful in diphtheritic mem-
branes, does not enter the blood or the organs of patients who have fallen victims to
diphtheria. How are we to explain the fact that colonies of bacilli, localized to some
part of the mucous membrane or the skin, can cause the organic lesions (kidney, liver.
DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARYNX 573
nerves), the poisoning and the paralysis which so often occur ? "In diphtheria the
infection is not produced by microbic invasion of the tissues, but by diffusion within the
body of a toxic substance formed on the surface of the mucous membrane outside the
body, as it were."
This poison, discovered by Roux and Yersin, " has been the subject of a series of
researches, considered even to-day as the best monograph which has ever appeared
in bacteriology, and rightly so." Funk, in speaking thus, echoes the general opinion.
Roux, by discovering the diphtheritic toxine, prepared the way for the discovery of
the antitoxin.
The toxine is obtained by cultivating the virulent diphtheria bacillus on broth, in
contact with air. In order to prepare an active toxine, it is necessary to make use of a
very virulent culture. It is also necessary to secure the exact alkalinity of the broths ;
for this purpose the peptonized broth must be made alkaline, until it no longer reddens
blue Utmus paper. The broth is placed in Fernbach flasks with a flat bottom, so that
the layer of liquid may be shallow. After sterihzation in the autoclave, fresh virulent
bacilli are sown in the broth, and heated in the stove to 37° C. Roux, liaving proved
that the diphtheritic poison was produced more rapidly and in greater quantity when
the cultures were made in contact with air, invented an ingenious method of passing
a current of moist air into the culture.
For this purpose, he connected the side aperture of Fernbach's flasks with a tube,
so as to make a vacuum. In three or four weeks a culture rich in virulent toxine is
obtained. A layer of whitish sediment, like a crust of ground-glass, is deposited at the
bottom of the flask. This is a deposit of bacteria, and on the surface of the broth a
whitish-looking scaly veil, composed of younger bacilU, is formed. The liquid between
those two layers is turbid at the commencement of the culture, but gradually becomes
more and more clear.
The finished cultures are filtered through a Chamberland candle, and the clear
liquid is stored in well-filled corked flask^, and kept in the dark at the ordinary tem-
perature. The toxine thus prepared generally kills a guinea-pig of 500 grammes in
forty-eight hours after a dose of -i. c.c.
The inoculation of the toxine into certain animals, such as the guinea-pig, rabbit,
etc., produces symptoms and lesions similar to those seen in patients who have suc-
cumbed to toxic diphtheria. Subcutaneous injection in these animals produces a
fibrinous sanguinolent oedema at the point of inoculatioii, followed by swelling of the
glands, diarrhoea, and hurried, shallow breathing. The post-mortem lesions are :
congestion of the intestine and bloody fluid in the bowel, hsemorrliagic congestion of
the suprarenal capsules and the kidneys, yellow staining and fatty degeneration of
the liver, pleuritic effusion, very marked dilatation of the vessels, myocarditis, and
imperfect coagulation of the blood. Injections of toxine not only produce the acute
intoxication just described, but also paralysis (and this is one of the most interesting
sides of the work of Roux and Yersin), that closely resembles diphtheritic paralysis,
which we shall discuss in one of the following sections. The diphtheritic toxine is
closely related to the diastases and the venoms.
Microbic Associations. — We have just studied the products of the diphtheria bacillus
— i.e., the membranes and the toxine — but the secondary infections play a great part
in the symptoms of diphtheria. The streptococcus, the staphylococcus, other cocci,
the pneumococcus, and the bacteria of putrefaction assist in the morbid process. Tlicso
microbes, and especially the streptococcus, give rise to suppurative adenitis, bronclio-
pulmonary complications, otitis, and gangrene.
Clinical observation has taught us that the membranes play quite a secondary
part in some cases. From the very onset the malady has all the syni|)t()nis of the most
septic and infectious diseases ; it is accompanied by all)Uininuriii and lia'inonliage,
an(i iuviides the entire economy, causing adynamia and often killing by syncope.
574 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Trousseau, on account of its extreme gravity, gave to this disease the name of toxic
or malignant diphtheria. Bacteriology has confirmed clinical research in every point ;
it has given us the reasons and taught us the causes of the different forms of diphtheria.
The production of the membranes is due to the presence of the bacillus. The symptoms
of intoxication are due to the poison elaborated by the bacillus. The infectious symp-
toms are due principally to the associated microbes. We shall study later the associa-
tion of the diphtheria bacillus with the streptococcus — an association which reciprocally
increases the virulence of the pathogenic agents, and causes malignant and fatal diph-
theria.
VI. DIPHTHERITIC ANGINA.
Diphtheritic angina does not always show the same course and symptoms.
In its most common and favourable form, which has been called since
Trousseau's time normal diphtheritic angina, the intoxication and the infec-
tion are, fortunately, of secondary importance. The disease invades the
throat to a greater or less extent ; it often reaches the larynx, especially
in children, and sometimes engenders severe paralysis, especially in adults.
This proves that the disease is not without danger ; but, after all, the course
and comphcations of the so-called normal angina can be nearly always
cured with serum, and the rapid and fatal comphcations that are so
frequent in the malignant form need not usually be feared.
In the latter form, which is rightly known as toxic infective angina,
and which I shall continue to call malignant, the general symptoms are far
more important than the local ones. From the outset the malady has the
appearance of a grave infectious disease. The entire economy is invaded in
a few hours or in a few days. It is not the false membrane nor death by
croup that is to be feared, but the rapid poisoning and collapse, to which
patients often succumb.
Some authors have attempted to classify diphtheritic angina according
to bacteriological examination. Normal diphtheritic angina would thus
be a monomicrobic angina, in which the bacillus exists in a pure state. On
the other hand, malignant angina would be a polymicrobic angina, in which
the diphtheritic bacillus is associated with other microbes — notably the
streptococcus. There is some truth in these assertions, and these mono-
microbic and polymicrobic forms will be described in this section, but I
would hasten to say that such a radical bacteriological classification would
be erroneous. I admit that the normal angina is often monomicrobic, but
in many other cases it may be associated with cocci, diplococci, staphylo-
cocci, and even streptococci (as I have just proved), and yet the angina
does not lose its characteristics as a frank or normal angina. Per contra,
it is not only a polymicrobic angina which can be malignant. I shall quote
fatal cases of diphtheritic angina which were not polymicrobic, the diph-
theria bacillus being present in a pure state (Roux, Martin).
DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARYNX 575
It is therefore best to retain the cUnical classification, and describe
normal angina, which is but little toxic, and a malignant angina, which may
be subdivided bacteriologically into angina with toxic symptoms and
diphtheritic angina witli infective symptoms. And yet these two cUnical
forms— normal and mahgnant angina — are not always clearly defined,
and we find mixed forms. The disease may commence with mild symptoms,
and yet after a few days it becomes mahgnant. Here, as in all toxic and
infectious diseases, the poison and infectious agents show degrees and
reserve surprises for us. Without affecting the truth of the description, it
Ls possible to conform to the custom established by Trousseau, and to
describe separately the two varieties.
1. Normal Diphtheritic Angina.
Description. — While normal diphtheritic angina spares no period of
hfe, it is much more frequent between the ages of three and seven years. Its
onset is usually insidious and less acute than that of acute tonsilhtis. It
installs itself by stealth. The fever is moderate, and may fall in three or
four days ; the sore tlixoat is not severe, and the patient may feel hardly any
pain on swallowing. While the above statement is practically true, we find
many exceptions, since bacteriology has taught us not to be deceived by the
multiple disguises of diphtheritic angina.
The disease (in my description I borrow from Trousseau) commences
with more or less vivid redness of the pharynx and swelhng of one tonsil ;
in some cases both are involved. A well-defined white spot is soon visible
on the affected organ. This spot at first consists of a layer resembling
coagulated mucus, which rapidly becomes thickened and of a membranous
consistency. At the commencement this exudate is readily detached from
the surface, to which it is adherent by filaments penetrating the follicles
of the tonsil.
The underlying mucous membrane is healthy, except for the destruction
of the epithcUum. The mucosa may appear to be hollowed out because it
is swollen, and forms a kind of pad around the exudate. Ulceration is
exceptional. After some hours the pseudo-membrane is more prominent,
and covers the greater part of the tonsil. It becomes more and more ad-
herent at the points first invaded, and takes on a yellowish or greyish-white
tint. As a rule, the roof of the palate commences to become inflamed.
The uvula swells, and is often covered with membrane witliin twenty-four
hours. The membrane now appears on the other tonsil and the pliarynx.
We find, however, many exceptions, since bacteriology has taught us not
to be misled by the polymorphism of diphtheritic angina. We often see,
not membranes, but erythematous, pultaceoiis, lacunar, or herpetic angina.
From the first, or in a short while, we notice enlargement of the glands
676 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
at the angle of the jaw on the same side as the affected tonsil. This adenitis
is of great importance, because it is rarely absent. The glands are hard
and movable, the periglandular tissue being unaffected. The adenopathy
is due to the diphtheritic toxine, and we shall see that it changes in character
in the streptococcal forms.
The symptoms of angina are more pronounced by the second or third
day ; the dysphagia is more severe, but the fever is shght, and may even
disappear at this period. The child often has an ansemic look, due to
diminution in the haemoglobin, as Quinquaud has shown.
On examining the throat, the uvula, the pillars of the fauces, both tonsils,
and the pharynx are in some cases covered with false membranes, which
may have a lardaceous aspect. The membranes are produced so readily
that they reappear in a few hours upon an area which has been entirely
cleaned. This rapid development is often seen in young subjects. The
throat may be completely covered with false membranes in thirty-six hours
in a child of three years, whilst several days are necessary in an adult.
The patches grow thicker from the addition of new layers, which are formed
below the old ones. The most superficial layers are readily detached, but
the deeper ones adhere to the mucous membrane, and cannot always be
removed without causing slight bleeding. Some patches are, as it were,
let into the surrounding mucous membrane, which projects, and gives the
false impression of an ulceration.
The membranes do not long preserve their whitish or yellowish aspect,
because their colour is altered by liquids, vomited matter, drugs, or blood,
which has come from the nasal fossse. They then take on a greyish or
blackish tint, wliich, joined to the foetor present, leads to the wrong idea of
gangrene. This gangrenous appearance is common in the adult, but rare
in children, and explains the name gangrenous sore throat given to diph-
theritic angina by several authors. Gangrene is exceptional in diphtheria.
Bretonneau was loath to admit it, but it may be seen in grave cases and in
certain epidemics.
Normal diphtheritic angina is often accompanied by albuminuria. This
symptom is not of serious import.
In favourable cases the disease is not of long duration. After eight to
ten days the glandular swelhng diminishes, the membranes no longer reform,
the mucous membrane becomes clean, and the difficulty in swallowing
disappears. If the patient has not been treated in time with serum, con-
valescence is long, and may be comphcated by serious troubles.
In the adult extension of the angina to the larynx is rare, but croup
consecutive to the angina is very common in children when serum has
not been used. Tliis terrible comphcation occurs when the angina has
scarcely terminated — in fact, croup often arises while membranes are still
DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARYNX 577
present in the throat. It is announced by changes in the voice and by
fits of dry cough at short intervals (see Croup).
The frec[uency of croup in children makes diphtheritic angina much more
serious in them than in adults. When, however, croup occurs in the adult,
it is more dangerous than in the child. The termination of the disease with
syncope, which is so common in mahgnant forms, is unusual in normal
diphtheritic angina.
Angina is not always the initial manifestation of diphtheria. It often
follows diphtheria of the nasal fossse, which has been latent for some days.
It may also follow diphtheria of the mouth, larynx, or skin, but this sequence
is very rare.
Prognosis. — Normal diphtheritic angina is generally benign. It may,
indeed, be said that, apart from the comphcations of croup and broncho-
pneumonia, which are much more common in children than in adults, normal
diphtheritic angina is almost exempt from danger. It is, therefore, im-
portant to distinguish it from the grave toxic variety. When the angina is
normal, the fever is slight, and abates in a few days. The submaxillary
adenitis is moderate, and rarely appears early. The colour is not from the
first pale and leaden. Albuminuria is transient or absent. The pulse is
of good quality. The bacteriological examination does not, as a rule,
reveal the long, curved bacilh, and when other microbes are associated
with the diphtheria bacillus, they are unimportant (Brisou's coccus), or
are present in very small numbers (staphylococci, streptococci).
Nevertheless, although normal diphtheritic angina excludes up to a
certain point the idea of toxicity, it is none the less true that in the most
normal case of diphtheritic angina some toxic symptoms exist. The
glandular swelling, the albuminuria, and the decoloration of the tissues
are evidence of poisoning by the diphtheria toxine.
These toxic symptoms, which are sUght, I admit, I shall call primary,
because they are contemporary with the angina. Diphtheritic angina,
however, may be normal and benign in appearance, and yet excite secondary
toxic symptoms. The poison accumulates insidiously in the system, and
causes diphtheritic paralysis.
Lastly, in very rare cases an angina which seemed to be normal may
become grave, or even fatal, if not treated in time with serum, as the cases
cited by Roux and Yersin and by Chaillou and Martin prove.
We see, then, that, for different reasons, diphtheritic angina, even
when normal and but slightly toxic, is not exempt from danger. There is,
therefore, all the more reason to diagnose and treat the disease without delay.
When we discuss the treatment, there is one point on which I siiall lay
stress. It is not sufficient to treat diphtheria with injections of scrum. The
earlier the treatment, the better it succeeds.
37
578 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
2. Toxic or Infective Diplitlieritic Angina — Trousseau's Malignant
Diphtlieria.
In the preceding section I described the action of the bacillus in producing
false membranes which are harmless in the throat, but dangerous in the
respiratory passages, where they may produce croup and asphyxia. Normal
diphtheritic angina is the most common form, and is generally seen in
sporadic cases. It may be seen, however, in certain epidemics, even when
mahgnant diphtheria is raging. " In fact," says Trousseau, " in a family
of whom four, five, or six individuals are stricken with the disease, normal
diphtheritic angina, with or without croup, will be the general rule. The
malignant form, which poisons patients in the same way as septic diseases
do, will be the exception."
In principle, as I stated above, the most normal case of diphtheritic
angina is always accompanied by some toxic symptoms. The pallor of the
face, the rise of temperature, the swelling of the cervical glands, and the
albuminuria, are symptoms due to absorption of the diphtheritic poison.
These symptoms do not entail danger when they are moderate ; they are
more or less a part of the common description of many cases of normal
diphtheritic angina, and do not afEect the prognosis. In some cases, however,
the toxic symptoms are so acute that the patient hterally dies of infective
poisoning, or, as Trousseau said, of malignant diphtheria. The following
examples will show how rapid the evolution of mahgnant diphtheria
may be.
Description. — " One of my colleagues, Walleix," says Trousseau, "was in charge of a
child suffering from diphtheritic angina, which was improving. While he was examining
the child's throat, she coughed up some sahva, which entered his mouth. He took the
disease. Next day he noticed a small pelhcular concretion on one of his tonsils. Fever
developed, and in a few hours the tonsils and the uvula were covered with false mem-
branes. Serous Hquid began to flow from the nose. The glands and the cellular tissue
of the neck swelled considerably. He became delirious, and died forty-eight hours
later, without any laryngeal complication."
A country practitioner was attending a child suffering from croup, for which trache-
otomy became necessary. During the operation the entrance of blood into the trachea
caused fears of suffocation. The anxious physician apphed his mouth to the wound
in the throat in order to suck out the fluid which was entering the trachea. He inocu-
lated himself with the disease, and died forty-eight hours later of mahgnant diphtheria.
Henri Blache was in charge of a child who had undergone tracheotomy. At the
end of the third night he complained of slight sore throat. Acute fever was present,
and false membranes on the tonsils. In a few hours enormous swelhng of the neck
and continuous discharge from the nose. In twenty-four hours deUrium, and death
seventy-two hours later from malignant diphtheria, without having sho\\Ti the slightest
symptom in the respiratory passages. Some years ago Potain asked me to see a
family suffering from diphtheria. On my arrival, I was told that the two children
had died from diphtheritic angina. The mother had been taken the previous day with
sore throat and prostration. My examination gave me a very bad impression. She
was deadly pale ; her lips were blue ; her pulse wretched. The cervical glands and the
DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARYNX 579
cellular tissue formed a brawny mass. Marked albuminuria. Throat covered with
diffluent fcetid membranes ; sanious nasal discharge. She was quite lucid, and had no
illusions as to her condition. " Whatever you do," said she, " I shall die of the disease
which has just killed my two children." She passed away next day. The respiratory
passages were quite free from any infection.
The fulminant form is, fortunately, very rare. In other cases the disease runs its
course in eight or ten days, as in the following example from Trousseau's writings :
A child, twelve years of age, had been attacked by slight angina three days previously.
She was taken to the hospital. On examination, the fcetor of the breath was very
striking. Putrilaginous membranes at the back of the throat and on the roof of the
palate. On the right side much swelling of the cervical and maxillary glands. This
glandular swelling, which from the first meant a grave prognosis, increased during the
next few days, and involved the cellular tissue of the cervical and submaxillary regions.
A most alarming phenomenon supervened — viz., erysipelatous redness of the skin,
pointing to deep inflammation of the parts. On the third day diphtheritic coryza
and profuse epistaxis made the outlook very gloomy.
With such formidable symptoms, although the respiration remained normal, the
prognosis was most grave. She grew cold, just like a cholera patient. She had a ten-
dency to syncope. Her pulse was extremely feeble and slow. The respiration remained
free, and the respiratory passages were not affected by the diphtheria. She refused
to take any nourishment. The glands became smaller, the nasal lesions improved,
and the erysipelatous redness disappeared ; but yet, in spite of this deceptive improve-
ment in the local signs, the child died on the tenth day, " poisoned by the diphtheritic
venom which had infected her." She died of syncope whilst turning round and refusing
to take a drink. The picture of malignant diphtheria is not always as complete as
it was in the above case. The horrible fcetor of the breath, the brauTiy induration of
the cellular tissue of the neck, and the erysipelatous tint, on which Trousseau and
Borsieri have laid such stress, may be absent ; in spite of the absence of these symptoms,
however, the excessive pallor, the weak pulse, the obstinate refusal to take food or drink,
the diarrhcea, the severe and early albuminuria, the rapid loss of strength, point to
malignant diphtheria of most grave prognosis, although the respiratory passages are
absolutely free.
We may now ask how bacteriological researches can explain these
malignant cases.
1. Toxic Malignant Diphtheria. — In some cases the grave or fatal
eomphcations are due to the diphtheria toxine alone, and other microbes
are absent. Roux and Yersin report half a dozen cases in their monograph
of 1888. Cases 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, concern young patients who died of toxic
angina. Bacteriological examination yielded pure cultures of the diphtheria
baciUus.
Martin lias collected twenty-eight cases of fatal toxic diphtheria, in
wliich bacteriological examination showed only the existence of long and
curved diphtheria bacilli, without other microbes. Chaillou and Martin
(in their memoir, July, 18()4) have collected ten fatal cases of toxic diph-
theria, in which pure cultures of diphtheritic bacilU were found, without
other microbes. The long curved bacillus was most frequently present.
In the above ca.ses clinical observation was always confirmed by bacterio-
logical examination. It is therefore possible for us to give an exact clinical
37—2
580 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
description of this pure toxic angina, which constitutes one of the varieties
of mahgnant angina.
Tlie temperature is higher than in normal diphtheritic angina. It
oscillates between 102° and 104° F., and remains at this point for some days.
It is a bad sign if the temperature does not fall after the fourth or fifth day
(Martin). The changes in the pulse follow the oscillations of the tempera-
ture. The false membranes are thick, adherent, and of a greyish-white
colour. They generally cover the tonsils, the uvula, the pillars, and the
back of the throat, leaving no intervals of healthy mucosa. In some cases,
however, the false membranes are discrete.
The swelling of the cervical glands is more rapid and more marked in
toxic than in normal diphtheria. Nevertheless, it is rare to see such marked
swelhng as in diphthero-streptococcal angina.
Albuminuria is more constant in toxic than in normal diphtheria, though
it does not usually appear before the third day, and it does not disappear
when the disease is about to end fatally.
In toxic diphtheria the colour is more pale and leaden. The Ups are at
times cyanosed, even though there is no danger of asphyxia. Diarrhoea is
frequent. Distaste for food and drink is usually present. Rapidly increasing
weakness, compressible pulse, and tendency to syncope, which do not exist,
or are only slight in normal diphtheria, are a marked feature in these cases.
Bacteriological examination, without being quite conclusive, shows
that numerous colonies of long curved bacilH belong to toxic diphtheria.
Experimental cultures on broth furnish valuable information as to the
degree of toxicity. Brieger and Wasserman were able to extract from the
blood of a child who died of toxic diphtheria, with collapse and cardiac
failure, a quantity of diphtheria toxine, and to prove its specific action by
inoculation of guinea-pigs. Martin has obtained similar results.
Let us now compare the experimental lesions due to the injections of
diphtheria toxine with those found in patients who have died from toxic
diphtheria. They are quite similar : heart flabby and yellow, parenchy-
matous and interstitial myocarditis, ecchymotic pericarditis, congested Hver,
dilatation of the capillaries, and fatty infiltration of the hepatic cells ;
infiltration of the tubuli contorti of the kidney and dilatation of the
glomerular vessels ; enlarged spleen and hypertrophy of the Malpighian
corpuscles ; swelhng of Beyer's patches and of the follicles ; infiltration
of the intestinal mucous membrane.
The symptoms and the lesions explain the action of the toxine in the case
of toxic diphtheria. Let us now see how malignant diphtheria behaves
when other organisms are also present.
2. Malignant Diphtheria with Microbic Associations. — In most cases
the mahgnant forms of diphtheria are both toxic and infective. They are
DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARYXX 581
due to the reciprocal exaltation of the diphtheria bacillus and of the microbes
which are associated with it. The streptococcus plays the principal part,
as the following experiments of Roux and Yersin show :
Prepare a weak culture of diphtheria baciUi, so that inoculation produces
sUght local oedema in a guinea-pig. Prepare another culture of virulent
streptococci, so that 1 c.c. will kill a rabbit in twenty-six hours. Prepare
Ukewise a broth culture containing a combination of attenuated diphtheria
bacilU and virulent streptococci. Take two guinea-pigs and inoculate them
\vith ^ c.c. of the attenuated diphtheria culture ; take two others and
inoculate them with | centimetre of the streptococcus culture, and two more
Anth 1 c.c. of a mixture containing equal parts of the two cultures. In a
few days the guinea-pigs inoculated \\-ith the weak culture show slight
oedema and a little scab at the point of inoculation, but no other compU-
cations. The guinea-pigs inoculated with the streptococcus show an abscess
at the point of inoculation, but the guinea-pigs which have been inoculated
with the mixture die two days later.
At the point of inoculation false membranes and oedema containing
diphtheria bacilh and streptococci appear. The lesions found post mortem
comprise dilatation of the vessels, congestion of the suprarenal capsules,
and effusion into the pleurae. Tubes of serum are inoculated with the
oedema fluid. Next day the diphtheria colonies are well developed, while the
streptococcus has only grown to a ,very small extent. It is, therefore, easy
to separate the two microbes. We can now see how much the harmless
diphtheria bacillus has been reinforced by contact with the streptococcus.
For this purpose two cultures are made — one with the inojffensive diphtheria
bacillus, and the other with the reinforced bacillus. The cultures are heated
in the oven for a fortnight at 35° C. in a current of air, filtered through
porcelain, and injected into the veins of four rabbits. Two rabbits are given
10 c.c. of the cultures of the reinforced bacillus. They die in thirty hours,
so virulent is the culture. The other two rabbits are each given twice as
large a dose of the culture of the weakened bacillus, and Uve two months.
It is only after a long time that they grow thin and succumb to paralysis.
The streptococcus and the diphtheria bacillus, when separated, are
incapable of killing guinea-pigs ; when associated, they kill rapidly, owing
to the lesions of diphtheria.
When we compare the cUnical and experimental facts (Roux, Yersin,
T'arbier, Martin, Chailh)u), we find in both instances identical results.
In angina, which is both diphtheritic and streptococcal, either of the two
microbes, isolated and cultivated separately, is rarely virulent, as animal
inoculation shows. The two microbes together reciprocally increase their
virulence, and hence the exceptional gravity of diphthero-streptococcal
angina.
582 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The following figures indicate the gravity of these cases : According to
Martin's statistics, 8 deaths in 10 cases ; Chaillou and Martin give 13 deaths
in 14 cases ; Tezenas had 3 deaths in 3 cases. To this variety of mahgnant
angina belong the fulminating cases which I referred to at the commence-
ment of this article. Their symptoms have been admirably described by our
predecessors, and bacteriological studies have in part explained their patho-
genesis. At the onset of mahgnant angina the face is pale, leaden, and
bloated ; the lips are cyanosed, though there is no danger of suffocation.
The neck is enormous and " proconsular " (Saint-Germain) from the swell-
ing of the glands and the oedematous infiltration of the cellular tissue.
The skin of the face and neck is often shiny and erysipelatous in appearance
(Borsieri, Trousseau). The breath is excessively foetid, especially when
the exudates are invaded by the bacilU of putrefaction. Deglutition is very
painful. The false membranes of the throat have often a gangrenous appear-
ance. The temperature is usually high, and the pulse is rapid, tliready, and
irregular. Albuminuria comes on early and is persistent ; diarrhoea is frequent ;
haemorrhage is common (epistaxis, bleeding gums, purpura). In such cases,
the nasal fossse being often invaded by both microbes, there is a copious
purulent or bloody discharge, with rejection of false membranes.
Be the angina rapid or slow, its gravity is considerable. Extreme rest-
lessness with or without delirium, and prostration bordering on coma,
are present, while collapse or syncope ends the scene. Death sometimes
supervenes from certain comphcations, such as infective croup, purulent
bronchitis, or streptococcal broncho -pneumonia. If recovery takes place,
convalescence is long, and at times accompanied by ulceration of the
throat, mouth, or nose, and by suppurative adenitis.
This description differs, as will be seen, from that of purely toxic angina.
In the latter the diphtheritic poison is the chief factor ; in diphthero-
streptococcal angina, infection by the streptococcus claims a large share.
This fact is made quite clear in Barbier's paper, in which he shows that the
streptococcus enters the blood. It reaches the blood of the pulmonary
veins, and thence affects the lungs, the bronchi, the mitral valve, the
articulations, the pleurae (purulent pleurisy), the middle ear (purulent
otitis), the tissues of the neck (adeno-phlegmon), the walls of the pharynx
(retropharyngeal abscess), the spleen, etc.
What I have just said of the streptococcus is in part apphcable to the
staphylococcus. Although diphthero-staphylococcal angina is not so grave
as diphthero-streptococcal angina, it still claims a place in the group of
mahgnant anginae. The truth thereof is evident on consulting the statistics
pubhshed on this subject.
Conclusions. — We can now formulate the following conclusions as to
the pathogenesis of diphtheritic angina :
DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARYNX 583
1. Diphtheritic angina is called normal or benign when it is neither
toxic nor infective. Its benign nature is due to the feeble virulence of
the diphtheria bacilli, or to the feeble receptivity of the soil in which they
develop. It is also due to the absence of other microbes, or to the feeble
power possessed by the associated microbes to increase in virulence.
Nevertheless, normal angina, in spite of its benign appearance, is not always
free from danger. It may be accompanied by asphyxia, especially in
children (croup), or be followed by paralysis.
2. Diphtheritic angina is called malignant when it is toxic and in-
fective. It is rather toxic than infective when the predominating features
can be ascribed to the virulence of the diphtheria toxine ; it is rather
infective than toxic when the predominating features are due to other
microbes, especially the streptococcus. We must never forget the part
played by the soil, which favours more or less the development of the
poison.
3. The normal, toxic, and infective forms of diphtheritic angina occur
with their distinctive characteristics, according as the bacillus limits its
action to the production of membranes, or elaborates the poison in
every degree of toxicity, with or without secondary infections. We
find, however, mixed cases in wliicli these varieties are associated, and it
cannot be otherwise, because it is always the same disease, which may
present different aspects, but forms, after all, only one species. Diphtheritic
angina, therefore, may start with benign symptoms, and then assume the
characteristics of the toxic or infective form, with a fatal result.
Polymorphism of Diphtheritic Angina — Herpetic, Lacunar, and
Pultaceous Varieties.
Diphtheritic angina is not always characterized by the formation of
false membranes. Eor a long time, until bacteriological examinations were
made, writers were loath to admit that membranes might be absent in
diphtheritic angina. Non-diplitheritic membranous angina was well known,
but few believed that membranes were ever absent in diphtheritic angina.
For some years past bacteriological researches have shed light on the
chaos of angina. Thick and adherent membranes are certainly the most
common clinical feature in diphtheritic angina, but in a large number of
cases — more numerous than we think — membranes are absent. It resembles
catarrhal, erythematous, pultaceous, lacunar, or follicular angina. In other
cases diphtheritic angina assumes the guise of herpetic angina. These
herpetic, erythematous, pultaceous, or lacunar varieties are more frecjuent
ia adults than in children. Of 137 cases of diplitheritic angina in adults,
Roche found but 42 instances of the membranous variety. I shall review,
therefore, these various kinds of diphtheritic angina, which, as will
584 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
be seen, is essentially polymorphous, and I shall first describe the herpetic
variety, as given in my lectures at the Faculte de Medecine in December^
1894.
1. Herpetic Variety of Diphtheritic Angina.
I will begin with the classical description of simple herpetic angina.
Whether we speak of herpetic angina (Gubler) or of membranous angina
(Bretonneau and Trousseau), or whether we follow other authors, and
designate it " herpes of the pharynx," it is not less admitted that the
characteristic feature of herpetic angina is the presence of herpetic vesicles
on the mucous membrane of the throat.
A child or adult is taken ill with symptoms of fever. The rigors and the
fever are accompanied by lassitude and headache. Dysphagia appears.
We find diffuse redness of the tliroat ; the tonsils are enlarged, and small
swelUngs, wliich have been likened to sudamina, appear on different parts
of the isthmus of the gullet or the pharynx. This condition is known as
herpetic angina.
In some cases the disease has the appearance of an erythematous angina,
and the exudate is shght. In other cases we find vesicles on the mucous
membrane of the throat and also a whitish pultaceous exudate. At times,
indeed, we find not simply a pultaceous layer, but thick and extensive
fibrinous membranes, simulating diphtheria so closely that Trousseau
called this variety of herpetic angina by the name of " common membranous
angina," the epithet "common" here ehminating all idea of diphtheria.
Every medical man has seen more or less frequently these erythematous,
pultaceous, or membranous forms of herpetic angina. When we are able
to witness the actual, but sometimes fugitive, evolution of the herpetic
vesicles, no room for doubt exists, and the diagnosis of herpetic angina is
clear. The diagnosis often receives considerable support when the herpes,
instead of remaining confined to the tliroat, invades other regions, such as
the labial commissure, the lips, the nostrils, the chin, the cheeks, the con-
junctiva, etc. If a patient has acute painful angina, with false membranes,
which may even simulate diphtheria, and if at the same time herpes is
present on the tonsils, the roof of the palate, the pharynx, and the face,
we may diagnose herpetic angina, but we cannot exclude diphtheria. Tliis
view is at least generally admitted, and is borne out by experience. The
description of angina with herpes, therefore, must be revised. Bacterio-
logical research in the last few years has shown, and is showing every day
that angina, whether erythematous, pultaceous, or membranous, cannot
be diagnosed for certain, except by bacteriological examination.
Herpetic angina, like every othei variety, cannot escape bacteriological
control.
DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARYNX 585
My researches on this subject, communicated to the Academie de
Medecine,* have enabled me to place the matter on a firm basis. I have
been able to prove that so-called herpetic angina is fairly often of a diph-
theritic nature. I found it easy to verify the inconstancy and the insuffi-
ciency of the symptoms furnished by clinical observation, and I cannot state
too forcibly the fact that the eruption of herpes, which was formerly said
to ehminate the idea of diphtheria, only serves to deceive us. It inspires
us with false security, as the following cases show :
Case I. — In 1895 a man, fifty-two years of age, admitted for severe herpetic
angina, which had commenced suddenly four days before with rigors, fever, dysphagia,
headache, lassitude, coryza, and slight epistaxis. Axillary temperature, 103° F. Ex-
amination of the throat revealed diffuse redness and marked swelling of the tonsils,
and on the roof of the palate herpetic vesicles irregularly disposed. A crop of herpetic
vesicles was also present on the lips and on the right labial commissure. The maxillary
glands were moderately enlarged. The natural diagnosis was herpetic angina.
Next day a pultaceous deposit appeared on the right tonsil. This deposit on serum
and agar showed staphylococci and diphtheria bacilli. The bacteriological finding
reversed the former diagnosis. Nasal diphtheria, clinically suspected a few days
previously from slight epistaxis and coryza, now appeared. The patient had nasal
discharge and epistaxis, and voided false membranes from the nose. The pillars
of the fauces and the uvula were also covered with patches of membrane. In spite
of injections of serum, which were given too late, acute paralysis of the soft palate
appeared a few days later. The paralysis invaded in turn the lower and upper
limbs and the bladder.
This case of angina showed all the cUnical features of herpetic angina, and it was
only by bacteriological examination that we discovered the diphtheria, which was
confirmed a few days later by generalized paralysis.
Case II. — A girl, eighteen years of age, was admitted under Gouguenheim for sore
throat, accompanied by headache, lassitude, and temperature of 104° F. Generalized
redness of the pharynx and the tonsils. Herpetic vesicles, whitish and slightly adherent
membranes on both tonsils ; herpetic vesicles also present on the lips and the com-
missures. No glandular enlargement. The clinical diagnosis pointed to herpetic
angina. Cultures made from the membranes on the tonsils yielded diphtheria bacilli,
but no other microbes. An injection of 10 c.c. of serum was immediately given.
Case III. — In 1892, at the Necker Hospital, the matron's son was taken ill with
angina. The throat was so red that my house-physicians, Charrier and Renon, took it
to be an early symptom of scarlatina. Next day herpetic vesicles appeared on the
tonsils, and the diagnosis was herpetic angina. At the end of two or three days he was
admitted to the hospital, and the existence of the herpetic variety of diphtheria was
recognized. I also discovered diphtheritic coryza, which had commenced with epis-
taxis. Very severe paralysis followed. The velum palati was first affected, and then
the muscles of the head and the neck, the lower limb.s, and finally the upper limbs,
were attacked in turn. He recovered two months later.
Case IV. — Kelsch was asked to make a bacteriological examination in a case of
angina which presented aM the clinical characteristics of herpetic angina. The culture
revealed the diphtheria bacillus, and also the pneumococcua.
Case V. — Huchard reported the following case to me : He was called upon to give
bis opinion as to an angina in a child. Relying on the severity of the fever, the sudden-
* Dieulafoy, " Angine Diphtherique a Forme Herpotirnio " (Academie de Medecine,
Blanco des 11 Juin, 2 et 3 Juillet, 1895).
586 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
ness of the onset, and the simultaneous appearance of herpes, he diagnosed herpetic
angina, which was confirmed by Brocq. The case, which had every appearance ot
herpetic angina, was really diphtheritic, and carried off the child in a few days.
Description. — We are in possession of several cases which prove that
the herpetic forms of diphtheritic angina are fairly common. What, then,
becomes of the classical description and chnical diagnosis of the old herpetic
angina ? The suddenness of its onset, the severity of the fever, the acute-
ness of the general symptoms, the sharp pain in the throat, and the appear-
ance of the herpetic vesicles on the tonsils, the velum palati, and the Hps,
formed a symptom-complex, on which it appeared possible to base the
diagnosis of herpetic angina. And in the differential diagnosis from
diphtheritic angina great care was taken to accentuate the difference
between the acute inflammation of herpetic angina and the more insidious
and less painful onset of diphtheritic angina.
This erroneous idea must be abandoned. The cases abeady quoted
show that the herpetic variety of diphtheria may be as sudden and acute
as the most classical so-called herpetic angina. In Huchard's case the
angina began with very acute fever. The tonsils were red and swollen ;
herpes was present ; and a most toxic diphtheria was masked by these acute
symptoms.
My httle patient in the Necker Hospital was taken ill with acute fever
and severe sore throat. Herpes appeared, but here again the acute symp-
toms masked diphtheria, wliich was followed by severe paralysis. In a
case reported by Roux and Martin, a child was suddenly taken ill, with
a temperature of 104° F., pulse of 160, and delirium.' The sore throat was
severe ; the tonsils were much enlarged, red, and pultaceous ; herpes
appeared on the lips. This picture is typical of herpetic angina, and yet
it is quite deceptive, since it apphes equally to diphtheritic angina with
herpes,
I therefore propose to abolish the so-called herpetic angina, as it
has been bequeathed to us by our predecessors. It can no longer retain
its quasi-intangible place in our nosology. If we retain herpetic angina
in the old sense of the word, we must remember that it is less a case of
herpetic angina than of angina with herpes.
We see streptococcal, staphylococcal, or pneumococcal angina with
herpes, and, of most interest, a group of diphtheritic anginse with herpes,*
as I hope I have clearly proved.
Nevertheless — and tins is the question wliich redoubles the interest-
it will be easy for us to connect the actual state of science with the tra-
ditions handed down to us by one of our greatest clinical physicians. For
* Jes (of Krakow) has found the diphtheria bacillus in the liquid of the vesicles
of labial herpes in a patient stricken with diphtheritic angina (1896).
DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARYNX 587
this purpose let me quote from Trousseau's report, wliich was presented
by him to the Academie, on behalf of the Conmiission on Epidemics, on
November 22, 1859.
The opinions given in this report are stated some years later in his
" Chnical Lectures at the Hotel-Dieu " : " The characteristic of the epidemics
of the year 1858," says Trousseau, " was the concomitance of herpes of the
pharynx and diphtheritic angina. The former, though reduced to simple
herpes of the pharynx, did not always run a regular course. Some
cases were very prolonged ; at other times the membranous affection
degenerated in situ. The physician ought anxiously to put the question
to himself whether he is justified in maintaining a favourable prognosis.
The two affections not only occurred one after the other (herpetic angina
and diphtheritic angina), but in each partial epidemic the two pathological
forms were found to be more or less closely associated."
I might multiply these quotations, which prove that Trousseau had
seen and described in detail the relations which may exist between diph-
theria and the so-called herpetic angina. The bacteriological researches
wliich I have already mentioned are a striking confirmation of the ideas
of the greatest chnical physician of our French school. Trousseau not only
discovered the herpetic variety of diphtheria, but also formed a clear idea
of the gravity of the prognosis. We should be wrong to imagine that
herpetic diphtheria is always benign. The cases above mentioned are
convincing on this point. The child at the Necker Hospital was seized
with severe diphtheritic paralysis, which placed its life in danger. Another
of my patients similarly suffered from severe paralysis, lasting four
months. Huchard's patient died within a few days. Trousseau, then, was
accurate when he wrote : " Fatal diphtheria often commences with an
eruption of herpes."
Conclusions. — Diphtheritic angina may assume the appearance of her-
petic angina. It is impossible clinically to affirm that a so-called lierpetic
angina is or is not diphtheritic. Bacteriological examination enables us to
decide the nature of the case.
2. Diphtheritic Angina of a Follicular Appearance.
Let us now consider diphtheritic angina that simulates follicular
tonsillitis. Here again the clinical picture; of the disease is deceptive.
Chnically, a case appears to be tonsillitis, and bacteriology corrects the mis-
take. To quote the proofs :
In 1891 Jacobi showed bacteriologically that follicular tonsilUtis,
especially in adults, is often dii)htheritic. During an epidemic of diphtherio
in a boarding-school, Mouillot found amongst eiglaeen })atients eight cases of
membranoua angina and ten cases of follicular tonsillitis. All were diph-
588 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
theritic. One of the latter cases was followed by diphtheritic paralysis.
Escherich has found the bacillus of diphtheria in several cases of so-called
follicular tonsillitis. Koplik, in 1892, reported numerous cases of follicular
diphtheritic angina.
Chaillou and Martin have quoted eight cases of diphtheritic angina,
presenting white points on the tonsils, and simulating follicular tonsilhtis.
Gouguenheim says that in eighty-three cases of adults suffering from
diphtheritic angina at the Lariboisiere Hospital, he found forty cases of
follicular diphtheria.
Diphtheritic angina, therefore, assumes, especially in the adult, the guise
of folhcular tonsillitis, and bacteriological examination alone can decide
the diagnosis. This follicular diphtheritic angina, although generally
benign, may in exceptional cases be toxic and dangerous, as the cases of
Chaillou and Martin show, as weU as Case CXII. in Martin's monograph.
3. Diphtheritic Angina of the Pultaceous Variety.
This form is the rarest and most benign of all. The patient has angina
presenting all the appearances of catarrhal, erythematous, pultaceous angina,
and bacteriology reveals the bacillus of diphtheria.
Feer reports three cases. One child showed at first moderate rednees of the throat,
with a temperature of 103° F. The next day the thermometer registered 105" F. The
tonsils were swollen and red, with some pultaceous deposit. Glandular enlargement
was present on one side. The child was cured in a few days. The cultiire revealed the
presence of diphtheria bacilli. Inoculation with a pure culture of these diphtheria bacilli
killed a guinea-pig in ten hours. Concetti, in 1894, reported two cases of pultaceous
diphtheritic angina, arising by contagion from children suffering with fatal pharyngeal
and nasal diphtheria. The tonsils were enlarged, and covered with a layer which in
nowise resembled diphtheria, but had rather the coarse appearance of a pultaceous
exudate. The condition was diphtheritic.
Clinical Diagnosis. — In a case of acute angina two mistakes may be
made. The first error consists in diagnosing diphtheritic angina when it
is not present. The converse mistake consists in mistaking a case of diph-
theria for a non-diphtheritic angina. In the latter case we fail to recognize
an existing diphtheria. The result is that the patient is not isolated and
spreads the disease. Moreover, a patient who has not been treated early
with serum Avill be more exposed to the immediate or remote consequences
of diphtheria, including croup, early or late poisoning, and paralysis.
These cases, wliich are too numerous, prove that it is imperative to
recognize diphtheritic angina from the first, under the penalty of the gravest
mishaps. CHnical resources, however, are very often insufficient. What
signs and symptoms are to be looked for ? Can we rely upon the manner
in which the angina commences ? It has been truly said that diphtheritic
angina at its commencement is more insidious and accompanied by less
DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARYNX 589
fever than other forms of angina, which are more clearly inflammatory. If
the reader \\all refer to the cases quoted in the preceding section, he will
see that the herpetic form has often a most sudden onset, with marked
sjTnptoms of fever.
Can the severity of the dysphagia be rehed on ? It has been said and
repeated— not without some truth — that deglutition is rektively easy in
diphtheria, whilst it is, as a rule, very painful in non-diphtheritic angina.
Tliis statement is often true, but yet we find many exceptions. The cas3S
of herpetic diphtheria enumerated above showed early and severe dys-
phagia.
Can the character and the growth of the false membrane be relied on ?
Here again the clinical characteristics of the diphtheritic membranes which
were classical before bacteriological examination — viz., colour, thickness,
adherence, elasticity, and reaction to chemical agents — are common both to
diphtheritic and non-diphtheritic membranes. Is not the ready reproduc-
tion of false membranes at least a characteristic inherent in diphtheria ?
It was formerly beheved to be so, but since bacteriological examinations
have been made, we know that membranes caused by Brisou's cocci,
streptococci, staphylococci, or pneumococci, may be reproduced with the
same readiness as the diphtheritic membrane.
Is not the tendency which the membranes possess of invading the
nasal cavities and the larynx at , least in favour of diphtheria ? In the
section on Pseudo-diphtheritic Membranes we shall see that many of them,
though due to streptococci or to Brisou's coccus, may invade the nose and
the larynx. Cannot the glandular enlargement, which has been looked upon
as a valuable sign, be of some help to us ? On the one hand, enlargement
of the submaxillary glands may be almost wanting in pure diphtheria, and
very marked in pseudo-diphtheritic angina. Baginski has reported sub-
maxillary adenitis in five out of six cases of streptococcal angina. Tezenas
speaks of similar swelling four times in four cases of streptococcal and
staphylococcal angina. Jaccoud found adenitis in a case of pneumococcal
angina. Martin has repeatedly noted marked adenitis in membranous
angina due to Brisou's coccus. I have often made the same observation.
Submaxillary adenitis is, therefore, of little assistance in diagnosis.
Is albuminuria a sign of diphtheritic angina ? Pseudo-diphtheritic
angina, caused by various microbes — notably streptococci — is frequently
accompanied by albuminuria.
This critical study of the signs and symptoms of diphtheritic angina sliows
thatcHnical signs alone are insufficient for diagnosis. Several cases regarded
by eminent physicians as diphtheria have been proved by bacteriology to be
not so. I need only refer to pseudo-diphtheritic angina due to the strepto-
cocci, Brisou's coccus, the pncuniococcus, or the staphylococci, which we
590 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
shall discuss in the next section. Per contra, several cases considered as
being non-diphtheritic have been proved by bacteriology to be diphtheria.
I need only refer to the numerous cases of polymorphous diphtheria (her-
petic, lacunar, and pultaceous forms).
I am well aware that even at the present day many practitioners make
their diagnosis in the case of angina solely by the chnical signs, and reserve
bacteriological examination for doubtful cases. Bacteriological examina-
tion, carried out systematically, is, in their oj^inion, unnecessary. After
my communication to the Academic de Medecine, I was taken to task in the
Premier-Paris of one of our medical journals, where I read the following
sentence : " According to Dieulafoy and all bacteriologists, it is no longer
permissible to make a diagnosis of angina without bacteriological examina-
tion. Is there not some exaggeration in this proposition ?" That is the
very word : we are taxed with exaggeration. We are given to understand
that bacteriological examination is only useful in a case where chnical
examination may be at fault. I cannot too strongly contradict such assertions.
We are told that great clinical physicians in the past did not await the
aid of bacteriology in order to diagnose cases of angina. I apologize to
those who speak thus, but we must speak the whole truth. No one respects
tradition more than I do, and I place great reUance on chiiical investiga-
tion, but evidence must be accepted. I would refer my critics to the
diagnosis made in his own case by Gillette, physician to the Children's
Hospital, and one well versed in the diagnosis of diphtheria. Gillette
thought he was suffering from herpetic angina. He congratulated himself
on the severity of the inflammatory symptoms, the whiteness of the mem-
branes, the bright redness of his throat, and the pain which he felt ; and yet
the angina was diphtheritic, and proved fatal in a few days. I would ask
my critics what they think of the diagnosis of Gubler, who was a man well
versed in the study of angina. He taught that herpetic angina causes
general paralysis, as diphtheria does, thus committing an error which he
would never have made if bacteriology had enhghtened his diagnosis.
I would refer my critics to the classification of Lasegue, who did not know
exactly where the group of diphtheritic anginse began or ended, and in-
vented the name diphtheroid angina. This name created the greatest
confusion, wliich only bacteriology has been able to dissipate.
In the subject under discussion chnical observation must give way to
bacteriology. I know that it is hard to give up deeply-rooted convictions,
but, at the risk of repetition, evidence must be accepted. A knowledge of
the bacteriological work of the last few years shows the innumerable errors
committed when the diagnosis of angina rested on chnical observation
alone. In order to convince my readers, I think it useful tc point out the
errors corrected by bacteriology.
DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARYNX 591
In the third report of the Pasteur Institute, Roux and Yersin state that
out of 52 cases of membranous angina of diphtheritic appearance 19 were
not diphtheritic. Morel, in his thesis on diphtheria, states that in 86 cases
of membranous angina simulating diphtheria 20 were not diphtheritic.
The most important paper pubKshed in France on this subject is that of
Martin, who says : " Of 112 patients admitted to the Hospital for Sick Chil-
dren for diphtheritic angina 36 had not diphtheria at all." He takes care
to add : " CUnical study gave no information as to the nature of these 36
cases. Physicians had taken them for diphtheria, and yet bacteriological
examination proved the absence of the diphtheria bacillus. They gave
rise, therefore, to 36 diagnostic errors which it was cKnically impossible to
avoid, and which, consequently, exposed to contagion 36 children who were
in a state of receptivity."
Baginsky, in 1891, published a series of 93 cases of membranous
angina of diphtheritic appearance ; bacteriological examination proved
that 25 of these cases were not diphtheria. In 1892 Baginsky published
a second series of 154 cases of angina of diphtheritic appearance, in
which bacteriology revealed 36 errors in diagnosis. WiUiam Hallock Park
says : " In 159 cases of membranous angina of diphtheritic appearance,
89 cases — that is to say, more than half — were not diphtheritic."
In 1892 Kophk reported 33 cases of membranous angina of
diphtheritic appearance ; Loffler's. bacillus could not be found in 16 of
them.
Errors are more numerous in the case of secondary anginse supervening
in the course of the infectious fevers, and notably in scarlatina.
We have, therefore, a series of cases in which hundreds of errors have
been made, because certain microbes — namely, Brisou's little coccus,
streptococcus, staphylococcus, etc. — gave to these cases of angina the
clinical appearance of diphtheria.
Another series of errors consists, as we have said, in mistaking diph-
theria for simple, lacunar, pultaceous, or herpetic angina. As this question
has been fully discussed in the previous section, I shall not reopen the
discussion. This polymorphism was a very frequent cause of error before
bacteriology established the facts. Practitioners were too much accus-
tomed to the idea of membranous diphtheria. We know to-day that
herpetic, lacunar, and pultaceous forms of diphtheria exist. We must there-
lore eliminate a partially correct diagnosis. In the case of angina the only
way to arrive at an absolute diagnosis is by bacteriological examination.
Jaccoud expressed this opinion in 1891, and Landouzy made an important
communication to the Academie de Medecine on the same subject
in 1895.
The above discussion apphes equally to syphilitic angina. Chancre of
592 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
the tonsil, whicli is covered with greyish false membranes and accompanied
by dysphagia and glandular enlargement, somewhat resembles diphtheria ;
but in the case of the chancre the lesion is unilateral, the tonsil is indurated,
the disease runs a slow course, the ulcerated surface is readily cleaned, and
the detritus is pultaceous rather than membranous. Mucous patches of
the throat and of the tonsils are sometimes covered with false membranes,
which simulate diphtheria. These membranes are whitish or greyish, of
a gangrenous appearance, adherent to the mucous membrane, and accom-
panied by submaxillary adenitis. These forms of syphilitic angina closely
resemble diphtheria. These two lesions may, indeed, appear simultaneously,
and are so much alike that the diagnosis can only be made by bacteriological
examination.
Ulcero-membranous angina, described in Section 2, is accompanied
by diphtheroid membranes, and may simulate diphtheria. The absence of
diphtheria bacilli and the presence of fusiform bacilH and spirilla (Vincent)
prove the diagnosis.
Phlegmonous tonsillitis itself may present difficulties in diagnosis from
certain forms of diphtheritic angina. In both cases the pain is very severe,
deglutition is difficult, the swelhng of the neck may be considerable, and the
pulpy, sanious, diffluent coating sometimes present in malignant angina
closely resembles the diphthero-streptococcal coating which covers the throat
in phlegmonous tonsilhtis. Albuminuria may exist in either cask On
what symptoms can the clinical diagnosis be based ? In phlegmonous
amygdalitis the pain is more acute and more general, the dysphagia is
excessive, and the patient can scarcely turn his head, which is rendered
immovable by the contraction of the muscles of the neck ; he cannot open
his mouth without acute pain, and can scarcely move his tongue. These
symptoms are not so severe in diphtheria. In both cases the neck is puffy
and swollen, but the swelUng appears earlier and is more marked in the
glands than in diphtheria. In both cases respiration may be interfered
with on account of the contraction of the isthmus of the gullet, but this
symptom is much more prominent in phlegmonous tonsillitis, and gave to
it the name of quinsey. In both cases examination of the throat may
be difficult, but the patient suffering from diphtheria is the better subject,
because he feels less pain. One essential feature is absent in diphtheria —
viz., the tonsil and the velum palati are not pushed back and depressed by
the peritonsillar phlegmon. Certain cases of suppurative tonsilhtis, how-
ever, may be associated with the diphtheria bacillus and other microbes.
I saw a case of diphthero-streptococcal angina which simulated suppurative
tonsillitis. Bacteriological examination is therefore indisiDensable.
Bacteriological Examination. — In a case of angina, what is the correct
technique in a bacteriological examination ? A piece of membrane may be
DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARYNX 593
stained and examined under the microscope ; this method, however, is not
trustworthy, and I therefore prefer to make cultures. A small piece of
membrane is placed in a tube of gelatinized serum, as described in the pre-
ceding section.
Diphtheritic Angina. — In the case of diphtheria, either pure or asso-
ciated with ocher microbes, it is possible, after an incubation of eighteen
hours, to make out diphtheria colonies, which are the more characteristic
the more spaced they are. The rapidity with which the first colonies
appear is almost pathognomonic of diphtheria ; it is only in membranous
angina due to Brisou's coccus that we find equally rapid growth. Typical
colonies of the diphtheria bacilh are rounded, whitish, and more opaque at
the centre than at the periphery. They project shghtly above the surface
of the serum, and I have therefore called them papular. A fragment
stained with Roux's blue shows the Klebs-LofHer bacillus (Section V.).
Membranous Angina due to Brisou's Coccus.— A patient is sufiering
from membranous angina which might easily be considered diphtheritic ;
it has all the characteristics of a case of normal diphtheritic angina. I have
seen such a case at the Necker Hospital, and the resemblance to diphtheria
was such that bacteriology alone could decide the diagnosis. On making a
culture, after eighteen hours colonies appear in the gelatinized serum ; they
closely simulate diphtheria colonies. They appear early ; they are rounded
and whitish, but their centre is not opaque. They are transparent through-
out their whole extent, and have a humid appearance ; moreover, they are
flat, and I have therefore called them macular, to distinguish them from
the diphtheria colonies which are papular. On examining a stained fragment
under the microscope we find no diphtheria bacilli, but only a small coccus,
which is often paired hke a diplococcus. We know, therefore, the nature
of the angina which at first sight so closely simulates diphtheria. We
know that it is neither toxic nor infective, that it will not be followed
by paralysis, and that even if croup is present, tracheotomy will not be
required.
Membranous Angina due to Streptococci.— These cases simulate diph-
theria so exactly that in Martin's report we find an account of eight patients
who were sent to the diphtheria ward when they had streptococcal angina.
This angina will be studied in the next section. I will here content myself
with giving the distinctive bacteriological signs. When membrane from
the pharynx is placed on the culture medium, the colonies of streptococci
make their appearaiic(>. somewhat later than those of diphtheria. We find
immerous small punctiform colonies, which I call powdery ; they show but
little tendency to grow larger, and the microscope reveals the streptococcus
in straight or bent chains of three, four, five, or six elements. Primary or
secondary streptococcal angina is frequent in the early stages of scarlatina,
38
594 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
whilst the angina which appears during the dechne of scarlatina may be
diphtheritic.
Membranous Angina due to Staphylococci. — Membranous angina due
to staphylococci has been taken for diphtheria. The colonies {Staphylo-
coccus alhus and aureus) usually develop in twenty-four hours, and the
bacteriological examination is so characteristic that a mistake is impossible.
Membranous Angina due to Pneumococcus. — This variety of angina
(see Section VII.) has been described by Jaccoud. The diagnosis from diph-
theritic angina is absolutely impossible without bacteriological examination.
This variety of angina, wliich is due to the pneumococcus, is not toxic, and
does not spread to the larynx.
Prognosis. — The prognosis of diphtheritic angina depends upon the
chnical and bacteriological examination. Clinically, we must beware of
cases of angina preceded or accompanied by nasal diphtheria. The nasal
cavities are an excellent soil for the growth of the diphtheria bacillus ; it
elaborates its toxine under the most favourable conditions, for it finds
an even temperature and an incessant renewal of air by nasal respiration,
just as in the method devised by Roux for the manufacture of the toxine.
In mild diphtheria, early and grave comphcations need not be feared, but
yet the poison is made on such a surface that sufficient toxine to cause
diphtheritic paralysis may penetrate it. In mahgnant diphtheritic angina
the presence of nasal diphtheria is of evil omen, as Trousseau rightly in-
sisted. Early pallor, leaden and puffy face, abundant albuminuria, and
tendency to prostration are bad symptoms. When thQ submaxillary glands
are much enlarged from the first, the prognosis is usually grave. In some
cases the inflamed glands behave like buboes — " they reek of the pest " —
and form abscesses. The glandular suppuration may not be discovered,
because the patient succumbs before the formation of an abscess. Early
suppuration is a fatal sign : this statement does not hold in late suppuration.
If the adenitis commences to suppurate when the angina is at an end, recovery
may follow. These cases of adenitis are due to the association of the strepto-
coccus with the diphtheria bacillus.
Bacteriological examination furnishes valuable information as to the
prognosis. A culture which shows discrete colonies of medium bacilli
indicates less grave diphtheria than if the culture produce confluent colonies
with long curved bacilH. As regards the prognosis, it is very important to
know whether the bacillus of diphtheria is associated with other microbes.
Bacteriological examination is, as we shall see, an indispensable element
in the prognosis. Angina in wliich the bacillus of diphtheria is present
alone is generally normal, with firm and elastic fibrinous membranes. It may
be followed by croup, especially in children, and by paralysis, but it rarely
assumes the maUgnant form. Diphtheritic angina which is associated with
DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARYNX 595
Brisou's coccus, is generally benign. Diphtheritic angina with which the
staphylococcus is associated, is far more serious than the preceding forms.
In the most serious or malignant form the streptococcus is also present.
It is in such cases that the membranes may have a putrilaginous aspect and
foetid odour, while the enlarged glands lead to the condition known as " the
proconsular neck." MaUgnant angina is fairly frequently met with as a
secondary affection in the dechne of scarlatina or during the course of
measles and whooping-cough.
etiology. — Diphtheritic angina is especially common in young subjects.
It is endemic in certain countries, and when it rages in an epidemic form, the
epidemic is often relatively benign or mahgn in a family, a town, or a
district. In countries visited for the first time by diphtheria the angina
and the other manifestations of the disease are generally severe. For
example, in Bessarabia, where the scourge made its appearance for the first
time in 1872, it carried o£E more than 12,000 victims in eight years.
" In 1875 it appeared in the Province of Kerson, where the mortality
varied from 27 to 62 per cent."
Diphtheria is contagious, and the contagion may be direct or indirect.
Inoculation of diphtheria, tried by Trousseau and Peter upon themselves,
did not succeed ; it was a lucky failure, which only proves that the subjects
were not in a state of receptivity. Direct contagion is only too well proved
by the numerous examples of parents and physicians who have contracted
the disease from a patient. I need only cite the case of Walleix, already
mentioned, and of Herpin, who from a piece of membrane which entered
his nostril, contracted coryza, angina, and paralysis. The cases of Blanche,
Clozel de Boyer, Armango, and many others, whose memory we revere, will
suffice.
The contamination may be contracted from patients who have recovered
from the attack because virulent bacilli are present for weeks in their oral and
nasal cavities. After the disappearance of the membranes, virulent bacilli
may exist for a fairly long time, although the mucous membrane appears quite
healthy (Roux). Tezenas, who studied the duration of the contagious
period in convalescent patients, furnishes us with the following information :
He made cultivations daily in sixty cases after the disappearance of the
membrane from the throat. In five cases bacilli were present for a variable
period. In eleven cases the bacillus was present in the nose, while it was
absent from the mouth and pharyjix. It was found in the nose for fifty-
five days, and while it was present, it gave rise to a clear nasal discharge,
that was generally unilateral. Centres of contagion may thus result.
In other cases the contagion is indirect, and spreads through the interme-
diary of the membranes, or of the dried sputum which has fallen on l)e(l(ling,
clothing, toyy, or toilet articles. Cases of diphtheria occurring si.x months or
38—2
596 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
a year later in previously infected surroundings are thus explained. These
chnical cases agree with experimental researches, Roux having found that a
particle of diphtheritic membrane, wrapped in a piece of Hnen and placed
in a wardrobe, kept its virulence for more than five months.
In other cases the diphtheria bacillus exists in the naso-pharyngeal
cavity without causing the shghtest comphcation (Loffler). If, however,
the virulence of the bacillus is increased, diphtheria occurs, and appears
to be spontaneous.
A first attack does not confer immunity ; diphtheritic angina may occur
a second time.
In some cases the angina is secondary — that is to say, it supervenes
in the course of some other disease (scarlatina, measles, typhoid fever).
These cases will be described under the primary disease.
Do fowls suffer from diphtheria, and can they transmit it to human
beings ? Saint- Yves Menard denies, with good reason, the identity of
human and avian diphtheria. The latter is a pseudo-diphtheria which is
not transmissible to man.
Pathological Anatomy. — I described under Diphtheritic Angina the ap-
pearance of the false membranes. These fibrinous membranes adhere more to
the chorion when the mucous membrane is covered with stratified epithehum
than when it is covered with simple epithelium, as in the air- passages. The
membranes may acquire great thickness (^ millimetre to 2 milhmetres) from
the stratified layers which are formed on the deep surface in contact with the
mucous membrane. The younger the layers the more resistant they are, whilst
the older ones are pushed towards the surface and became friable. Each
layer of the false membrane is developed at the expense of the corresponding
layer of the epithelium, and becomes more superficial as a new layer is pro-
duced beneath. " A discussion has been raised as to whether the false mem-
brane is situated above or below the epithelium. From what has gone before,
we see that it is formed in the epithelial lining, and partially at the expense
thereof." The false membrane replaces the epithehum. On post-mortem
examination the diphtheritic membranes have in part disappeared, but
examination during hfe shows that they are composed of a more or less
dense network of fibrin, that encloses in its meshes altered epithelial
cells, lymphocytes, red corpuscles, and micro-organisms. Many of the
cells are dead, and their nuclei do not stain with picro-carmine.
The epithelial cells are infiltrated with colloid substance, lose their
nucleus, and are converted into homogeneous refracting blocks with pro-
longations which branch like a stag's horns (Wagner) — Weigert's coagula-
tion necrosis. A haemorrhagic exudate is sometimes found under the
false membranes, and gives rise to ecchymoses. The structure of the false
membrane changes somewhat at different periods of its growth. At first
DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARYNX 597
fclie epithelial changes are most marked and the fibrinous network is less
important. Later the membrane becomes epithelial, fibrinous, and purulent,
and in the last stage the fibrin is in excess (Leloir). The behaviour of the
diphtheria bacilli was described in the previous section.
The mucosa on which the membranes are about to develop is intiamed
and swollen. After the membranes have disappeared, the mucosa has a
dull look from the absence of epitheUum. Ecchymoses may be seen, but
ulcers are rare. Ulceration, haemorrhage, and gangrene are chiefly seen in
malignant diphtheria.
When attacked by diphtheria, the tonsil undergoes changes, the
description of which I borrow from Cornil. In a section we see the
following features from the surface to the deep tissue : The false membrane
which has replaced the epithehum burrows into the tonsillar crypts. In
its deepest part it seems to blend mth the mucous chorion. The connective
tissue of the mucous membrane is infiltrated with red and white corpuscles,
its capillary vessels are filled with white corpuscles, and the inflammation
which affects the reticular tissue and the folhcles of the tonsils explains
the marked swelhng of these organs. The pharynx is the seat of similar
lesions ; inflammatory hypertrophy of the lymphatic follicles is seen. The
lymphatic glands of the neck are swollen and infiltrated with a turbid,
"»erous, or purulent fluid.
The membranes on the skin closely resemble those on the mucous mem-
brane. They are in part formed at the expense of the modified epidermal
layers, and are adherent to the papillae. Gangrene of the derma is some-
times found. Ecchymoses have been found in the sulci of the cerebral
convolutions. Pulmonary lesions (bronchitis, broncho-pneumonia) are
very common, especially when croup complicates angina. They are gener-
ally the result of secondary infections, the staphylococcus and streptococcus
being responsible in many instances. The kidneys are almost always
affected in severe diphtheria. We find hypera?niia and haemorrhage in the
cortical layer, with cloudy swelUng of the epithelium of the tubules. The
changes in the kidneys, hke those in the liver (fatty degeneration of the cells),
are due to the diphtheritic toxine.
The heart muscle is affected, and the papillary muscles in particular
show granular degeneration. Interstitial myocarditis is at times fairly
well marked. The valvular endocardium shows changes described by
Labadie-Lagrave as endocarditis. They are rare, and result from
secondary infections. In malignant angina the blood is fluid and sepia-
coloured (Millard), and the number of rod corpuscles is diminished. This
condition of dissolution is met with in certain infectious diseases.
Treatment. — Since Roux's communication at the Buda-Pesth Congress,
the treatment of diphtheria by serotherapy has replaced otlier methods.
598 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Behring first thought of applying serotherapy to the treatment of diphtheria,
but it was Roux who, by discovering the toxine, rendered the discovery of
the antitoxine possible. Roux selected the horse as the animal to produce
the serum, and, while the labours of Behring gained few adherents in Germany,
Roux's reports and results of his labours and those of his collaborators were
sufficient to insure universal employment of the new method.
The method consists in making horses immune against diphtheria,
and in making use of the serum from an immune horse as a preventive and
curative agent in diphtheria.
The animal is inoculated under the skin of the neck and shoulders with
progressively increasing doses of diphtheritic toxine. We start with very
weak doses — less than 1 c.c, with or without the addition of iodine — and
in a few weeks it is possible to inject at one sitting doses which are
200 and 300 times as large. In less than three months the horse is
immune. As suggested by M. Nocard, some 10 pints of blood are taken
from the jugular vein, yielding about 5 pints of serum. The same horse,
if he continues immune, can supply the above quantity of antidiphtheritic
serum every three weeks. Antidiphtheritic serum does not quite deserve the
name antitoxine. The serum is not antitoxic in the true sense of the word,
as it does not destroy the toxine. It does not affect the toxine, but acts
on the cells of the organism, making them, for the time being, insensible to
the poison. The toxine destroys the activity of the cell, while the anti-
toxine revives and stimulates it (Roux). The serum restores to the cells
of the organism a part of the phagocytic activity which they have lost
through the action of the poison (Metchnikoff).
Experiments. — The following method is used in studying the action of
the serum on infected animals :
Vulvar diphtheria is induced in a female guinea-pig. A few hours after
inoculation we find, first, redness of the vulva, with swelhng and oedema of
the mucous membrane, and later the appearance of diphtheritic membranes,
vaginal discharge, fever, and loss of appetite. Some animals die in a few days
from diphtheritic poisoning, some recover, and others suffer from paralysis.
If, however, these animals receive a prophylactic dose of serum equal
to one ten-thousandth part of their weight, the diphtheritic membranes
disappear by the second day ; fever is less severe, and recovery always
follows.
If, instead of giving the antitoxine as a prophylactic, we inject it twelve
hours after inoculation with diphtheria, curative results are obtained. The
diphtheritic membranes disappear on the second day, and do not reform ;
the bacilh disappear, and the animals recover. In any case, the curative
dose of antitoxine used (after inoculation of diphtheria) must be very much
larger than the prophylactic dose.
DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARNYX 599
Curative experiments give similar results in croup. If croup is pro-
duced in rabbits, these animals die in a few days, the respiratory troubles
and laryngo-tracheal lesions resembhng those found in croup in children.
Rabbits which have been inoculated in the trachea after injection of
serum. " do not take diphtheria, or, at least, it does not show itself by any
apparent malaise." If the serum is injected into animals after tracheal
inoculation, it may arrest well-marked diphtheria.
These experiments, then, are very conclusive, and prove the eflS.cacy of
antitoxic serum, provided the injection is not given too late.
The serum, however, does not produce the same benefit in diphtheria
associated with the streptococcus. " The association of the two microbes
(diphtheria bacillus and streptococcus) produces in the rabbit rapid diph-
theria, such as we see in young children. The pathological picture is the
same." These two microbes reciprocally increase their virulence, and
injections of antidiphtheritic serum have not the same efficacy.
Let us now consider the treatment in a case of diphtheria. A sterilized
syringe of a capacity of 20 c.c. is used, and the serum is injected under the
subcutaneous tissue of the flank, the skin being first rendered aseptic.
To a child under fifteen years of age 10 to 15 c.c. of serum are given; above
fifteen years of age 20 to 25 c.c. are injected at one sitting. In some cases
it is necessary to repeat the injection on one or more occasions.
Let us analyze the results — (1) in pure diphtheria ; (2) in diphtheria
with other micro-organisms.
Pure Diphtheritic Angina. — Recovery is the rule after the serum has
been injected. Fresh membranes do not appear twenty-four hours after
the injection, and those already present become detached in two days.
The temperature falls abruptly (Martin) and the general condition speedily
improves. Furthermore (tliis point is very important), complications and
croup are very rare, or, at least, if croup appears, it is very mild. The follow-
ing quotation deserves consideration : " In 169 children admitted into
hospital with, diphtheritic angina, 36 showed laryngeal troubles, 31 had
croupy cough, and 25 had lost their voice and showed marked sucking-in,
80 that tracheotomy appeared advisable. Under the influence of the serum
(and an injection may be given every twelve hours) the sucldng-in diminished,
and only returned at intervals. The child coughed up the false membranes,
and at the end of two or three days the respiration was normal, to the great
surprise of the house-physicians and the nurses, who, from their experience
of croup, were convinced that operation could not be avoided-
Let us now see the action of serum in a case of diphtheritic angina when
other microbes are present.
The association of the diphtheria bacillus with Brisou's coccus is benign,
and recovery is the rule after injections of serum.
600 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The association of the bacillus with the staphylococcus causes more
severe angina ; nevertheless, recovery almost always follows after injections
of serum, and this association is not as serious in the case of angina as it is
in the case of croup after tracheotomy.
The presence of the streptococcus gives rise to grave angina, in which
injections of serum are not so effectual. The mortaUty has been 25 per
cent.
In diphthero-streptococcal angina, antidiphtheritic serum and Marmorek's
antistreptococcic serum have been used together, but the results so far
obtained with the latter serum have not been encouraging : " There is no
reason to expect a positive action. We can only look for a modification of
the condition of the throat and of the glands ; we cannot rely on any anti-
toxic action " (Sevestre).
I need not refer here to the treatment of croup by injections of serum
{vide Croup), but, taking all the cases of diphtheria (angina or croup) as a
whole treated with antitoxic serum, we obtain the following figures :
The statistics of Roux, Martin, and Chaillou refer to 446 cases. Death-
rate, 24*5 per cent.
The statistics of Moizard refer to 231 cases. Death-rate, 14'7 per
cent.
The statistics of Le Gendre refer to 16 cases. Death-rate, 12' 5 per
cent.
The statistics of Lebreton refer to 242 children. Death-rate, 12 per
cent.
The statistics of Variot for the year 1895 give a total death-rate of
14" 5 per cent.
" The year 1894," says Bayeux, " divides the therapeutics of diph-
theria into two distinct epochs : the first, in which 55 per cent, of the cases
died, and the second, when the mortality fell to 16 per cent., thanks to the
use of antitoxine. This figure (16 per cent.) is supported by my own returns
of more than 200,000 cases."
The rate of mortaUty is diminishing continually, and will diminish still
further, in proportion as cases of broncho-pneumonia are isolated, and
tracheotomy is replaced, as far as possible, by intubation, and serum is in-
jected without a moment's loss of time. We have Uved to see a thing hitherto
unknown — that is, a week passing in Paris without a single case of diphtheria
being notified !
A condition of success is to make the injection as soon as possible after
the outbreak of the disease. Diphtheritic paralysis only supervenes, as a
rule, when injection of serum has been delayed. I hold, therefore, that in
a suspicious case of membranous angina, before bacteriological examination
has decided the nature of the disease, we should begin by giving an injection.
DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARYNX 601
No one will ever repent having done so, even though the angina is not
diphtheritic, whilst delay till the next, day may cause regret.
As for local treatment in diphtheria, we must be satisfied with irrigations
containing chlorinated soda (Roux). Painting with poisonous or caustic
substances, such as carbohc acid and subhmate, must not be prescribed.
I asked myself whether local painting of the throat with serum might
not be beneficial. I therefore conducted some experiments with my house-
physician, Marion. Female guinea-pigs were inoculated with vulvar
diphtheria, and, when the disease appeared, the parts were painted several
times a day with serum. No result was obtained. This conclusion, how-
ever, refers only to ordinary serum obtained by the injection of toxine into
animals. Martin, by injecting the bodies of the bacilli themselves into
animals, obtained a serum which was no longer antitoxic, but anti-infective.
Rist has shown that the bodies contain a poison differing from the soluble
toxine. Martin's anti-infective serum can be made up in pastilles, which
dissolve in the mouth and seem to have an action in situ on the diphtheria
bacillus.
Injections of antidiphtheritic serum sometimes cause cutaneous erup-
tions, urticaria, and articular pains, which are less frequent in proportion as
the technique has been perfected. Other complications for which the serum
has been blamed (albuminuria, tachycardia, arrhythmia, muscular pains)
must be set down to diphtheria or to streptococcal infections. It is important
however, to make use of properly prepared serum ; bad serum might lead
to trouble.
Prophylactic Treatment. — As serum injections have a prophylactic
action, it may be beneficial to inoculate the contacts, especially children
and nurses. This prophylactic application of serum has given most satis-
factory results (Mewim, Schiiler), and is a means of stamping out epidemics
or of preventing their spread.
Netter and Guinon have made systematic use of this prophylactic
power. Every child admitted into the Trousseau Hospital receives 5 c.c.
of antidiphtheritic serum, subject to reinoculation every three w^eks.
Internal cases of diphtheria in the wards have become unknown.
Patients must be closely watched, even after complete disappearance
of the membranes, because the bacilU may remain for weeks in the throat
or nose. Tezenas has published a very interesting work on this sul)ject.
In sixty cases of diphtheria he found diphtheria bacilli in the Jiasal cavity,
although the angina was completely cured and the bucco-pharyngeal cavity
was free from them. This persistence of the bacillus in the nasal cavity is
always associated with a limpid nasal discharge, whi(;h generally comes
from one nostril. " As long as this discharge lasts, Loffler's bacilli arc
found in the nasal cavity. The bacillus disappears with the discharge."
602 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The most minute precautions must be taken with regard to things that
have been in contact with a diphtheritic patient. Linen or bedding must
be baked in a steam-oven under pressure, for the diphtheria bacillus is very
resistant, and persons have contracted diphtheria in a bed which a patient
suffering from diphtheria had used several months, or even a year, previously,
no antiseptic precautions having been taken.
VII. PSEUDO-DIPHTHERITIC MEMBRANOUS ANGINA.
Before the discovery of bacteriology it was well known that certain cases of mem-
branous angina simulated diphtheria, though they were not diphtheritic. Bretonneau
had expressed this view, and Trousseau wrote a most remarkable chapter on this subject.
Returning to the familiar question of specificity, Trousseau reviews the forms of mem-
branous angina which are not diphtheritic : membranous angina following cauteriza-
tion of the pharynx with nitrate of silver and ammonia, and membranous angina due
to the abuse of mercury. He teaches us that in scarlatina membranous angina is
rarely diphtheritic (and bacteriology has proved that he is correct), and quotes cases
of angina in the course of enteric fever which have been wrongly taken for diphtheria.
Finally, following Bretonneau, he separates diphtheria from herpetic membranous
angina, which he calls common membranous angina.
The distinction made by these great masters, as a result of clinical observation,
between diphtheritic and pseudo-diphtheritic membranous angina, has been clearly
established by bacteriological researches. Bacteriology is responsible for this section,
which is only the continuation and the complement of the two preceding sections.
Bacteriology has enabled us to classify and to enumerate the nature and the character-
istics of pseudo-diphtheritic membranous angina.
The different microbes which will be referred to in the description of pseudo-diph-
theritic angina, include Brisou's coccus, the streptococcus, the pneumococcus, the
staphylococcus, and the Bacillus coli ; they may be associated in all the varieties of
angina, whether catarrhal, pultaceous, herpetic, or suppurative. In some cases, however,
they are associated with the formation of membranes, and the angina then simulates
diphtheria, and merits the name " pseudo -diphtheritic."
Pseudo-Diphtheritic Angina due to Coccus.— A child four or five
years of age has, two days before, been taken ill with moderate fever,
headache, loss of appetite, and sore throat. The temperature has been
about 103° F. On examining the throat the mucous membrane is found to
be red and covered with patches of membranous exudate. If the angina
be of two or three days' duration, the tonsils, the uvula, and the pharynx
may be covered with false membranes which simulate diphtheria. No
distinction is possible between these membranes and those seen in certain
cases of diphtheritic angina, as they are similar in appearance and structure.
In each case they show the same power of adhesion, mode of invasion, and
reproduction after removal. In addition, glandular enlargement is often
found, though in a moderate degree.
These signs and symptoms, therefore, are those of normal diphtheria.
They were complete in a case at the Necker Hospital. My diagnosis of normal
DISEASES OF THE THROAT AND PHARYNX 603
diphtheria, which seemed obvious, was proved to be incorrect by bacterio-
logical examination.
This variety of angina wliich simulates diphtheria so closely is due to
Brisou's coccus, and was thus named from the child in whom Roux and
Martin first observed this kind of angina.
As it is absolutely impossible to make a diagnosis between this false
and true diphtheritic angina by clinical observation alone, bacteriological
examination is necessary. For tliis purpose we make a culture. A particle
of the membrane is removed on a platinum loop and sown on a tube of
gelatinized serum, which is placed in the oven at a temperature of 36° to
37° 0. Colonies appear on the surface of the serum after about eighteen
hours ; they have, when well developed, the greatest analogy to those of
diphtheria. In the first place they appear early — in fact, almost as early as
those of diphtheria ; they are also rounded and whitish. They differ, how-
ever, in some points. Their centre is not opaque ; they are transparent
throughout their whole extent, and present a humid appearance. In
addition, they are flat, for which reason I have named them macular,
in order to distinguish them from the diphtheritic colonies wliich are
papular.
A stained fragment of the culture under the microscope shows no diph-
theria bacilU, but only Brisou's coccus, the elements of which are often
paired. We know, therefore, the nature of this angina, which at first
sight closely simulates diphtheria, and we may be satisfied as to the prog-
nosis, because angina due to Brisou's coccus does not give rise to toxaemia
and is not followed by paralysis. In some cases it has been followed by
croup, but in a very mild form.
This pseudo-diphtheritic angina most often simulates diphtheria. It is
liable to recur. It has been met with three times by Roux and Yersin.
Martin's returns give twenty-five times in 200 cases of membranous angina ;
Chaillou and Martin's figures give eleven times in ninety cases.
Streptococcal Pseudo-Diphtheritic Angina.— The streptococcus may
be found in every variety of angina. We are here concerned with mem-
branous angina simulating diphtheria, for in the throat, as elsewhere, the
streptococcus readily produces membranes (Widal).
This angina, though generally benign, may be in some cases of excep-
tional gravity. The disease sets in with rigors, fever, headache, and lassi-
tude. The dysphagia is acute, and, on inspection of the throat, the mucous
membrane is found to be red and inflamed, and the tonsils are sometimes
enlarged. In some cases the exudate is pultaceous, but in otliers we find
thick adherent membranes on the tonsils, the posterior wall of the i)liarynx
and the velum palati ; they may even extend to the tongue and the lips.
It has been rightly said that the streptococcal membranes are less elastic and
604 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
more friable, yellowish, and cedematous than the diphtheritic membranes,
which are whiter and more nacreous, as well as more firm and dry. These
differences are more easy of description than recognition. As a matter of
fact, some streptococcal membranes so closely resemble diphtheritic mem-
branes that we cannot tell the difference. Inflammation of the submaxillary
glands is said to appear earUer in streptococcal than in diphtheritic angina.
Here again there are constant exceptions.
As a clinical resemblance between streptococcal pseudo-diphtheria and
true diphtheria, let me add that we often find rhinitis and laryngitis in both
cases. The nasal discharge in each disease may be mucous, blood-stained,
or puriform, with rejection of membranous shreds. In both cases the cough
and the hoarseness indicate the invasion of the larynx by the streptococcus
or by the diphtheria bacillus.
In some cases streptococcal angina brings about such grave infection
that erythema, polymorphous eruptions, albuminuria, and rheumatic pains
may be noticed, just as in diphtheria, and such a grave general condition
that death may result. Streptococcal angina is often secondary (grippe,
measles, typhoid fever) ; it is most common at the commencement of scarlet
fever. These secondary forms may be grave. We see, however, primary
cases which prove fatal.
The above description shows that the clinical diagnosis between tliis
pseudo-diphtheria and true diphtheria is quite impossible. Streptococcal
angina simulates diphtheria so closely, that in Martin's monograph we read
that eight patients who were sent to the diphtheria ward were really suffering
from streptococcal angina. Chaillou and Martin mention eight cases of
streptococcal angina simulating diphtheria.
I had quite recently at the Necker Hospital a case of streptococcal
mebranous angina which simulated diphtheria so closely that a diagnosis
would have been impossible without bacteriological examination. This
xanaination is carried out in the manner already described. The strepto-
coccus colonies appear rather later than those of diphtheria and of Brisou's
coccus. After some twenty-four hours they appear in the form of a whitish
stipphng, wliich never shows much increase in size. I have, therefore,
thought it advisable to call these colonies dusty, and thus distinguish them
at first sight from the macular colonies of Brisou's coccus and the papular
colonies of the diphtheria bacillus. Even after fourteen to fifteen hours,
stained fragments of the colonies on the surface of the serum show under
the microscope little chains of mature streptococci. The cocci are arranged
in chaplets, and in straight or wavy chains. Four or more cocci may be
seen in each fragment of the chain.
The streptococcus may be found in the mouth in the normal or patho-
logical state under different conditions. Widal and Bezanfon have found
DISP:ASES of the throat and pharynx 605
it in pseudo-membranous, diphtheritic, pultaceous, phlegmonous, and
tubercular angina.
Staphylococcal Pseudo-Diphtheritic Angina. — Staphylococci also may-
be present in every variety of angina. I shall here discuss only the pseudo-
diphtheritic variety. Tliis form is very much rarer than those previously
described. I have, however, found four cases in Martin's paper, and four
in that of Chaillou and Martin. I have seen three cases in adults.
The patient shows the symptoms common to acute angina : febrile
onset, dysphagia, inflammatory redness of the palato -pharyngeal mucous
membrane, and sweUing of the submaxillary glands. The membranes then
appear, but they are not as thick, adherent, and extensive as in diphtheria.
It is, however, quite impossible to diagnose the condition from true diph-
theria by chnical methods alone.
Recourse must therefore be had to bacteriological examination. The
staphylococcus forms, in less than twenty-four hours, wide, flattened, and
irregular colonies on the serum, which at once indicate the diagnosis. The
same culture, if allowed to remain in the oven, will soon give rise to much
larger colonies, and after suitable staining the Staphylococcus alhus and
aureus are readily found. The slide shows a heap of grains which do not
form Uttle chains like the streptococcus, but are collected in grapehke
bunches.
Pneumococcal Pseudo-Diphtiveritic Angina. — This variety has been
described by Jaccoud. It is very rare in children, and Chaillou and Martin
have only seen one case. This disease has a sudden onset, with rigors,
general malaise, and rapid rise of temperature to 103° or 104° F. On the first
day the dysphagia is acute ; the mucous membrane of the throat is red and
shiny ; the tonsils are swollen and purple. On the next day false membranes
are seen in the throat. They commence in the form of white points, become
confluent, and then spread and thicken hke diphtheritic membranes. The
angina is usually accompanied by marked swelhng of the glands. If to
these symptoms we add albuminuria, it is evident that this chnical picture
closely resembles diphtheria. In the few cases which have so far been pub-
hshed, the disease has not the shghtest tendency to invade the nasal fossae
and the larynx. In such a case it is impossible for clinical observation
alone to decide whether the angina is diphtheritic or not. Bacteriological
examination is necessary, and reveals the presence of the pneuraococcus.
Membranous Angina due to the Coli Bacillus. — This variety of pseudo-
diphtheritic angina is very rare. The pathological agent is the coh bacillus,
which has been found as an accessory organism in several cases of angina ;
in some cases, however, pseud()-dij)hthoritic angina is due to the coli
i)acillus alone. Martin and Chaillou mention two cases, while Lemioycz has
pubhshed a most conclusive case.
600 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Herpetic Angina. — Herpetic angina (common membranous angina,
Trousseau) will form the subject of a special section.
Angina due to the Micrococcus Tetragenus. — In some cases tliia
organism gives rise to an angina which somewhat resembles diphtheria.
I give three cases which I have observed :
Case I. — A healthy man was taken with fever, malaise, and pain in the right side.
Pleural effusion was found on the right side. When I saw him some days later the effu-
sion had almost disappeared, but the throat was covered with a pecuUar white layer,
Avhich extended over the back of the pharynx, the velum palati, the jDillars, and the
uvula. In places there appeared a multitude of prominent isolated granules, which
gave the throat the appearance of having been sprinkled with sand. I have therefore
proposed the name " sandy angina " for this variety. Tonsils not swollen ; no hyper-
trophy of the submaxillary glands.
Apert sowed two tubes of coagulated ox serum and two tubes of peptonized agar
with the exudate ; he also made preparations by crushing one of the granules between
two shdes, on which he found present, almost exclusively, encapsuled cocci, arranged
in groups of four or in pairs. The serum culture showed no growth till the fourth day,
but the tubes of agar from the first day showed a large number of prominent whitish
colonies, which were glue-like, and formed threads when a fragment was lifted with
the platinum wire. On microscopic examination, they were composed of tetrads,
having all the characteristics of the Micrococcus tetragenus.
Case II. — The patient had been under my charge for a fortnight with pleurisy, and
the effusion had dried up, when he was seized with angina. On each tonsil five or six
lenticular points of a clear white ; it had the appearance of a folUcular angina, but
resembled the form which diphtheria also assumes. The serum culture gave within
twenty-four hours streptococci and some colonies of staphylococci. The tubes of agar
gave an almost equal number of tetrads and staphylococci. The Micrococcus tetra-
genus, on being isolated, was cultivated in broth. A few di-ops of this broth, injected
into a mouse, killed it in twenty-four hours ; the encapsuled tetrad was found in the
blood.
Case III. — A man was admitted to the Hotel-Dieu with symptoms of influenza,
accompanied by rales, due to pulmonary congestion and pleural friction sounds ; some
whitish exudate on the throat. The serum culture gave a negative result as regards
diphtheria, but on agar there were mysterious colonies, including streptococci, small
cocci, alone or in pairs and heaps, and about a dozen colonies of the Micrococcus
tetragenus. This coccus, cultivated on broth, proved harmless on injection of a mouse
with doses of J c.c.
In these three cases " the tetragenic angina was accompanied or preceded by
pleurisy. In the cases of tetragenic septicaemia hitherto observed (Chauffard and
Ramond, Castaigne) pleurisy was present. Netter, Faisans, and Le Danamy have
found the tetragenus in the fluid from sero-fibrinous pleurisy. The Micrococcus tetra-
gemis shows a liking for the pleura."
Syphilitic Membranous Angina. — In the previous section I said that
the mucous patches on the throat and tonsils are at times covered with
adherent greyish membranes which simulate diphtheria, the more as the
glands at the angle of the jaw are generally enlarged. The diagnosis is easy
if specific lesions are present in the mouth and pharynx, or if cutaneous or
mucous syphihdes have been found. In cases of doubt, or even in cases
where the two infections are superposed, bacteriological examination can
alone confirm the diagnosis. The absence of Loffler's bacillus excludes the
DIPHTHERIA.
Plate I.
Fig. 23
Fig. 24.
\/
n/\
/\
•v^-
\\V,
Fig, 2 3.
Fig. 23. — Culture ok Diphtheria on Gelatinized Serum.
Discrete Colonies.
When the colonics of diphtheria are well developed, they are
characterized by round whitish snots, more opaque in the centre
than at the circumference. I call these colonies papular, because
they project from the surface of the serum. Some resemble little
grains or semolina.
Fig. 24. — Colonies of Diphtheria.
Fig. 25. — Bacilli ok Diphtheria.
They are as long as, hut thicker than, the bacilli of tuberculosis.
They are swollen at their extremities, and are straight or slightly
curved inwards. They are often disposed in groups of three or
four, arranged in parallel lines, imitating the letters V, X, L, or
simulating the acute (') or the circumllex ("i accent. They are
never placed end-(jn. They look sometimes like short square
needles which have been allowed to fall on a table in little heaps
(Martini.
To face p. 6or>
SMALL COCCUS, BRISOU'S COCCUS.
Plate II.
^*eL^,
Fig. 27.
^
Sb
cP
CO
, mucosa of the dupdenum ; B, Briinner's
glands ; I, inflammatory subglandular islets ; E, eschar breaking up the glandular
layer ; G, glandular layer of the stomach ; m.m., muscularis mucosae ; s.m., submucous
layer ; /.to., tunica muscularis ; s.s., subserous layer.
>^l^-^=5i
niiri;
\
\
\
i;i-
Fig. 39. — One of the Sections (High Power).
G, Glandular layer of the pyloric region ; m.m., muscularis mucosae ; s.m., submucous
layer infiltrated with fibrinous exudation ; t.m., tunica muscularis ; E, eschar ; n, in-
vading zone of the necrosis ; A, arteriole of the submucosa, injured by the necrosis at
the base of the eschar.
The experiments made by Talma (Utrecht, 1890) on the pathogenesis of
simple ulcer of the stomach show the part played by intestinal strangula-
tion in the production of erosions and ulceration. Talma repeated his
experiments several times. He ligatured a coil in an animal, or, in other
words, estabhshed a closed cavity, and amongst other lesions he found
erosions and ukeration of the stomach. The cUnical and experimental
DISEASES OF THE STOMACH C65
facts, therefore, agree. Similar gastric erosions existed in three cases
reported by Chariot.
We have now gained some idea of the lesions which provoke hsema-
temesis consequent on appendicitis and strangulated hernia. The toxic
process is identical in both cases. The infection causes acute hsemorrhagic
erosions and ulcerations of the stomach comparable to the ulcerations found
in pneumococcal infection and to exulceratio simplex.
Description. — ^Vomito negro is part of the appendicular toxi-infection.
I have often endeavoured to prove that appendicitis is not only a focus of
infection, but also of intoxication.* The toxines are responsible for changes
in the liver, with jaundice, urobiUnuria, and sometimes symptoms of icterds
gravis. They are also responsible for changes in the kidneys, with albu-
minuria, oHguria, anuria, and sometimes symptoms of uraemia. The lesions
Fig. 40. — Section through Stjbmtjcosa.
A, Arteriole with the superior wall openeil, communicating with a large lacuna, I,
made by the eschar.
of the stomach, with the attacks of hsematemesis, therefore appear to me
to form part of the toxic syndrome of appendicitis. Hsematemesis is
sometimes independent of other toxi-iufectious manifestations, but at other
times it is associated with them.
Jaundice of the conjunctivae and skin, urobilinuria, and albuminuria
often precede the appearance of haematemesis. In the first case quoted, the
jaundice was general when the black vomit appeared.
Appendicular haematemesis may assume different forms. The atta 'ks
are sometimes preceded by naiLsea and vomiting. On examining the vomit,
blackish streaks and clots like coffee-grounds, which are the forerunners of
an attack of haematemesis, may be seen. Sometimes the attack comes on
suddenly without prodromata, even when an operation for appendicitis had
* Diculafoy, " Toxicite do 1' AiJpcndititc " (communication a rAcademie do MWecino,
1899, ot ('liniout ^ inch from the pylorus and rested against the posterior. abdominal wall,
wliich formed the floor and acted as a tampon, preventing general peritonitis.
In short, he had had subacute appendicitis, with retrocaecal abscess and adhesions ;
the infection had led to hsemorrhagic erosions in the stomach, and to an acute per-
forating ulcer in the duodenum.
Lediard and Sedgmck's Case. — A man aged fifty-six was taken ill with j)ains in the
right iliac fossa. One year later they came back over the appendix. In April, 1904,
a fresh attack. Diagnosis : appendicitis. Operation on May 8. On opening the
belly, the appendix was found to bo large and covered with old exudate. It was re-
moved and the M'ound was closed. During the next few days there was no fever.
Slight jaundice of the skin and conjunctiva;. Ho then passed bloody stools. On
dressing the wound, the stitches were found to bo loose ; foul-smelling pus flowed out
of the wound. A week after the operation more and more blood appeared in the stools,
the pulse became intermittent, and tlie general pallor indicated abundant loss of blood.
What was the cause and the seat of the blooding ? H.omatomesis was also present, and
death occurred on June 29. The autopsy was made on tiie same day. On ojiening
the abdomen, no peritonitis ; the stomach M'as healthy. On the second part of the
duodenum, near the ampidla of Vater, there was an oval, crateriform, perforating
ulcer, that was 1 inch in length and i inch in breadth ; its long axis was parallel to
that of the bowel ; the edges of the ulcer were smooth, and the floor was obliterated
by the pancreas, which formed a tampon, preventing acute peritonitis, which would
otherwise have followed the perforation.
696 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The pancreatic tissue showed early ulceration ; two open vessels (probably branches
of the inferior pancreatico -duodenal artery) had given rise to the fatal intestinal
haemorrhage. A section through the edge of the ulcer and the adherent pancreatic
tissue showed complete destruction of the bowel wall, and also of the adjacent pancreatic
tissue.
Milward's Case. — A girl aged seven years had been ill for two weeks. On admission
the right iliac fossa was painful and the abdomen distended. Operation : On opening
the belly in the appendicular region, 2 ounces of pus flowed out from a cavity external to
the caecum and shut oflE from the general peritoneum by adhesions. The appendix
was not found ; possibly it was destroyed or buried under the adhesions. After the
operation, rapid pulse, high temperature, and diarrhoea. On the eighth day bulging in
the epigastric region, which was resonant. The bulging increased slowly, and appeared
to vary with the condition of the intestines, being more marked when the patient was
constipated.
The tumour became so large on the twenty-fifth day that an operation was decided
upon. The epigastrium was incised, and the operator found near the stomach a
cavity containing gas, pus, and gastric contents. It was shut off from the peritoneal
cavity by adliesions, which fixed the stomach to the abdominal wall. The anterior
siwface of the stomach showed a perforating ulcer of the size of a threepenny-piece.
The perforation and the abdominal wound were sutured, but feeding became more
difficult, the situation grew worse, and the patient died five days after the operation.
The autopsy showed that the iliac and epigastric lesions were independent. The
course of the disease had been as follows : Appendicitis of a fortnight's duration, with
encysted pericsecal abscess. Acute ulceration of the stomach, and formation of
adhesions between the stomach and abdominal wall. The perigastritis had prevented
the onset of acute peritonitis. The gas, which made its way through the perforation,
caused bulging of the epigastric region.
Warren Low's Case. — On April 14, 1904, a girl of sixteen was admitted to St. Mary's
Hospital. She appeared to be suffering from general peritonitis, and was very weak.
Her history was as follows : On the evening of April 9 she felt pain in the right iliac
fossa. Next day she remained in bed. On April 12 pain in the epigastric region.
Next evening at five o'clock she was taken ill with vomiting and very acute pain in the
region of the appendix. On admission she was collapsed, with pale and drawn face.
Abdomen distended and sensitive ; pain on palpation over the lower part of the belly,
especially on the right side. The collapse improved with the aid of warmth and stimu-
lants. Next morning an incision was made over the appendix ; some odourless pus
came out. The appendix was removed ; it contained two calculi, and extravasated
blood was present in its walls. The case seemed to belong to the relapsing type.
A median incision above the umbilicus revealed adhesive peritonitis above the trans-
verse colon. A perforation as large as a crown was exposed ; it involved the front of
the lesser curvature of the stomach, near the cardiac end. The ulcer was sutured ; both
wounds in the abdominal wall were drained. Recovery.
Cheyne and Haydock Wilbe's Case. — A boy aged thirteen years complained of pain
in the stomach. Next day the pain was more severe and extensive. Dr. Wilbe, who
saw the child in the afternoon, found him much collapsed. He found muscular rigidity
and general hypersesthesia ; the pain was most marked in the right ihac fossa.
Mr. Watson Cheyne saw him the same day. The abdomen was hard, distended,
and tympanitic ; the hypersesthesia was general, and the pain most marked to the right
and above. Perforation of the appendix was diagnosed, and an operation performed.
An incision was made over the appendix. As soon as the peritoneum was opened,
an escape of gas indicated perforation of the aUmentary canal. Serous fluid was
present in the peritoneal cavity. The caecum and the appendix were examined. The
latter was long and inflamed, and contained a calculus. The operator felt sure that
DISEASES OF THE STOMACH 697
some other lesion was also present. As no faeces were free in the peritoneal cavity, and
there was no intestinal perforation, a fresh incision was made in the epigastric region.
Turbid fluid and bubbles of gas were seen over the front of the stomach near the cardiac
end. A rounded perforation was sho\ra up by reflected light about 1 inch from the
cardiac end of the stomach ; fluid and gas were escaping from it. The perforation was
about as big as a lead-pencil ; its edges were not thickened. No other lesions in the
vicinity. The edges of the ulcer were sutured. Rapid improvement followed, and the
patient was discharged cured.
PfihVs Case. — A boy was taken ill with appendicitis. At the operation a few days
later a pericaecal abscess was opened, but the appendix was not found. He died from
profuse haematemesis twenty-three days after the operation. The autopsy showed a
perforating ulcer on the anterior surface of the stomach four fingers' breadth from the
pylorus ; the perforation was circular, punched out, and as large as a sixpence.
Discussion. — In each of these six cases a perforating ulcer of the
stomach or duodenum was ass6ciated with appendicitis. Careful study
shows the order in which the lesions appeared. Appendicitis preceded by
a more or less lengthy period the symptoms of ulcer.
In these cases there is no suggestion that the appendicitis was preceded
by the classical signs of ulcer— epigastric and spinal pain, vomiting,
hsematemesis, and melaena. On the contrary, the scene opened with
appendicitis.
We find in each case that acute, subacute, or relapsing appendicitis
was in progress when the gastric or duodenal complication appeared sud-
denly, and ended in perforation/ When we consider the chronological
order of the different lesions, we may justly admit that the ulcer was
secondary to the appendicitis.
Does this chronological order justify the view that the perforating
ulcer is dependent upon the appendicitis ? We know that the duodenum,
and especially the stomach, may in the course of appendicitis be attacked
hy erosions, exidcerations, and perforating ulcer.
We have seen in Section VIII. that erosions and exulcerations occur in
the stomach. In the following case, quoted by Dupont, deep ulceration,
with acute necrosis of the gastric mucous membrane, was present.
In November, 1904, a soldier was taken ill with toxic appendicitis. The prognosis
rapidly became grave: tlie heart was iiTcgular, tlic Ijrcathing was jerky, the nose pini'hed,
and the eyes hollow. Tlic patient did not consent to operation till the fourth day of the
disease. Naturally no improvement resulted, and he vomited ilark blood on two
occasions. Vomito negro is nearly always of evil omen. During the next few days
restlessness and delirium set in, and he died in coma.
Post mortem : On opening the stomach, ecchj-moses of variable size were foimd in
the greater curvature and the pyloric region ; at the pylorus, two ulcerations of the
size of a lentil ; in their centre the mucous membrane was raised up around a crater
as big as a ])in's liead. Nattan-Larrier's examination revealed the course of the lesion.
He found coagulation necrosis of the cells, converting the tissue? into a hyaline nuisa
and alTccting tlie glands in an irregular way, so that normal and degenerated ghuuls
W(>re found side by side. The necrosis was sot up by the ai)pendicular toxincs.
698 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Experimental research also gives us information regarding the patho-
genesis of gastric and duodenal ulcers resulting from appendicitis. Talma's
experiments on simple ulcer of the stomach show the action of intestinal
strangulation in causing gastric erosions and ulcerations. He ligatured
a loop of bowel, and found among the lesions present hsemorrhagic erosions
and ulcerations of the stomach.
Roger has shown that experimental infections of the caecum produce in
the stomach ecchymoses like those of purpura. " It is difficult to explain,"
says he, " how the caecal affection can react upon the stomach. The fact
has none the less a certain importance, especially if we consider it in relation
with Dieulafoy's observations, which show clearly the existence of gastric
haemorrhages due to appendicitis. Experimental pathology, therefore,
confirms clinical observation."
Nattan-Larrier and Loevy have made the following experiments : In two dogs an
inch of small intestine was shut off by two ligatures. The animals died in five days
from acute peritonitis. A small quantity of the fluid from the ligatured loop and from
the peritoneum was injected into a ligatured loop in two other dogs. They died in
three days from acute peritonitis. A small quantity of fluid (taken as before) was then
injected into a fifth dog, which died in forty-eight hours without any trace of peri-
tonitis. Its stomach, however, contained two spoonfuls of blackish fluid (gastrorrhagia) ;
two clean-cut exulcerations were found, involving the mucous membrane and the sub-
mucous tissue. One of the exulcerations was on the greater curvature, the other on
the first part of the duodenum.
The urine contained bile pigment, albumin, and fatty casts. The cells in Henle's
loops took the stain badly, and were studded with fine fatty granules, the nuclei being
indistinct. In the liver the cells took the stain better, although they showed fatty
degeneration. Three inoculations in series, therefore, modified the results. In the first
two series ligature of a segment of gut simply gave rise to septic troubles, but in the
third inoculation the animal showed toxsemia, with gastro- duodenal, hepatic, and
renal lesions.
These lesions, produced experimentally, confirm the views I expressed
at the Academic de Medecine regarding the toxicity of appendicitis. Prior
to this occasion, appendicitis was considered to be simply an infective
focus. I have shown, however, that poison is manufactured in this focus,
and thence invades the economy. We have, therefore, a new variety of
appendicitis, which gives rise to toxaemia ; and I have called this condition
" appendicsemia." We have also seen that the appendicular poison has a
marked preference for the stomach, liver, and kidney.
In the kidney the toxic nephritis excites albuminuria, hsematuria,
oliguria, anuria, and at times symptoms of uraemia. In the liver the
lesions cause jaundice, urobilinuria, and in some cases symptoms of icterus
gravis. In the stomach the erosions and exulcerations give rise to haemor-
rhage, which may be fulminant.
In some cases of appendicitis the ulcers in the stomach and duodenum
DISEASES OF THE STOMACH 699
run a rapid course, ending in perforation ; in other cases the ulcers are
accompanied by erosions and ecchynioses in the neighbourhood of the
ulcers. In my patient the stomach was the seat of capillary haemorrhages,
while a perforating ulcer was present in the duodenum. As a general rule,
it seems that the stomach and duodenum are organs prone to ulceration and
perforation. This fact is shown by the pneumococcal erosions, the exulcera-
tions, and thesimple ulcer. The appendicular toxines play a large part in this
ulcerative process, which may end in erosion, exulceration, or perforation.
While it may be hard to distinguish between appendicitis and perforating
ulcer of the stomach or duodenum, the distinction is much more difficult if
the two lesions succeed one another and exist together. The diffuse pain
from two separate foci, and the possible existence of acute peritonitis, so
complicate the situation that a diagnosis may be almost impossible. The
surgeon must discover both foci, and act accordingly. In the cases quoted
two patients were saved by a double operation, which involved the appendix
and the gastric ulcer. Similar operations are described later, under the
Association of Appendicitis and Cholecystitis.
XIII. TRANSFORMATION OF SIMPLE ULCER OF THE STOMACH
INTO CANCER.
The transformation of ulcer of thfe stomach into cancer is not uncommon.
Cruveilhier, in his excellent work on simple ulcer of the stomach, deserves
great credit for elucidating a question which was previously obscure. IJlcer
and cancer were confounded, and the simple ulcer, which is rightly called
" Cruveilhier's disease," had not become a morbid entity. After Cruveil-
hier, people perhaps went too far ; the division between ulcer and cancer
was too absolute, and the fact, that Cruveilhier himself had noted the co-
existence of the two lesions in the stomach, was forgotten.
This coexistence of carcinoma and ulcer, says Rokitansky, leads to the
supposition that the former supervenes on the latter. Dittrich, of Prague,
states positively the termination of ulcer in cancer. In 1848 he published
the statistics of 160 cases, in which ulcer of the stomach- was eight times asso-
ciated with cancer. Sometimes both ulcer and cancer were present in the
same stomach, but at other times the cancer was grafted on a healed or
an active ulcer. Lebert considers tliat in 100 cases of cancer of the stomach,
nine are preceded by ulcer. In 1882 Hanscr studied histologically the lesions
of the mucous membrane in the vicinity of the ulcer. He noted the develop-
ment of adenomatous tissue, and the tendency for cylindrical cells to take
the place of the glandular epithelium. This was the first stage, which ended
later in the invasion of the muscularis mucosa) and tunica muscularis.
Rosenheim admits that ulcer is complicated with cancer in the proportion
700 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
of 6 per cent., and Sonicksen found that in 156 cases of cancer of the stomach,
examined in the Kiel Institute, ulcer had preceded cancer in the proportion
of 14 per cent. Pignal has collected several cases of the transformation of
ulcer into cancer, observed by Bouveret and Lepine. Mathieu has published
three cases.
I have devoted a clinical lecture* to this question. The following case
will serve as an example :
A man came under my care for cancer of the stomach. Cachexia, marked loss of
flesh, and straw-coloured complexion justified the diagnosis of cancer at first sight.
I questioned him, and learnt that the disease had made its appearance fifteen months
previously, with pains and vomiting, which had since been the chief symptoms. During
this period he had had one attack of haematemesis and several of malsena. On ex-
amining the epigastric region, I was surprised to find that the slightest pressure was
so painful as to prevent a complete examination. He had not only deep-seated pain,
but also acute cutaneous hypersesthesia. He then described his pains. From the
commencement of the disease they supervened after meals, persisted during digestion,
and did not cease when the stomach was empty. They were sometimes tearing in
character, and were seated principally in the pit of the stomach, but they also radiated
towards the spine. The fits of vomiting were frequent, and the vomit was so acid
as to cause a lasting taste of vinegar in the mouth. It was evidently a case of hyper-
chlorhydria. The stomach, which did not appear to be dilated, was so intolerant
that water and milk were at once vomited.
The severity of these symptoms led me to doubt the diagnosis of cancer. Cancer
of the stomach is not, as a rule, accompanied by such acute pains and uncontrollable
vomiting. Although pain, dyspepsia, and vomiting occupy a most important place
in cancer of the stomach, I have not seen a case in which they were so severe ; the symp-
toms belong especially to simple ulcer.
I had the vomit examined by Du Pasquier, and instead of finding hyperchlorhydria,
which must have been present before when the vomit was as acid as vinegar, he found
marked hypochlorhydria. The hydrochloric acid was present in the proportion of
0-18 instead of 1-74 per 1,000. The results obtained after a test meal were practically
the same.
The diagnosis, therefore, was difficult. The violence of the pain and the frequent
vomiting, with the intolerance of the stomach and the previous acidity, were all in
favour of simple ulcer. On the other hand, the actual hypochlorhydria and progressive
emaciation of the patient, his cachectic look, and the presence of inguinal glands, were
in favour of cancer. Exploration of the epigastric region did not settle the question,
for there was neither tumour nor induration ; moreover, the presence of induration is
of little value, for the tumour may escape notice, and also an ulcer, if surrounded by
indurated tissues, may resemble cancer.
My previous experience, combined with the course of the symptoms, led me to think
that the patient had originally had an ulcer of the stomach on which cancer bad been
grafted.
As it was necessary to relieve, if not to cure, him, I ordered the following mixture,
which I recommend in all cases of painful dyspepsia :
Lime-water . . . . . . . . . . giii.
Cocaine hydrochlorate , . . . . . " S^- i
Morphia hydrochlorate . . . . . . . . gr. J
* " Transformation de I'Ulcere Stomacal en Cancer " {Clinique Medicate de r Hotel-
Dieu, 1897, 13""' leyon).
DISEASES OF THE STOMACH 701
A tablespoonful of milk with a teaspoonful of the mixture was administered every
hour. An ice-bag was placed on the pit of the stomach. Next day the pain in the
stomach had diminished. The milk and lime-water were then increased. In about
a fortnight the pains had almost disappeared and he took daily 3 pints milk without
vomiting. His general condition improved, sleep returned, the loss of flesh was less
marked, the weight even increased a little, so that the patient became hopeful, and I
was asked if the diagnosis of cancer was not wrong, and if it was not necessary to
substitute the diagnosis of simple ulcer.
Although true improvement is rare in cancer of the stomach, it is not imcommon
to see a period of arrest in the course of the disease. Early lavage may cause an im-
provement, which does not suffice to exclude the primary idea of cancer. I did not, there-
fore, modify the diagnosis. The course of events justified my prophecy. After a month
of relative improvement, the pains again became so severe as to demand frequent
injections of morphia. He refused food, and died from cachexia.
This mode of death occurs chiefly in cancer. Ulcer of the stomach kills by peri-
tonitis, haemorrhage, or by secondary peritoneal abscess, while cancer kills slowly and
progressively by cachexia, and probably by its toxine.
The post-mortem examination showed that it was a case of cancer grafted on ulcer.
The lesion comprised a huge ulcer, perpendicular to the long axis of the stomach.
Fig. 46. — Ulcer: Flook fui^a^.u liv the Liver.
u. Indurated flat edge ; c, raised edge showing malignant change.
The ulcer measured 2 and 4 inches it its two diameters. It occupied the lesser curva-
ture and encroached on the anterior and posterior surfaces of the stomach. To the
left it extended to within 2 inches of the oesophagus, and to the right it was bounded by
the pylorus. It was a metatypical epithehoma.
In a general way, ulcer and cancer of the stomach may coexist in different
combinations. The most frequent combination is that seen in my patient —
the cancerous degeneration occurring whilst the ulceration is active. In
other cases the cicatrix of a healed ulcer becomes the starting-point of the
cancerous change ; and in other cases, again, we find cancer and ulcer clearly
di-stinct, which leads to the belief that the cancer has arisen in a former
ulcer. The varieties met with include cylindrical epithelioma, meta-
typical epithelioma, encephaloidal carcinoma, scirrhous and colloid cancer.
Of the different varieties, the metatypical epithelioma seems to be the most
frecjnent.
The transformation of ulcer of the stomach into cancer is comparable
702
TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
with the change seen elsewhere in cicatrices. Chaintre has collected a
number of cases — Poncet : epithelioma in the scar of an amputation stump ;
Molliere and Laroyenne : epithelioma in the cicatrix of an old cautery-
wound in the deltoid region ; Marcin : cancerous change in the scar of a
burn on the lower part of the thigh ; Poncet : epithelioma in a urinary
fistula ; Jansion : epithelioma grafted on old ulcers of the leg, etc.
Epithelioma may appear in a patch of buccal, labial, or lingual leuko-
keratosis, or in the cicatrix of patches of leukokeratosis which have been
operated upon. If, in the present state of our knowledge, and in spite of
its frequency, the epitheliomatous change is not considered as an inevitable
Fig. 47.— Section through (Fig. 46).
Malignant vegetation ; cs, culs-de-sac of the glands ; m, muscularis mucosae ;
s, submucosa ; cm, muscular layers ; a, discs of cancer cells ; /, floor of ulcer ;
2, zone of transition between growth and healthy parts ; e, healthy mucosa ;
p, thickened peritoneum. The lighter half of the figure is healthy tissue.
phase of the disease, it must be held that the change is determined by an
inherent predisposition in the leukokeratosis itself (Le Dentu).
Analysis of the Symptoms.— It has been shown that ulcer of the
stomach undergoes cancerous degeneration in relatively numerous cases,
especially when heredity is concerned. The following problem has, then, to
be solved : How are we to teU whether ulcer of the stomach, which is often
curable, is undergoing malignant change, which is always fatal ?
Several forms may j)resent themselves. In one case the symptoms of
ulcer are so pronounced that diagnosis is impossible, and the presence of
the cancer is unnoticed. A patient with the classical signs of ulcer is taken
ill with perforation of the stomach, acute peritonitis, and fatal haemorrhage.
DISEASES OF THE STOMACH
703
The post-mortem examination reveals an ulcer, and also a malignant growth,
which has not yet had time to leave its mark on the affection.
On the other hand, a patient shows signs of malignant cachexia — loss
of flesh, anorexia, pallor of the sldn, hypochlorhydria, and enlarged glands
in the groin or in the clavicular region, pointing to cancer of the stomach.
What signs will show that the cancer is grafted on an ulcer — or, rather,
what signs will help us to eliminate the hypothesis of cancer, and retain
Fio. 48. — Section theough A (Fig. 47) ; Coil op Canceb Cells.
that of ulcer ? Cancer and ulcer of the stomach do not run the same
course. It is not sufiicient to make a thorough examination of the patient ;
we must also review his past, and study the onset and import of each
symptom. The general rule is : Violent pain in the stomach and profuse
haematemesis are found, not in cancer, but in ulcer. An individual who
has the appearance of cancerous cachexia, and suffers, or has at some period
of his illness suffered, from acute gastric and intrascapular pains, which are
increased by the ingestion and digestion of food, has perhaps a cancer
r^^^x-S^^
:,^
Fig. 49.— Section throigii Coils op Canckr Cells at Z (Fig. 47).
grafted on the ulcer, but he certainly has an ulcer ; indeed, there may be
only an ulcer, and no cancer,
A similar argument is applicaljle to vomiting of blood. Some cancers
of the stomach give rise to haematemesis and mela;na. Tliis cancerous
gastrorrhagia, even thooigh it may bo profuse, is not comparable with the
vomiting of blootl seen in ulcer. An individual who has the apjunirance of
cancerous cachexia, and suffers, or has suffered during some period of his
704 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
illness, from repeated and profuse haematemesis, has perhaps a cancer
grafted on the ulcer. He certainly has an ulcer, and cancer may be absent.
On reading again the cases mentioned by Trousseau in his lectures on
the diagnosis of cancer and ulcer of the stomach, it seems to me that two
of the patients whom he considered to be suffering from cancer had really
an ulcer on which the cancer was grafted.
I believe that, had Trousseau known of the coexistence of cancer and
ulcer, he would perhaps have modified his opinion. One of his patients
in whom the gastric lesions had been present for seven years — a very long
period for cancer — had had the cardinal symptoms of ulcer : acute pains
in the stomach and profuse vomiting of blood. Furthermore, the man,
whose mother had cancer, had, I believe, grafted on his ulcer a cancer,
which formed in the anterior wall of the stomach.
The statement regarding the acute pain and profuse haematemesis
accompanying ulcer, with or without cancerous degeneration, is also appli-
cable to suppurative perigastritis, which has often been set down to cancer.
Feulard and Brechoteau have collected cases of anterior phlegmonous peri-
gastritis, periumbilical phlegmon, and umbilical and gastro-cutaneous fistulae,
resulting from cancer of the stomach. Fournier enunciates the opinion that
suppurative perigastritis, if closely looked into, is attributable, not to cancer,
but to ulcer — or, at least, to an ulcer on which a cancer has been grafted.
" In cancer of the stomach, suppurative anterior perigastritis commonly
assumes the form of periumbilical phlegmon followed by gastro-cutaneous
or gastro-colic fistula, and is a complication which' is almost exclusively
seen when the cancer develops in an ulcer. Everything seems to confirm
Bouveret's opinion that perforation of the stomach is more common when the
cancer is grafted on an ulcer. It is especially when the cancer is developed
in an ulcer that it tends to grow larger and to invade the neighbouring
organs " (Fournier). These assertions seem to be absolutely justified.
It is the ulcer, and not the cancer, which eats away and perforates the
stomach. A cancer that destroys the stomach to such an extent as to
take the liver and tJie pancreas for its walls, or provokes phlegmonous peri-
gastritis, is almost certainly associated with a perforating ulcer. Every
individual, therefore, who has gastric troubles, with cancerous cachexia,
and also suppurative perigastritis, which may or may not involve the
abdominal wall and cause gastro-cutaneous fistula, has perhaps a cancer
grafted on an ulcer, but he certainly has an ulcer. It is possible that there
is only an ulcer, and not a cancer.
It follows, therefore, that it is generally possible to diagnose ulcer, but
that it is at times difficult to diagnose the transformation of ulcer into
cancer ; and yet this diagnosis is of the greatest importance, for the question
of cancer decides the prognosis as to death or recovery. I do not know,
DISEASES OF THE STOMACH 705
however, of any signs or symptoms which in difficult cases will absolutely
confirm the hypothesis of cancer. In many cases a confident diagnosis
of cancer has been proved erroneous by laparotomy. Hypochlorhydria
and anachlorhydria, though signs of some value in the case of cancer, are
here of less importance, for the presence of an ulcer seems sufficient to
increase the amount of hydrochloric acid. The presence of induration in
the epigastric region has by no means the value which might be supposed,
because in non-cancerous ulcers the indurated tissues may feel like a tumour,
and, on the other hand, some cancers of the stomach cannot bo felt, or do
not form tumours. This view also applies to the other signs, including the
transitory improvement which treatment may cause in the progress of the
cancerous cachexia. Finally, the diagnosis is complicated by the fact that
in some patients apparently cancerous cachexia is really the result of ulcer.
This study adds to the gravity of the prognosis in ulcer of the stomach.
An ulcer is serious by reason of the pain and vomiting, which may induce
loss of strength ; it is serious, too, because of such complications as ful-
minant hsemorrhage, perforation, frequency of recurrence, and the possi-
bility of malignant changes.
XIV. GASTRIC POLYADENOMA.
The growth formerly called gastric polypus, or polypous gastritis, is
now more correctly termed an adenoma. And as gastric adenomata are
multiple (we may find from thirty to several hundred), Brissaud has pro-
posed the term gastric polyadenoma. The question of the gastric poly-
adenoma is entirely anatomical, for the a3tiological conditions are still
unknown, and the affection has practically no symptoms.
On opening the stomach, the adenomata are seen chiefly in the pepsino-
genous regions, such as the great cul-de-sac, inferior border, and greater
curvature. They may be as large as a lentil, pea, cherry, or hazel-nut, and
the remarkable thing is the polypi are of the same size. It seems as if it
were a case of an eruption, in which all the elements are of the same age
and at the same stage of growth. At the commencement the growth is
formed by a simple elevation of the mucous membrane ; later it tends to
become pedunculated. The growths are mobile, like the mucous mem-
brane itself, and never extend beyond its deep layers.
In other cases the adenoma assumes the form of mammilla?, which are
disposed in linos, and somewhat resemble the convolutions of the brain.
The adenoma is of glandular origin. It is met with in chronic gastritis,
ulcer of the stomach, and cancer. It may, indeed, be asked whether the
adenoma and the polyadenoma are not intermediate between chronic
gastritis and cancer.
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706 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
XV. CANCER OF THE STOMACH.
Note. — In order to avoid repetition, I would ask the reader to study this section
in conjunction with the two preceding sections. These three sections are complemen-
tary to each other. Pathological anatomy, semeiology, and diagnosis are there treated
from slightly different points of view.
etiology. — In point of frequency, cancer of the stomacli ranks first
with cancer of the breast and uterus. It is hereditary in one-sixth of the
cases, more frequent in men than in women, and usually appears between
fifty and sixty-five years. The growth is generally primary, unlike cancer
of the liver, which is almost always secondary. It has been asserted that
grief, arthritism, and herpetism have some influence on its development,
but these hypotheses do not appear likely. Chronic gastritis, ulcer of the
stomach, and cancer, have such close connections, that the cancer seems
in certain cases to graft itself on the other lesions of the stomach. This
question has been discussed in the preceding section.
Pathological Anatomy.— The most common varieties are the cylin-
drical-celled epithelioma, and the encephaloid, scirrhous, and colloid cancers.
The pylorus and the lesser curvature are usually affected, and the posterior
wall is more frequently invaded than the anterior wall. On opening the
stomach, we must not always expect to find a tumour ; we may find an
ulceration, patch, or ring.
The cancerous tumours form in the interior of the stomach a projection
like a donkey's back, which becomes more marked as it extends in area.
These solitary or multiple tumours are larger, more fungus-like, softer, more
vascular, and richer in milky juice in the encephaloid than in the scirrhous
variety. The mucous membrane which covers them is thickened or
ulcerated. The ulcerations are of variable size ; they may occupy the whole
lesser curvature of the stomach, and surround the pylorus in the form of
a ring. The ulcer in encephaloid cancer is fungating, with everted edges,
and made up of a rose-coloured tissue, which is soft and rich in milky juice.
In certain cases the floor of the ulcer is bleeding and fungous, or else, if
the whole cancerous growth is deeply destroyed, the tunica muscularis
appears denuded, and in part destroyed. There may even be a perforation.
These cases resemble at first sight the simple ulcer, and caused confusion
prior to the researches of Cruveilhier. Cancer en cuirasse spreads in the
thickness of the coats of the stomach, without forming a tumour. The
annular cancer occupies the pylorus or the cardiac end ; in the former case
it has little tendency to spread to the intestine, but is often accompanied by
dilatation of the stomach ; in the latter case it almost always attacks the
oesophagus, and as a rule causes contraction of the stomach. The pylorus is
by far the most common seat of cancer, and then come the lesser curvature,
the cardiac end, the anterior and posterior surfaces.
DISEASES OF THE STOMACH 707
Perforation of the stomach, acute peritonitis, adhesions, local peritonitis,
fistulae, and ulceration of the vessels, are far less common in cancer than
simple ulcer. Cancer readily spreads from the stomach to the neighbouring
organs, the dissemination taking jjlace through the subserous tissue, blood-
vessels, or lymphatics. The peritoneum, the glands in the gastro-hepatic
omentum, great omentum, and mesentery, the liver (according to Brinton,
in one-fourth of the cases), lungs, kidneys, sternum, and vertebrae, may be
the seat of secondary growths. In some cases adhesions are formed between
the stomach and the abdominal wall, and a phlegmon develops in the
umbilical region. The abscess often communicates with the cavity of the
stomach and with the exterior by means of an umbilical fistula. In some
cases, however, we find that the abscess communicates only with the
exterior (cutaneous fistula). It is a very rare complication in cancer of
the stomach, and Feulard has only been able to collect fourteen cases.
Cancer of the stomach commences in the submucous tissue and in the
glandular layer. The glands undergo a lengthening, which is due to the
growth of the connective tissue between them. The muscular coat of the
stomach is always hypertrophied in the neighbourhood of the cancer, and
the hypertrophy may become general. The hypertrophied muscular coat
owes its size to the thick lamellae of connective tissue that divide the
muscular bundles. These changes in. the glands and muscular tissue are not
peculiar to cancer, but are also met with in chronic gastritis.
Symptoms. — Cancer of the stomach begins, as a rule, with slight and
intermittent dyspepsia ; true anorexia is seen rather at a more advanced
stage. It commences in some cases with persistent pains in the epigastric
region, so that in the first period, which may last for months, it is difficult
to say whether the case is one of painful dyspepsia or early cancer. If the
dyspepsia is, however, obstinate, or accompanied by rapid loss of flesh and
pallor of the skin, or if it supervenes in an old person, especially one born
of cancerous stock, the prognosis is serious, even before the appearance of
other symptoms.
Pain, either early or late, is seldom absent in cancer of the stomach,
but it is less severe than in simple ulcer, and has not a predilection for
the xiphoid and spinal regions. It is more diffuse, and tends to radiate
towards the hypochondria. Vomiting appears in some cases from the first,
together with the other dyspeptic troubles. It may be present throughout
the entire disease, but at other times it shows itself only in the last stage,
or may bo completely absent. The vomited matter is of all kinds : it may
be mucous, almost watery, or, very rarely, bilious, and may be rejected in
the morning, whilst fasting, or in the daytime. It may consist of food-
stuffs. The vomiting follows soon after the ingestion of food if the cancer
is at the cardia, but later if the growth is at the pylorus. The vomit often
45—2
708 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
contains fragments of food and undigested meat, because the hydrochloric
acid is deficient both in quantity and in quality. There is but little
combined hydrochloric acid, and no free acid. Butyric fermentation
gives an odour of rancid butter to the vomit, while putrid fermen-
tation, due to insufficient digestion of the proteids, gives an odour of
putrefaction.
Vomiting of blood (hsematemesis) is of great importance, being fre-
quent (42 per cent., according to Brinton), and showing itself under divers
aspects. Rejection of pure blood is less common than in simple ulcer, and
the vomited matter is generally blackish, like coffee-grounds or soot diluted
with water. The colour results from the contact of the blood with the
acids of the stomach and with the food-stuffs. In some cases the hsema-
temesis is so slight that it may pass unnoticed unless the vomit is carefully
examined. If the blood passes into the intestine, it is voided in the stools
in the form of meleena. In a fair number of cases haemorrhage from the
stomach is revealed by melsena without ha^matemesis. Gastrorrhagia is
usually a late symptom ; it is due to the ulceration and softening which
invades the vessels of the cancerous mass. " The degeneration and destruc-
tion are often complicated by the presence of excrescences and of fungoid
growths, which increase still more the quantity of blood su23plied." More
rarely the haemorrhage is caused by ulceration of large vessels in the walls
of the stomach.
In addition to late gastrorrhagia, we sometimes see early haemorrhage,
which supervenes during good health " as the first symptom of a malady
which will certainly carry the individual to his grave " (Trousseau). I
think that these early and profuse attacks of gastrorrhagia are rather the
result of an iilcer on which cancer has been grafted.
At some period of its development (80 per cent., according to Brinton)
cancer of the stomach forms a tumour, which is more or less easily dis-
cerned, according to its situation. The growth is easy to feel when it
occupies the anterior surface, the greater curvature, and the pylorus, but
difficult when it is situated at the cardia, or on the posterior surface and
lesser curvature. Tumours of the greater curvature are seated to the left
of the median line, while a growth of the pylorus is felt to the right, near
the umbilicus. The stomach is sometimes so dilated and drawn down that
the tumour is situated at or below the umbilicus.
In some cases the cancer infiltrates the coats of the stomach without
forming a tumour (cancer en cuirasse), and there is then a feeling of diffuse
induration. Sometimes, too, neither induration nor tumour can be felt.
The exploration of the abdomen for a tumour may be rendered difficult by
the contraction of the recti muscles, which may hide a tumour lying beneath,
or cause a phantom tumour. For this reason it is necessary to relax the
DISEASES OF THE STOMACH 709
muscles, and the patient must flex the thighs and breathe with the mouth
wide open.
The cancerous tumour, although but little painful to the touch, is never-
theless more sensitive than the neighbouring parts. When the growth
constricts the pyloric orifice, it causes dilatation Of the stomach and
exaggerated resonance in the epigastric region.
The tumour may vary in position, according as the stomach is full or
empty. On abdominal palpation the tumour most often appears mobile,
but this apparent mobility cannot be relied upon, for cancer of the posterior
surface may be adherent to the pancreas, and a growth in the anterior
surface may be fixed to the abdominal wall. Cancer of the pylorus often
adheres to the pancreas, gall-bladder, duodenum, small omentum, liver, or
glands. In 300 cases of laparotomy for cancer of the stomach, the growth,
when pyloric, was free from adhesions in only fourteen cases. When, there-
fore, a cancer of the stomach is explored and thought to be mobile, the
mass which moves includes both the cancer and its adhesions. It is im-
portant to remember these facts from the point of view of operation.
Enlarged glands are more common in cancer of the stomach than in cancer
of other viscera, not only in the subclavicular triangle, but also in the groin
and axilla. The glands are hard, painless, and movable.
The general symptoms, which are not pronounced at the commence
ment of the disease, become characteristic. Pallor of the skin is followed
by a straw-coloured tint ; the patient shows a dislike for food ; the strength
fails, and diarrhoea is frequent. Fever is often seen ; the loss of flesh
becomes extreme ; the voice grows weak ; the skin becomes dry and cracks,
and the stage of cachexia appears. During this stage the intellectual
faculties remain intact, and the patient is conscious of his decay. CEdema
and dropsy appear ; the feet and legs become infiltrated, and the infiltration
reaches the thighs, scrotum, and sometimes the hands and face, thougli
there is, as a rule, no trace of albumin in the urine. This general oedema
must not be confounded witli tlic local and sometimes early oedema due to
venous thrombosis (phlegmasia alba dolens). Trousseau was the first to
note the relation between obliterating phlebitis and cancer. Wo shall
refer to tliis point under Diagnosis.
Complications.— Certain complications, though frequent in ulcer, are
exceedingly rare in cancer. We find fatal haimorrhages are exceptional,
whilst they are relatively frequent in ulcer. Perforation of the stomach
and supcracute peritonitis are practically unknown in cancer, whilst they are
far from being rare in ulcer. Cancer, like ulcer, may cause purulent and
gangrenous fistuhc. Adhesions are formed in the region of a cancerous
ulceration, which sometimes results in perforation and local peritonitis.
The peritoneal fistula thus formed may open into the colon (ga.stro-colio
710 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
fistula), or may involve the umbilical region, as I have previously
remarked.
Amongst the complications secondary deposits in other organs must be
noted. Sometimes they result from direct propagation, and it is through
adhesions that the cancer attacks the liver, glands, spleen, pancreas, intes-
tine, and abdominal wall. Sometimes there is general cancerous infiltration
in the true sense of the word, by means of the lymphatics or bloodvessels.
Diagnosis. — I have just described the usual course of cancer of the
stomach, with its insidious onset, accompanied by dyspeptic troubles,
gradual wasting, vomiting, heematemesis, and anorexia, as well as the
appearance of the tumour and the cachectic stage. Cancer of the stomach,
however, does not always run such a regular course. In one case the usual
signs are absent, and the disease is latent. We find neither vomiting,
hsematemesis, nor tumour. The patient has malignant cachexia, but the
seat of the lesion is undecided. Or, again, we may find a tumour, but no
symptoms of cancer. In another case, while the cancer of the stomach
is at an early stage of its evolution, secondary deposits in the liver attract
attention, and carry off the patient, masking the lesion in the stomach.
In some cases the patient has anorexia, haematemesis, cachexia, and epi-
gastric tumour, so that the diagnosis points to cancer of the stomach ; but
in a few months recovery gives the lie to the diagnosis. In the preceding
section I have dwelt on this point in diagnosis at some length.
The following summary shows the errors which may occur in regard to
cancer of the stomach :
Vomiting, hsematemesis, tumour, and cachexia are the classical signs
of cancer of the stomach ; but they may be due to extensive ulcers, with
thick, indurated edges. This fact holds good both in simple (Trousseau's
and Rommelaere's cases) and in tubercular ulcers (Brechemin's case).*
The above signs, though classical of cancer, may exist in chronic
gastritis, with thickening of the walls (hypertrophic submucous sclerosis),
as in a remarkable case reported by Trousseau, where chronic gastritis was
mistaken for cancer.
Vomiting, hsematemesis, and cachexia, may exist in dilatation of the
stomach, and cause an erroneous belief in the existence of cancer (Dujardin-
Beaumetz).
Vomiting, haematemesis, epigastric tumour, and cachexia, may exist
when the stomach is healthy. In such a case the tumour is formed by a
cancer of the omentum, pancreas, or mesenteric glands, or by a peritoneal
thickening (Leube). The cachexia is due to cancer in one of the above-
* Whilst I was house-physician to Potain, one of his patients had haemate-
mesis, progressive cachexia, and a tumour in the epigastric region. The diagnosis
pointed to cancer of the stomach. At the post-mortem examination we found cancer in
the glands. He had been operated on two years previously for cancer of the left testicle.
DISEASES OF THE STOMACH 711
mentioned regions, and the haematemesis proceeds from the stasis in the
gastric circulation, caused by compression of the gastric veins.
Doubt may also exist in certain periumbilical phlegmons, as mentioned
under the pathological anatomy. In the case quoted* the phlegmon was
evident, when the symptoms of cancer were not appreciable.
This list proves how difficult — I might almost say impossible — it is
in some cases to diagnose cancer of the stomach. Let us consider the signs
of cancer of the stomach one by one, and see what is their respective value
in diagnosis.
Acute epigastric pain, which pierces the patient through and through
(xiphoid and spinal points), and comes on in paroxysms after meals or during
digestion is caused by ulcer of the stomach. It may also be seen in cases
of acid dyspepsia. The pain is less common in cancer ; it is also less acute,
more diffuse, and appears later.
Vomiting of bright or dark blood, with or without melaena, after a longer
or shorter period of gastralgia, is caused rather by ulcer than by cancer ;
but haematemesis is of all the symptoms the most uncertain in diagnosis.
Haematemesis in cancer is, it is true, less common and less profuse, and the
blood is more mixed with food, and more of a " coffee-ground colour "
than in ulcer ; but these signs are inconstant, and in ulcer, gastritis, or
dilatation of the stomach, attacks of haematemesis may supervene, and be
exactly alike in character.
If we find epigastric swelling or induration in a patient who has vomiting,
haematemesis, loss of flesh, and cachexia, the tumour is, as a rule, considered
the most important point in the diagnosis of cancer. And yet I do not
hesitate to say that the tumour most often causes the error in diagnosis.
As long as the patient, though suffering from other symptoms, has no
tumour, we think of ulcer ; when the tumour appears, cancer is diagnosed.
The following cases are a sufficient proof :
In 1888 Kolatschewsky performed pylorectoray on a boy with a hard, movable
tumour of the pylorus, which was as large as an apple, and was looked upon as can-
cerous. The operation revealed a healed gastro -duodenal ulcer, surrounded by glands.
The patient recovered. Billroth diagnosed cancer of the pylorus, and performed
pylorectomy. Salzer, who reported the case to the Medical Society of Vienna, in
December, 1887, proved that it was a case of ulcer of the stomach. Orthmann diag-
nosed cancer of the pylorus in a woman forty years of age. He performed pylorectomy
on May 17, 1889. The operation revealed a cicatrized ulcer, with indurated edges.
In Juno, 1884, Southa operated for cancer on a patient, who presented a hard and
mobile tumoxir in the neigh bourliood of the umbilicus, with all the symptoms of cancer.
The patient succumlwd, and a fibrous constriction of the pylorus Mas found, but not
a trace of cancer.
In one of Chaput's cases the patient showed symptoms wliicli miglii liave been
due to ulcer or cancer of the stomach. Brissaud thought, from the epigastric tumour,
Dieulafoy, " Diagnostic du Cancer do I'Estomac," Sem. Med., January 4, 1888.
712 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
that it was a case of cancer, and the patient was operated upon. It was then found
that the tumour was due to an abscess of the pancreas, following a perforating ulcer
of the stomach.
A woman came under tlie care of Terrier for gastric trouble, which presented the
complete picture of cancer of the stomach, with epigastric tumour. Terrier performed
laparotomy, and found adhesions between the stomach, liver, and anterior wall of
the abdomen, but not cancer. These adhesions (probably due to ulcer of the stomach)
were broken down, and the patient recovered. On this point Terrier states that
Landerer has published three cases of laparotomy for cancer of the stomach. The opera-
tion showed that the tumours were due, not to cancer, but to adhesions, the excision
of which brought about a cure. Doyen has reported several cases in which an ulcer
with adhesions has been taken for a cancerous tumour.
This series of cases shows, I think, that the presence of an epigastric
tumour is often a cause of error in diagnosis.
Progressive cachexia, with loss of appetite, straw-coloured complexion,
and oedema of the legs, is caused by cancer of the stomach. Similar symp-
toms, however, may be present with ulcer, gastritis, and dilatation of the
stomach, with or without spasmodic contraction of the pylorus, in which
case the cachexia is caused by the haematemesis and vomiting of food, with
consequent malnutrition.
Phlebitis obliterans is a valuable sign noticed by Trousseau. " When
you are in doul)t between chronic gastritis, simple ulcer, or carcinoma of
the stomach, phlegmasia alba dolens of the leg or arm is a positive indica-
tion in favour of cancer." Trousseau later proved this fact in his own case ;
indeed, the appearance of phlegmasia in the leg led my venerated master
to afhrm the existence of cancer of the stomach, from which he died eight
months later. Although phlegmasia has been found by Bouchard in
dilatation of the stomach, it remains, none the less, one of the most valuable
signs of distinction between cancer and ulcer.
Rommelaere believed that it was possible to base a diagnosis of cancer
on the diminution of the urea. The amount of urea is lowered in cancer,
but as similar diminution exists in many disorders of nutrition, this sign
loses its value.
Enlarged glands above the clavicle are common in abdominal cancer,
and notably in cancer of the stomach. They are found on the left side
five times as often as on the right side. Whatever explanation is given
for this distant metastasis of the primary lesion, it is none the less true that
this sign is of value. In a doubtful case, however, it does not prove the
existence of cancer of the stomach, because enlargement of these glands
has been found in ulcer of the stomach.
It has been suggested that examination of the chyme, taken during
digestion, might furnish useful information ; and at the present time this
analysis is commonly made, but it has not led to any fixed results.
The amount of hydrochloric acid is of great value in diagnosis. It is
DISEASES OF THE STOMACH 713
present normally in the gastric juice in the proportion of r74 per 1,000,
but it is absent when the stomach is at rest. The other acids of the gastric
juice, and amongst them lactic acid, are formed from the food-stuffs. Regard-
ing their forniation, Ewald divides the process of digestion into three stages :
In the first stage, which lasts from ten to thirty minutes, lactic acid is
found in the stomach ; in the second stage, free hydrochloric acid exists
side by side with the lactic acid ; but in the third stage, which commences half
or three-quarters of an hour after the beginning of digestion, the lactic
acid has generally disappeared, and hydrochloric acid alone is found. The
hydrochloric acid must therefore be looked for during this stage.
The method requires care. The patient is first given a test meal,
consisting of two small rolls and a cup of tea, without sugar or milk, taken
when the stomach is empty. An hour or an hour and a quarter later the
chyme is withdrawn by means of Debove's tube, or the siphon-tube may
be first filled with a little water, and the hydrochloric acid is tested for in
the chyme thus withdrawn. The acid may be detected by various reagents,
such as methyl- violet or Congo red, which changes to a blue colour. Lepine
prefers vert brilliant.* This stain, diluted with water, loses its greenish
colour and becomes blue. If 2 or 3 drops of a concentrated solution of
vert brilliant be mixed with a few centimetres of filtered chyme containing
hydrochloric acid, the mixture changes from blue to green, if the proportion
of hydrochloric acid be from 0"18 to 0'19 per 1,000. The mixture becomes
yellow, if the proportion of hydrochloric acid be from 0"19 to 1 per 1,000.
This reaction is important, because lactic acid has practically no action on
vert brilliant.
To have its full value, the test should be followed by a quantitative
estimation of the free hydrochloric acid and other elements (acids of fer-
mentation, combined chlorine), as well as of the pej)sin and rennet ferment.
From our ])resent point of view, hypersecretion of the hydrochloric
acid, which may amount to 3 and -lo per 1,000, instead of TT, occurs in
simple ulcer, in the gastric crises of ataxia, and in certain cases of hyperchlor-
hydric dyspepsia. It is never seen in cancer of the stomach, unless a cancer
is grafted on an ulcer. Diminution or disappearance of the hydrochloric
acid has been found in amyloid degeneration of the vessels of the gastric
mucosa, chlorosis, most cachectic conditions, and alcoholic gastritis ; but it
is in cancer of the stomach that the disappearance of hydrochloric acid
is almost the rule. This disappearance is ]»r()bably due to cilaIlg(^s in the
gastric juice, caused by the cancerous secretion (Riogel's ex[)erimeuts).
Those facts do not show that the absence of hydrochloric acid excludes
cancer al)solutely, for the acid has been found in cancer. Neverthe-
less, the numerous cases in which the absence of hydrochloric acid has
* \'(it l)rilliant is prohiihly idonticiil witli omoralil, smaragd or malachite greon.
714 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
prevented errors in diagnosis prove that the estimation of hydrochloric
acid is a valuable method. To differentiate between the anachlorhydria
of cancer and that of chronic gastritis it is important to test for the ferments.
Total disappearance of the pepsin and rennin point rather to chronic gas-
tritis ; the disappearance of the pepsin alone would be in favour of cancer.
Examination of the blood and diminution in the colour index in
cancerous patients have not yet given definite results.
I have tried to show in this detailed and critical survey the extreme
difficulty at times experienced in making a diagnosis of cancer of the stomach,
and I cannot dismiss the question without mentioning dyspepsia in neuras-
thenic patients. We have all seen neurasthenic patients who suffer from dys-
pepsia or gastralgia, with or without hyperchlorhydria or hypochlorhydria.
They lose their appetite, vomit, grow thin, and are firmly convinced that
they have cancer of the stomach. Careful examination of the neurasthenic
symptoms will eliminate the idea of cancer.
The diagnosis of the situation of the cancer must now occupy our
attention. Cancer of the cardiac orifice is generally confounded with cancer
of the oesophagus, because the growth is rarely limited to the cardiac orifice.
The food is arrested at the constriction, and is rejected soon after ingestion.
Exploration with the bougie shows the seat and extent of the constriction.
Cancers of the cardiac orifice and of the lesser curvature are very difficult to
palpate. Cancer of the pylorus often causes stricture and secondary dilata-
tion of the stomach. The vomiting comes on some time after meals ; the
loss of flesh is rapid, and the cachexia appears early. The tumour, which
can be felt, remains fixed in the same region. Cancers of the curvatures
and surfaces of the stomach are less rapid in their progress than those of
the orifices, because they do not affect the passage of food. Vomiting is
not so common, loss of flesh occurs late, and cachexia is slow to appear.
Cancer of the greater curvature is remarkable for its mobility, and alters its
position according as the stomach is full or empty. If the stomach is much
distended, the tumour may occupy the most varied positions in the abdomen.
Duration. — Cancer of the stomach has an average duration of some
twelve to eighteen months, but it may last even longer if it does not
involve the orifices, and allows the passage of food. In young subjects —
under thirty years of age — its course is usually rapid. Death is the ter-
mination of cancer, and is due to cachexia, repeated hsematemesis, or
secondary growths. Perforation of the stomach and peritonitis, which are
relatively frequent in ulcer, are exceptional in cancer.
Treatment. — We now come to the treatment. The early dyspepsia must
be treated with alkalis, lime-water, Vichy water, and prepared chalk. Milk
diet, associated with easily digested food, is indicated in the early stages.
Vanilla and coffee ices, or ices containing 2 ounces of meat- juice, agree well.
DISEASES OF THE STOMACH 715
The vomiting and pain may be checked by small doses of morphia and cocaine
in solution. H the pain does not }aeld, it must be quieted with injections
of morphia. Haemorrhage is treated with astringents, perchloride of iron,
and iced drinks. Careful lavage is of service by preventing decomposition,
and favouring the tolerance of the organ for food. The stomach is washed
out every morning with luke-warm water, to which bicarbonate of soda has
been added. AVhen the fluids in the stomach undergo decomposition, a
solution of choral (5 to 10 parts per 1,000) may be employed. If the stomach
perform its functions badly, and if anorexia or a tendency to vomiting be
present, meat-powders, mixed with milk or chocolate, may be given. This
latter operation may be performed by means of a tube, shorter than the
one used for lavage, because there is no need for it to pass into the
stomach. When feeding by the stomach becomes impossible, either from
intolerance or from constriction of the cardiac or pyloric orifice, nutrient
enemata should be given. One glass of milk, with the yolk of an egg,
2 spoonfuls of liquid peptone, 5 drops of laudanum, and 15 grains of bicar-
bonate of soda (Dujardin-Beaumetz), make an excellent formula.
The surgical treatment of cancer of the stomach gives fairly satisfactory
results. It consists in performing partial or entire resection of the organ.
The object of gastro-enterostomy is to unite a portion of the posterior
surface of the stomach near the pylorus to the first part of the jejunum.
In order to be efficacious, surgical treatment must be early.
The surgical treatment varies according to the case. If the lesion is
not very extensive, and especially if it occupies the pylorus, and has not
invaded the neighbouring organs, pylorectomy should be performed. The
earlier the operation is done, the better the chance of success. Statistics
show that many patients have enjoyed excellent health for several years
after operation : Wolfler's cases, four, five, and seven years ; Lobker's
cases, five and seven years ; Hahn's cases, four and seven years. These
facts are encouraging, and prove that excellent results may follow operative
measures in cancer of the stomach.
When resection is not possible, we must be content with gastro-enter-
ostomy (Roux's method). The jejunum is cut through, about 3 inches from
the duodeno- jejunal angle; the lower end is joined to the posterior surface
of the stomach through an opening in the transverse mesocolon ; and the
upper end of the cut jejunum is then joined to the intestinal loop about
2 inches below the anastomosis with the stomach. By this means the food
passes from the stomach into the jejunum, and, on the other hand, the
bile and pancreatic juice pass from the duodenum into the jejunum. There
is no risk of a vicious circle. The peptic ulcer of the jejunum which some-
times follows in gastro-entero.stomy has never been seen in gastro-enter-
ostomy for cancer of the stomach.
716 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
XVI. SYPHILIS OF THE STOMACH.
The following case from my clinical lectures* is typical :
A man had suffered for eighteen months with the classical signs of gastric ulcer.
He complained of pains in the epigastrium and spine, which became more severe after
meals, and were frequently followed by vomiting of food. He was thought to be suffer-
ing from ulcus simplex, and strict milk diet was prescribed. Milk, kephir, ice, and
morphia were given, while cupping and the actual cautery were applied to the epigas-
trium. A few weeks afterwards the patient, as he did not improve, left the hospital.
The pain, however, being just as bad, he soon sought further advice. The symptoms
had not changed. He suffered from the same epigastric and spinal pains, gastric
intolerance, and vomiting of food. He was again treated for ulcus simplex with milk
diet, alkalis, bicarbonate of soda, counter - irritants, and frequent cuppings to the
epigastric region and to the back. After treatment extending over a period of three
months, he left the hospital without appreciable improvement, but soon came back,
because the gastric pain was more severe, and the vomiting of food was frequent. One
night he had a profuse hasmatemesis, the clots being so large that he pulled them out
of his mouth with his fingers.
During the eight months that he was in hospital, he had most careful treatment.
Milk diet and alkalis were again tried, but as this regime did not give the expected
results, a diet composed partly of eggs and partly of meat-powder was prescribed.
The stomach was washed out every day for three months, and counter-irritation was
applied in various forms, including dry- and wet-cuppings, tincture of iodine, five blisters,
and many appUcations of actual cautery. As the disease was so stubborn, the question
of neurosis was raised, although the patient did not show a single sign of hysteria.
Douches, medicated baths, and electrical treatment were also prescribed, but all the
remedies made no difference.
He left the hospital, but soon came back under another physician in the annex of
the Hotel-Dieu. He still showed all the symptoms of ulcus simplex, and a second
haematemesis, more profuse than the first, occurred. He wasted, suffered continually,
and got no sleep. As the means hitherto employed had failed, and the ulcer was so
rebellious to treatment, he was advised to submit to surgical treatment.
He now came under my care. I found him squatting on his bed, stupefied by pain,
his eye wan and his expression dull. The symptoms left no doubt as to the diagnosis
of ulcus simplex. The pain was clearly marked at the xiphoid and spinal points. He said
that this pain stabbed him through and through, and deprived him of rest. It was
most severe after meals, and came on even after drinking a Uttle milk. The stomach
was so intolerant that milk and food were rejected half an hour later. I could find no
dilatation, but the pit of the stomach was very tender on pressure, and the patient
obtained sUght relief only when lying on his right side. During my examination I
noticed on the legs some scars suggestive of syphihdes. He stated that he had had
syphilis three years previously. He was at that time in the St. Louis Hospital, under
Fournier, for syphilides of the skin, mucosae, scrotum, and mouth, and ulcerated
syphihdes of the legs. He remained only a fortnight under Fournier, and it was ten
months after these syphilitic lesions that the fii'st symptoms of gastric ulcer appeared.
It was therefore reasonable to suppose that the gastric symptoms were of a syphihtic
nature. This hypothesis, already put forward by Kahn, Avas the more hkely as
the milk diet and other measures which generally improve or cure ulcus simplex, had
given in this case no result after a year and a half.
Before prescribing specific treatment, I wished to satisfy myself as to the condition
* " Syphilis de I'Estomac " {Clinique Medicate de V Hotel-Dieu, 1898, 4 ^ Lecon).
DISEASES OF THE STOMACH 717
of the patient. I therefore ordered milk diet, but no medicine. The pains in the stomach
and the vomiting continued as before, and the milk was vomited in a liquid state or
in clots. I then ordered a daily injection of biniodide of mercury. The symptoms
persisted for five days, but after the sixth injection the pains diminished ; after about
a dozen injections the pain and the vomiting disappeared. The patient slept, although
his insomnia had been of such long duration. His features changed from day to day.
To prove how much better he felt, he hit his stomach and turned in his bed without
feeling the least pain. He was now able to take 4 or 5 pints of milk without vomiting,
and his health was much better than it had been for the past eighteen months.
A few days later I added iodide of potassium to the mercurial injections. The
pain in the stomach and the vomiting reappeared no more. The patient could not
satisfy his hunger, and besides his usual four meals, he asked for extra rations. He
put on flesh so quickly that he gained 10 pounds in five weeks. His recovery was
complete.
This therapeutic success is attributable, in my opinion, to the specific treatment
adopted. For a year and a half milk and kephir had been administered without result ;
alkalis in large doses had been given in vain, and daily lavage of the stomach for three
months at a stretch had done no good. Counter-irritants had been employed, douches
had been used, and a prolonged course of baths had been tried, as well as electrical
treatment, without changing the condition of the patient. The violent pain, insomnia,
vomiting, hsematemesis, and the loss of flesh resisted every measure employed ; surgical
intervention seemed to be the only hope, and was all but put into execution. Mercurial
injections, however, changed the situation completely, and brought about what a year
and a half's treatment for the so-called ulcus simplex was unable to accomplish. Under
the influence of the specific treatment the improvement was rapid, and the person most
astonished was the patient. In such a case it is probable that the process of repair in
the lesion is similar to that which we can observe in ulcerating gummata which are
accessible to view.
I had the opportunity of observing a similar case at the Hotel-Dieu :*
A man was seized one day with profuse haematemesis without any apparent reason.
Ho went to bed and took ergotin, but on the following day he had several attacks
of hsematemesis, one after the other. He reckoned the total loss of blood to be about
3 pints. He then came into the Hotel-Dieu. He had had syphihs ; the testes had
been involved, and he had at the time suppurating gummata on his neck. All these
complications gave way to mercurial treatment. They returned and ceased anew with
such regularity that the same origin was evident in each one.
Furthermore, syphilis of the stomach is not so rare as was formerly
believed, as the following cases prove :
Anatomical Cases. — Gailliard borrows the following case from
Murchison :
A man who had contracted syphilis was seized five years later with attacks of nausea,
profuse haematemesis, and melaena. Ho died, and the liver was cirrhotic and nodular.
An ulcer was found in the stomach, and in the centre of the ulcer an artery had been
opened.
Cornil has recorded the following case :
A woman who had pain in the stomach and wa.s unable to digest food, died from
pulmonary complications. Post mortem, gummata were found in the stomach and liver.
Journal de Medecine et de Chirurgie Pratiques, December 10, 1902.
718 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Along the lesser curvature and in the neighbourhood of the pylorus several dark tumours
stood out in relief under the mucous membrane, which was thinned and adlierent.
The gummata were situated in the glandular layer of the mucous membrane.
In Klebs's case it was a question of syphilitic ulceration of the stomach
in a man who had syphilitic ulcers of the skin and throat, with syphilomata
of the tongue, liver, and intestine. A rounded ulceration, as large as a
shilling, was seen on the mucosa, and the other layers of the wall of the
stomach were thickened. The base and edges of the ulcer had a gummatous
structure.
Weichselbaum's case :
A man, aged twenty-five, died of facial erysipelas. He had syphihtic lesions
of the skull, pharynx, nose, larynx, and liver. The stomach showed a radiating
white cicatrix and two ulcers, the base of which wa,? formed by a cicatricial tissue,
evidently of gummatous origin.
Birch- Hirschf eld has reported three cases of syphilis of the stomach :
(1) A new-born child h!i.d cutaneous syphilides and gummatous nodules in the Uver
and lungs, as well as a gummatous patch at the pylorus. (2) A woman, forty-five
years of age, died, after suffering for four years from gastric trouble. The post-mortem
examination revealed on the left lobe of the liver a gumma of the size of an apple, and
on the right anterior wall of the stomach, in the pyloric region, a slightly ulcerated
gummatous patch. (3) In a man gummatous patches were found in the intestines,
the oesophagus, and the stomach.
Wagner has reported the case of a man of fifty-eight, in whom at the
autopsy syphilitic lesions of the larynx and of the stomach were found.
Chiari systematically examined the stomach in 243 cases of syphilis,.
In 145 cases the disease was hereditary, and in 98 cases it was acquired.
He often noticed such lesions of the stomach as ecchymoses, haemorrhagic
erosions, cicatrices of ulcers, and ulcers in active progress. An ulcer was
found in a man of forty-six years of age who had had syphilis, and died of
an attack of hsematemesis. The coronary artery was eroded by an ulcer.
Frankel has reported a very interesting case :
A man who had had syphilis was attacked by a gummatous ulceration, which per-
forated the stomach and caused fatal peritonitis. This case proves that syphilitic
ulceration can produce peritonitis. At the post-mortem examination gummata were
found in the stomach and intestines.
Clinical Cases. — Two clear cases of syphilis of the stomach are found in
Andral's " Clinical Medicine " :
Case 1. — A woman was taken ill with acute gastric symptoms ; the pain and vomiting
were incessant, and, in spite of all treatment, the disease made rapid progress. Andral
almost gave up hope, but one day the patient complained of diiiiculty in swallowing.
He discovered on the jiosterior wall of the pharynx an ulcer which appeared to be
syphilitic. It was, therefore, a question whether the affection of the stomach which
was killing the patient was not due to syphilis. Andral ordered mercury, and im-
provement was soon manifest. He then prescribed mercurial inunctions. " After the
DISEASES OF THE STOMACH 719
twelfth rubbing the condition of the patient was no longer recognizable." Recovery
was rapidly effected. It is evident that this was a case of syphiUtic lesions of the
stomach.
Case 2. — A patient had had the following syjjhilitic troubles : j^eriosteal nodes,
osteoskopic pains, and cutaneous pustules. He was subsequently taken ill with symp-
toms of phthisis and gastritis, frequent cough, hoarseness, pain in the pharynx, short
and hurried breathing, anorexia, pain in the epigastrium, and frequent vomiting.
SyphiUtic periostitis of the tibia supervened, and it was a question whether the other
complications were npt also syphiUtic. Mercurial inunction was i^rescribed, and
recovery followed.
In this case, too, we must admit the syphilitic nature of the lesions in the stomach,
for the gastritis and vomiting yielded to mercurial treatment.
Fournier communicated to the Academie the following cases, of which
I give a resume :
Some thirty years ago I attended a beautiful girl suffering from syphilitic rupia
of the back. She recovered rapidly. Ten years afterwards she sent for me, and I
found her moribund. By her side was a basin full of blood. For the past three or
four months she liad been vomiting blood, in spite of all the usual remedies. I pre-
scribed iodide of potassium. A dramatic change took place and recovery was rapid.
Six or seven years after this a veritable spectre came into my consulting-room. It
was this woman. She had just come from Italy, where she had been seized Avith fresli
attacks of hajmatemesis. She asked for iodide of potassium, which the doctors decUned
to administer. I prescribed it, and witnessed a resm-rection.
Fournier's second case is similai to the first :
A Russian suffering from severe syphiUs was taken ill with vomiting of blood,
which was cured by specific treatment. He left off treatment, and then suffered from
rupia and haematomesis, which yielded to iodide of potassium.
The following is a resume of Dubuc's case, in which syphilis of the stomach
simulated cancer :
A man contracted a hard chancre, followed by roseola and tubercular syphilides.
Ten years later Dubuc noticed in the epigastric region an indurated projection of the
size of a pigeon's egg. There was not the slightest doubt tliat the tumour was in the
wall of the stomach. He grew thinner, digestion was retarded, and there was dull
pain in the affected region. It was difficult not to think of the possibility of cancer,
in con.sequencc, however, of the antecedent syphiUs, treatment with mercury and
iodide was prescribed and brought about recovery.
General Considerations. — Anatomically, the syphilitic lesions of the
.stomach are : erosions, ccchymoses, gummata, gummatous infiltration and
ulceration, and cicatrices. Clinically, these lesions show themselves by
symptoms which, according to their nature and grouping, resemble dys-
pepsia, gastralgia, ulcer, and cancer of the stomach. One patient has
dyspepsia, and is sent to Vichy, Pouges, or Capvern, when the proper
treatment is injection of biniodide of mercury.
Another patient, suffering from less of ajipc^tite, retching, vomiting of
mucus, and gastric intolerance, is wrongly looked upon as alcoholic, in
720 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
spite of every assurance that he has always been temperate. Sometimes,
as in one of my cases, there is a group of symptoms which so clearly
counterfeits ulcus simplex as to cause mistakes. Sharp pains in the stomach,
which is worse during the process of digestion, localization of pain to the
xiphoid and spinal points, intolerance of the stomach, vomiting of food,
and hsematemesis are present. Moreover, hsematemesis is not uncommon
in syphilis of the stomach. My patient had two severe attacks of hsema-
temesis, and Fournier's patients had similar attacks, which yielded to specific
treatment.
In some cases the lesion assumes the mask of exulceratio simplex.
The patient is seized with fulminating hsematemesis, and dies without having
shown gastric symptoms. At the post-mortem examination an arteriole
is found open in the exulceration (Murchison).
Finally, the patient suffers from gastric troubles, with loss of flesh, and
has also an epigastric tumour, which is thought to be cancerous. As the
patient is syphilitic, specific treatment is administered, and a cure is effected
(Dubuc).
This polymorphism of syphilis of the stomach proves that there are no
signs and symptoms which allow us to make a positive diagnosis. We
must, however, remember that, in a patient suffering from the gastric troubles
which we have just discussed, syphilis must always be looked for. When
it is evident that the patient has had syphilis, and even more so when it is
possible to reconstruct the various stages of syphilis which has caused trouble
for several years, we must at once prescribe specific treatment. It is the
more necessary to arrive at a diagnosis because we must not send to the
surgeon a patient suffering from stomach trouble which is rebellious to all
ordinary medical means, but which is at once cured by specific treatment.
This treatment must consist in the combination of mercury and iodine,
and I would add the former is more important than the latter. I give the
preference to injections of an aqueous solution ofj biniodide of mercury,
in doses of | grain per diem.
XVII. DILATATION OF THE STOMACH.
Pathogenesis. — Dilatation is a morbid condition, met with in many
affections of the stomach. It is sometimes mechanical, and results from a
constriction of the pyloric orifice (cancer, cicatrices following on simple
ulcer, spasm of the pylorus), but in this case it is rather a question of dis-
tension than dilatation. Sometimes it follows atony of the muscular fibres
(chronic catarrh, neurosis, neurasthenia, tuberculosis, general exhaustion,
and typhoid fever).
Dilatation is frequent in large eaters and heavy drinkers. According to
DISEASES OF THE STOMACH 721
Bouchard, dilatation of the stomach is not simply a symptom of various
pathological conditions, but a morbid entity, the stomach allowing itself
to be distended because its resistance is unequal to the obstacle which it has
to surmount. Although dyspepsia and dilatation of the stomach are always
associated, the dilatation is the cause more often than the result of the
dyspepsia.
Pathological Anatomy. — The dilated stomach does not always preserve
its normal form (stomach en hissac) ; its capacity is such that it may contain
as much as 10, 20, or 40 pints of fluid. The increase in size always takes
place at the expense of the greater curvature, which is depressed.
The lesions of the muscular layer are very variable, and there may be
hypertrophy or atrophy. Amyloid degeneration has been noticed. The
mucous membrane generally shows chronic inflammatory changes. Amongst
the elements contained in the stomach there is frequently a cryptogram,
known under the name of sarcina.
Symptoms. — The appetite may be diminished or increased, and the
thirst is intense. Constipation is the rule, while digestion is delayed, painful,
and frequently accompanied by vomiting.
The vomited matter may amount to several pints daily. This enormous
loss of fluid naturally diminishes the amount of urine (Kussmaul). The
vomited matter is generally mucous, coloured, of foetid odour and bitter
taste. The food in the vomit has been ingested, as a rule, two or three
days previously. In a few exceptional cases true attacks of haematemesis
have been noticed. Constipation is followed by attacks of profuse diarrhoea.
The patient rarely complains of sharp pains.
The dilated stomach often forms a tumour in the epigastric region.
Percussion, which should be carried out when the stomach is empty, reveals
extensive hyperresonance, while gentle tapping in the epiga,stric region
yields a splashing sound, which is more marked if the patient swallows a
glass of water. The succussion splash, which is produced on shaking the
patient, is similar in nature. Nodules are sometimes seen on the second
joints of the fingers ; they are evidence of the rheumatic diathesis, so common
in persons suffering from dilatation of the stomach (Bouchard). When
the dilatation is of recent date and of moderate extent, we do not find the
symptoms just enumerated. As the disease progresses, the dyspepsia,
vomiting, and malnutrition cause loss of flesh and cachexia, so that it is
often difficult to distinguish between simple dilatation and cancer of the
stomach.
\n some individuals we see a series of complications, amongst which I
may mention hypochondria, vertigo, palpitation, cardiac intermittence, and
angina pcftoris. I would also mention cramp, contraction of the flexor
muscles of the fingers, and epileptiform fits, complications comparable to
46
722 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
those of uraemia, and resulting, according to Bouchard, from the absorption
of toxic substances produced by abnormal fermentation in the dilated
stomach. Paralyses, either alone or associated with convulsions, have also
been noted.
According to Bouchard, primary dilatation of the stomach, with food
stasis and consequent fermentation, is of considerable importance. In
such a case it is not simply a question of an individual having a very dilated
stomach, as in most cases the dilatation is only very slightly pronounced.
Fermentation in the dilated stomach (flatulence) is usually due to diminution
of the hydrochloric acid, which under normal conditions has an antiseptic
action. In these patients gastric trouble, accompanied with fever, is
common. In other words, the description and treatment of dyspepsia in
general, and gastritis in particular, blend with dilatation of the stomach.
In other cases there is gastric insufficiency (Ewald).
As regards treatment, excellent results are obtained from lavage. The
remedies advised for dyspepsia are suitable in dilatation of the stomach.
The reader is therefore requested to refer to the chapter on Dyspepsia.
Milk diet or dry diet should be prescribed, according to the particular case.
XVIII. GASTRORRHAGIA— HiEMATEMESIS.
Note. — As I am anxious to avoid repetition, I would ask the reader to refer to the
sections on acute ulceration and cancer of the stomach, where gastrorrhagia and hjema-
temesis are discussed in detail.
Definition. — The words haematemesis and gastrorrhagia must not be
confounded. Gastrorrhagia is bleeding from the surface of the mucous
membrane, or from the wall of the stomach, the blood being dis-
charged subsequently into its cavity, whilst hsematemesis simply denotes
the vomiting of blood which comes from the stomach, or has been discharged
into the stomach after coming from a neighbouring region. It is clear,
therefore, that haematemesis and gastrorrhagia are not always associated.
Either may occur alone, as in the following examples : An individual
vomits blood, which has entered the stomach in consequence of epistaxis
or profuse haemoptysis : in this case there is haematemesis without gastror-
rhagia. Another individual, suffering from cancer or ulcer of the stomach,
has an attack of haemorrhage from the stomach, but the bleeding is not
followed by vomiting, and the blood passes from the stomach into the
intestine, giving rise to melaena : this is an example of gastrorrhagia without
haematemesis.
etiology. — Gastrorrhagia arises from many causes — to wit, lesions of
the stomach, traumatism, contusion, chronic gastritis, cancer of the
stomach, and especially simple ulcer and acute ulcerations, pneumococcal
DISEASES OF THE STOMACH 723
or appendicular erosions, and exulceratio simplex. In three of the preceding
sections I have discussed the bleeding which accompanies hgemorrhagic
necrosis of the mucosa, destruction of the mucous membrane and of the
muscularis mucosse, erosion of the arterioles under the muscularis, etc.
Further reference is, therefore, superfluous.
Lesions obstructing the portal circulation cause stasis, with or without
gastric erosions, sometimes followed by haemorrhage. Atrophic cirrhosis
of the liver causes varices of the stomach (Letulle), and especially of the
oesophagus, which may rupture and lead to profuse hsematemesis. This
point will be discussed under Laennec's Cirrhosis.
In the three cases quoted by Gailliard fulminant hgematemesis was caused
by the rupture of miliary aneurysms. Active congestion of the stomach
accounts for the so-called nervous (hysteria) and supplementary (suppres-
sion of the menses, haemorrhoids) gastrorrhagia. Attacks of gastrorrhagia
which supervene in black variola, typhus, icterus gravis, yellow fever, etc.,
are due to changes in the blood and capillaries.
Symptoms. — Gastrorrhagia is not always preceded by prodromata.
Rigors, pallor, fainting-fits, which accompany profuse haemorrhage from the
stomach, are not prodromata, but symptoms associated with gastrorrhagia.
They are the consequence thereof, and sometimes, when haematemesis is
absent, they are the sole index of haemorrhage from the stomach. The cases
of gastrorrhagia without haematemesis are worthy of recognition, and
often pass unnoticed, though they are more frequent than is generally
believed. It may be the first symptom of ulcer or cancer of the stomach.
" People in good health," says Trousseau, " are suddenly taken ill with a
vague feeling of malaise ; they grow pale, and suffer from syncope. A few
hours later, on going to stool, they pass faeces as black as pitch, and for some
time they remain weak, and suffer from loss of appetite, with pallor of the
skin, and then health returns. These troubles may recur at longer or
shorter intervals, and are often mistaken, not only by the patient, but also
by the physician."
In this first class of cases, gastrorrhagia, whether accompanied or not by
pallor, fainting-fits, or syncope, is not followed by haematemesis. These
cases are fairly frequent. Although many people with cancer never vomit
during the whole course of the disease, yet if their stools are carefully
examined, pitchy faeces will be found (melaena), indicative of gastric
heemorrhage.
Gastrorrhagia is generally followed by haematemesis. The vomiting of
blood shows itself in different forms.
The quantity of blood vomited may be large or small. Slight haema-
temesis may pass unnoticed. Vomiting of food is frequent in ulcer and
cancer of the stomach. On careful examination of the vomit, collected in
46—2
724 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
a basin, a blackish dust, like cojffee-grounds, is seen on the surface of the
liquid or on the sides of the vessel. This dust is due to slight hsematemesis,
and the microscope will confirm the diagnosis.
In severe hsematemesis the blood is rarely red ; most often the vomited
blood is blackish, like soot dissolved in water. Blackish clots of the size
of a nut, a small pear, or even larger, are mixed with the fluid. Under
Acute Ulceration of the Stomach I have mentioned several cases in which
the vomit contained some 3 pints of blood, either liquid or in clots. Some-
times the hsematemesis is fulminant, and due to the opening of an arteriole,
which causes death from hsemorrhage. Every intermediate degree is seen
between the slight hsematemesis, in which a blackish dust floats in the
mucous or viscid fluid, and the fulminant hsematemesis.
Diagnosis. — The diagnosis of gastrorrhagia rests upon the existence of
hsematemesis and melsena, but care must be exercised to make sure that the
blood really comes from the stomach, as it is well known that the blood in
profuse epistaxis may pass into the stomach, and be got rid of later in the
vomit or the stools.
We must next diagnose the cause. Is the gastrorrhagia due to a lesion
of the stomach, such as acute ulcerations, ulcer, or cancer ? and even if
the subject is in good health, is it not an early warning of cancer ? Is it
the result of a lesion in the liver (atrophic cirrhosis), or is it caused by
gastric congestion (hysteria, supplementary hsemorrhage) ? A reply can
only be given to these various questions by carefully studying the past
history of the patient and the symptoms preceding the gastrorrhagia. The
diagnostic value of hsematemesis has been discussed at length in the pre-
ceding sections, and especially under Exulceratio Simplex.
Treatment. — On the question of treatment I would refer the reader
to the section on Exulceratio Simplex. Every patient suffering from
gastrorrhagia must be put on starvation diet, and given large injections of
artificial serum. Rectal feeding is necessary (nutrient enemata, peptones,
lactose, eggs, etc.).
XIX. VISCERAL PTOSES.
The abdominal viscera may undergo displacement from stretching of
their suspensory ligaments. The interesting study of visceral ptoses was
first undertaken by F. Glenard. The heart even is not exempt from ptosis
(Rummo). As I shall devote a special section to Floating Kidney, I shall
now mention only the ptoses of the stomach, intestines, liver, and spleen.
Gastroptosis is downward displacement of the stomach. It shows itself
by abnormal prominences in front of the vertebral column (prominence of
the pancreas, of the superior fold of the stomach, and of the stenosed trans-
DISEASES OF THE STOMACH 725
verse colon), and causes gastric succussion and downward displacement of
the lesser curvature of the stomach, which is well marked after the in-
sufflation of the organ. Gastroptosis must not be confounded with dilata-
tion of the stomach, with which it has many symptoms (F. Glenard) in
common.
Enteroptosis is prolapse of the intestine. It is characterized by relaxa-
tion of the abdominal walls and flattening of the epigastric region, where
the pulsation of the aorta may be seen and felt. The patient experiences a
feeling of relief when the abdominal wall is lifted upwards and backwards
by a person standing behind him.
Hepatoptosis is downward displacement of the liver, which is felt
below the false ribs, while the upper limit of the hepatic dullness is lowered.
Splenoptosis is do\vnward displacement of the spleen. It includes the
classical mobile spleen, which is always enlarged, as well as true spleno-
ptosis, which is always accompanied by hepatoptosis, and sometimes by
nephroptosis.
Visceral ptoses are rarely isolated ; as a rule, several organs are affected.
The functional signs, which vary slightly, according to the organ affected,
are chiefly of the neuropathic kind — asthenia, dyspepsia, twitching and
sensations of weight and emptiness, to which vertigo, insomnia, headache,
and nervous instability are added. The aetiology of visceral ptoses depends,
according to Glenard, on hepatisiil, or the hepatic diathesis, which pro-
duces more or less marked functional weakness. Support of the organs by
special belts forms the basis of treatment, though surgical intervention is
necessary in obstinate cases. In hepatoptosis it has given splendid results
(rUenard, Marchant).
CHAPTER V
DISEASES OF THE INTESTINE
I. ACUTE ENTERITIS
Definition. — Enteritis is inflammation of the mucous membrane of the
intestine. When the stomach takes part in the inflammation, there is
gastro-enteritis. The word " enteritis " refers to inflammation of the
small intestine. If the large intestine is also inflamed, there is entero-
colitis. Inflammation of a portion of the intestine is called, according
to circumstances, duodenitis (duodenum), typhlitis (caecum), or rectitis
(rectum).
Before describing enteritis, it will be useful to see what we mean by
the term employed. It is essential not to confound enteritis with one of
its usual symptoms — diarrhoea — since these different morbid states lead
to different therapeutic indications. And yet confusion is frequent. We
are too prone to speak of acute or chronic enteritis -^hen the case is one of
simple non-inflammatory diarrhoea. Diarrhoea is often associated with
intestinal infection, and from slight catarrh to grave enteritis it constitutes
an important symptom. In other cases, however, it has nothing to do
with enteritis, being of different origin. To this latter category belong :
(1) sudoral diarrhoea, which is caused by a disturbance of the functions
of the skin (sudden suppression of perspiration) ; (2) nervous diarrhoea,
which arises from mental emotions, and constitutes one of the disorders
of secretion in tabes dorsalis and exophthalmic goitre ; (3) diarrhoea
caused by irritation, consequent on abnormal excitement of the glandular
adnexa (liver, pancreas), and on the ingestion of certain foods and drinks.
These are all simple secretory troubles, and must be distinguished from
acute enteritis.
etiology. — Acute enteritis is a disease of all ages, and in young children
has a special importance, which I shall discuss in the next section. It is
more frequent in warm weather, and is often brought on by a chiU. Chill
is well known as an exciting cause producing enteritis in some persons
and bronchitis in others. If the primary cause of enteritis is carefully
sought for, it will be seen that the disease may be of infectious or toxic
726
DISEASES OF THE INTESTINE 727
origin. There is no need for me to speak here of certain specific microbes
(typhoid fever, tuberculosis, cholera), which provoke specific catarrhs. I
allude to those microbes which usually inhabit the intestine, and become
pathogenic in certain conditions : such are the Coli bacillus, the Bacterium
aceti, amoebge, etc. Other microbes ingested with the food pass from the
stomach into the intestine, but in order to do this the putrefying food must
find an insufficient antiseptic in the hydrochloric acid. The toxic sub-
stances capable of causing acute enteritis are in some cases elaborated by
microbes, in others taken into the stomach, or, lastly, are manufactured
by the patient, who is already ill (uric acid in gout, carbonate of ammonia
in uraemia, changes in the bile).
Certain individuals are predisposed to enteritis, and the influence of the
season produces epidemic enteritis.
Symptoms. — Enteritis is accompanied by intestinal fermentation,
which causes the absorption of toxic products, with the phenomena of auto-
infection, so carefully described by Bouchard.
Slight enteritis is not febrile, but the same cannot be said of severe
enteritis. Colic and diarrhoea are the first symptoms, and the pain is
especially severe at the umbilicus, whence it radiates. Colic sometimes
occurs in fits, which may be very painful, accompanied by borborygmi,
and followed by loose stools. The evacuations, which are more or less
fluid, are formed at first of the contents of the intestine ; later they
become liquid, yellowish, and composed of serous fluid, mucus, and
bile. The appetite is diminished or absent ; thirst is great. The tongue is
coated, the belly distended and painful. In slight cases these symptoms
improve rapidly, and the disease ends in a few days ; in severe cases the
evacuations are frequent and copious, the enteritis is choleriform, the loss
of strength is rapid, and the prognosis in children and old people is exceed-
ingly grave.
In gastro-enteritis, gastric pains, vomiting, and nausea are added to
the preceding symptoms. In entero-colitis the diarrhoea-like stools are at
times blood-stained and slimy, and as the patient suffers from tenesmus,
the enteritis is said to be dysenteriform.
Pathological Anatomy. — The mucous membrane of the intestines is
swollen, red, and congested, especially around the solitary follicles and
Peyer's patches. The solitary follicles are swollen near the end of the
ileum (psoronteria), and at times small ulcers (follicular ulcers) develop.
Treatment.— In the adult we must prescribe a saline purgative, such as
sulphate of soda, Pullna water, Birmenstorff water, etc., which is repeated
if necessary. After free evacuation, opiates are given, either by the mouth
or in enemata. The diet must be strict, and the beverages shoidd consist
of rice- or albumin- water, sweetened with syrup. If the colic is very severe,
728 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
subcutaneous injections of morphia should be given, and opium fomenta-
tions applied to the abdomen. Salicylate of bismuth and lime-water in
milk may also be employed.
II. INFANTILE GASTRO-ENTERITIS (INFANTILE CHOLERA).
In young children digestive disorders acquire additional gravity from
the special importance of the functions of nutrition at this age. Super-
acute gastro-enteritis in infants deserves mention, because of its frequency
and gravity (H. de Rothschild). We shall also have to describe chronic
dyspepsia of infants, which often paves the way for more acute complica-
tions. Finally, the study of athrepsia belongs to the digestive disorders
of early infancy.
Acute Infantile Gastro-Enteritis — Infantile Cholera. — The most char-
acteristic form of acute gastro-enteritis is that which Trousseau described
under the name of " infantile cholera." This affection is most common
and severe during the summer. It attacks bottle-fed infants of four or
five months of age, or older children, up to about a year or so, who have been
dyspeptic since weaning. The child is taken ill with fever and restlessness,
and cries constantly. The face becomes pale, the eyes have large circles
around them, and prostration succeeds restlessness. The milk is vomited
soon after ingestion, but this act is a regurgitation without effort and without
nausea. Diarrhoea is present, and the stools are serous, holding in suspen-
sion fcjetid greenish particles, and mixed with gas, so as to form a green
froth. The temperature rises to 103° or 104° F. ; in some cases it remains
high. The skin is dry, the tongue parched, the restlessness constant, and
sleep is absent (febrile form). But in other cases (algid form) the initial
rise soon gives way to a fall of temperature, which may be as low as 95° F.
The little patient is pale or cyanosed, with a bistre tint under the eyes and
around the lips. The child wastes with terrible rapidity, and becomes
dried up, while the abdomen, at first ballooned and sensitive to pressure,
becomes scaphoid. The skin of the abdomen and of the extremities hangs
in folds, the eyes sink into their sockets, the scalp falls in at the fontanelles,
the pulse grows weak, and the respiration becomes slow and barely per-
ceptible. The patient looks like a corpse, and passes insensibly from life
to death. In some cases convulsions, sclerema, and muscular rigidity are
present in the last stage. This description is not applicable to all cases.
Sometimes diarrhoea is absent (cholera sicca, Hutinel), and yet the toxi-
infectious condition presents the same characteristics. In the less acute
forms the diarrhoea is not so liquid, and resembles chopped spinach. The
general condition fails less rapidly, and there are alternative periods of
DISEASES OF THE INTESTINE 729
improvement and aggravation. The disease may be prolonged for a week
or a fortnight. With proper treatment, the child may regain health, and
once the disease is checked recovery is relatively rapid. In the very slight
forms we may see only vomiting, yellowish or greenish foetid diarrhoea,
slight fever, and restlessness, and in a few days the danger has passed.
Athrepsia. — The onset of gastro- enteritis is not always so sudden as
in the preceding forms. The digestive troubles (vomiting and diarrhoea)
insensibly affect the general condition. The nutrition of these children
has been defective since birth, and instead of developing normally, they
waste away. The skin wrinkles, the cheeks get hollow, the face becomes
senile, and the body does not develop. The little patient may, however,
live for two or three months, although he weighs less than at birth.
The temperature may be subnormal or raised. The child flickers out like
a candle, being carried ofE by latent pulmonary complications or by con-
vulsions. It is to this chronic gastro-intestinal cachexia of the new-born
that Parrot has given the name of " athrepsia."
Chronic Dyspepsia of Nurslings.— Chronic digestive troubles are less
evident in older nurslings, because they only affect the general condition
after some considerable time. This chronic dyspepsia is seen especially in
children overfed wth milk that is too rich in casein, or in those who have
been prematurely weaned, or fed after weaning with too coarse foods.
These children are too fat ; their abdomens are too prominent, and may be
soft (large, flabby belly) or resistant. The stools are scanty, hard, whitish,
dry, and chalky (Marfan). Such infants show very early the symptoms of
rickets. At the time of weaning they are especially liable to acute enteritis,
and later their flabby belly favours hernia and visceral ptoses. If these
children die, the lesions of gastro -enteritis, with lengthening of the intestine,
are found post mortem.
Pathogenesis. — Acute or chronic digestive troubles in infants always
come from improper feeding. The digestive canal of the new-born can only
digest the mother's milk in a perfect manner. The breast should be given
at most every two hours for very young infants, and every three hours from
the third to the fourth month, so that the next meal should not encroacli
on the digestion of the preceding one. Under these conditions (the child
being breast-fed), digestive troubles are exceptional. They mav super-
vene, however, during dentition, upon sudden changes of temperature, or
from illness of the wet-nurse, but they are slight and transient. It is in
l)ottlc-fod children that digestive troubles, and especially infantile cholera,
arise in the great majority of cases.
The weekly returns in Paris show clearly the cause of this disease. We
lind that the infantile mortality from gastro-enteritis, which is very low
during the cold months, reaches during tiie heat of summer its inaxinium.
730 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
which is then ten times the average. Acute gastro-enteritis in infants is
mostly due to the multiplication of the microbes of fermentation in the
milk and to the poisons which they excrete.
In very young children, even in perfect health, one bottle of fermented
milk may produce an attack of enteritis ; but older children can offer greater
resistance, and the disease is not severe unless they are already suffering
from chronic dyspepsia. In dyspeptic infants the least alimentary excess
in summer may be fatal, and here, as in the new-born, the ferments poured
into the digestive canal are the cause of the trouble.
Bacteriology. — The Bacillus coli is found in the stools in great numbers,
sometimes in a state of pure culture and of exalted virulence. The Bacillus
coli in infantile cholera does not belong to a special kind, and though the
biochemical characters vary in each case, their agglutination by the serum
does not allow of differentiation from other coli bacilli (Widal, Nobecourt).
The chromogenic bacillus of Lesage seems to be a variety of the coli bacillus,
gifted with the power of secreting a green pigment. It is, however, not
constant in green diarrhoea of infants.
Certain microbes are often found associated with the coli bacillus, and
play their part. The chromophil bacillus of Escherich, the streptococcus
(Marfan and Marot), the pyocyaneus (Nobecourt), and the proteus (Ardouin),
are amongst the number. Nobecourt has insisted on the gravity of this
combined infection.
Pathological Anatomy. — Histology (Marfan and Bernard) explains
the process of the disease. In the normal condition the microbes are only
found on the surface of the intestine ; in acute gastro-enteritis they penetrate
into the lumen of the glands, and invade the deep layers, whence they can
enter the organism. The distant lesions are explained by the general
infection and intoxication, so that pulmonary congestion and broncho-
pneumonia due to the coli bacillus, meningitis due to the same microbe,
phlebitis of the abdominal veins, thrombosis of the cranial sinuses, and
degeneration of the liver and kidneys, may be found on post-mortem
examination.
Prophylaxis. — Careful breast-feeding insures for the child almost certain
immunity from gastro-enteritis. It is, therefore, the duty of the physician
to induce every mother to nurse her own offspring. Absence or insuffi-
ciency of milk is exceptional, and though the secretion of the milk must be
waited for, a delay of forty-eight hours does not harm the infant. If the
mother is unable to suckle, a wet-nurse must be engaged. It is only as a
last resort that the bottle should be made use of, and then great precautions
must be taken to avoid acute gastro-enteritis. In order to diminish the
risk of gastro-enteritis in bottle-fed infants, rigorous asepsis must be
observed in the administration of food. The greatest cleanliness must be
DISEASES OF THE INTESTINE 731
insisted on with regard to the bottle and to the nipple, and when the bottle
is finished, no milk must be permitted to remain in it.
Which milk should be used ? A brand of milk, sterilized in the auto-
clave at 120° C, and preserved in sealed bottles, is on the market. If care
is taken to open the bottle only at the time of pouring out the milk into the
feeder, the infant is certain to get a drink free from microbes. Unfortu-
nately, sterilization at high temperatures increases the drawbacks of cow's
milk, which is naturally thicker than human milk. It is richer in casein
and in salts, while its clot is firmer and more resistant to the digestive
juices. Moreover, cow's milk, such as the factories produce, sterilized at
high temperatures, is only suitable for strong babies of several months old.
To remedy these drawbacks, some firms prepare, under the name of
" maternal " or " humanized " milk, a milk which, by centrifugalization,
partial coagulation, sweetening, and skimming, is brought down to a com-
position something like mother's milk, and is then sterilized at 120° C. The
drawback of all methods of sterilization lies in the partial change of the
lactose into caramel, which gives a brownish colour and a strange taste to
the milk.
This drawback disappears with the economical method of sterilization
invented by Soxhlet and popularized by Budin. The milk is divided in
as many bottles as may be required during the day or half-day. The
bottles are then plunged for twenty minutes into a water-bath of boiling
water. As milk only boils at 101° C, this operation does not cause it to
boil, and its composition is consequently not changed. On the other hand,
all the pathological germs are killed. When it is desired to use a bottle,
all that is necessary is to substitute a nipple for the rubber disc, and a
bottle of food is thus obtained without decanting the milk.
For very young infants indeed, cow's milk may be diluted with a third
to a fourth part of water before sterilizing the mixture, and this precaution
is a safeguard against chronic dyspepsia (dyspepsia of pure cow's milk,
Marfan).
The Soxhlet-Budin method is the best when we are certain of receiving
fresh milk from a good dairy several times a day. In large towns these
conditions are difficult to fulfil, and in spite of Pasteurization, which to-day
is universally adopted in the milk industry, we may receive milk in which
microbes have commenced to grow. The passage through the water- bath
will certainly kill the microbes, but it will not destroy the toxins already
poured into the milk, and gastro-cntoritis will not be avoided. In large
towns milk sterilized in the laboratory is to be recommended in summer,
but humanized milk is to be preferred in the case of very young infants.
The use of milk as the sole food of the child may, without inconvenience,
be continued until the age of one year. The weaning should be gradual,
732 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
and soups, milk, panadas, broths, or vegetable purees, are tbe first kinds of
food to be given to an infant. Infants ought not to be weaned during very-
hot weather.
Treatment. — Cases of chronic dyspepsia in childhood usually recover
on a return to rational feeding, but in acute enteritis treatment is more
active. It is first of all necessary to cleanse the digestive canal of its toxic
contents by a small dose of calomel, and next to withhold fermentable food.
The child should be fed with boiled w^ater, given as required. Mustard
baths, recommended by Trousseau, injections of lukewarm water, and
stimulation by rubbing, may be employed with advantage. Subcutaneous
injections of artificial serum in doses of 50 to 100 grammes, repeated if
need be several times a day, are a resource which sometimes leads to recovery
even in desperate cases.
III. APPENDICITIS— APPENDICULAR PERITONITIS— APPEN-
DICULAR INTOXICATION— APPENDICiEMIA.
During the last few years I have devoted ten clinical lectures to appen-
dicitis, in addition to my numerous contributions to theAcademie de Medecine.
These data I shall use in the present section.
Anatomy. — The appendix resembles an earthworm suspended from the caecum
(appendix vermiformis). In the foetus it occupies the apex of the ampulla of the
caecum, but in the adult its situation changes ; as the ampulla is much dilated below, the
appendix is attached higher up to the postero -internal part of the caecum, an inch above
the ileo-caecal valve. According to an American surgeon (McBurney), this point of
attachment corresponds on the abdomen with the centre of a line drawn from the
antero -superior iliac spine to the umbiHcus, and the pain in appendicitis is generally
situated at this spot. The appendix is about 4 inches in length and J inch in breadth.
It is often held in position, in the middle half of the right iliac fossa, by a fold of the
peritoneum (meso-appendix), but the situation and direction of the appendix vary
exceedingly. In the descending type the appendix crosses the psoas, and dips into
the pelvis, a situation that explains the topography of the prerectal abscess, which
tends to open into the rectum, vagina, or bladder. In the ascending and posterior
type, which is frequent, the appendix runs upwards along the posterior face of the
caecum and colon, a situation which explains the topography of the retro-c^cal abscess
in the iUac fossa and of abscesses situated high up behind the colon. This means that
the starting-point of the appendicular lesions (with or -nithout adhesions, which hmit
these lesions) may be below, above, internal, or external to the caecum.
The appendix is sometimes provided at its opening into the caecum with a valve,
called Gerlach's valve, which prevents the entrance of faecal matter into the appendicular
canal. Though Clado and Lafforgue consider this valve exceedingly rare, I have been
able to find it frequently.
The appendix has the same structure as the caecum, and is composed of four layers :
an external peritoneal coat ; a muscular coat, with longitudinal and circular fibres ; a
submucous coat, composed of connective tissue and almost lacking in elastic fibres ;
and a mucous tunica, with cylindrical epithelium, adenoid stroma, closed follicles, and
tubular glands. It must be noticed that the appendix grows smaller towards its tip.
DISEASES OF THE INTESTINE 733
where the muscular fibres and glands gradually disappear, and the cellular layer becomes
more important.
The appendix is traversed throughout its entire length by a central canal, the lumen
of which is very narrow and uneven, and does not measure more than from 3 to 4
millimetres in diameter.
Discussion. — During the last few years appendicitis has assumed an importance
of the first order in medicine and surgery. Acute general or local peritonitis, sub-
phrenic empyema, purulent and putrid infection of the pleura, gangrene of the lung,
purulent infection of the fiver, hsmorrhagic ulcerative gastritis, nephritis, perinephritic
abscess, endocarditis, phlebitis, icterus and icterus gravis, albuminuria, anuria, uraemia,
etc., are formidable complications due to toxi-infections of appendicular origin, so that
it is customary to class them under appendicitis.
But from the outset let it be well understood that the appendix is the starting-point
of these complications, which were formerly put down as typhUtis and perityphlitis.
Our knowledge of appendicitis is of fairly recent date, and until 1888 typhlitis
reigned supreme. This stercoral typhlitis, as it was called, was usually ascribed to
obstruction of the caecum by faecal matter. This fsecal obstruction caused an inflam-
mation of the walls of the caecum, called typhlitis, with its attendant symptoms of
constipation, pain, sweUing, induration in the right iUac fossa, and, in more severe
cases, fever, nausea, and vomiting. This so-called typhlitis generally ended in resolu-
tion, but it might end in ulceration and perforation of the caecum, causing perityphlitis,
peritonitis, or iliac phlegmon. There was peritonitis if the lesions were seated on the
anterior surface of the caecum, and iliac phlegmon if the lesions were seated on the
posterior surface, which was incorrectly believed to be lacking in peritoneum.
These ideas were held for a long time, but they were wrong, for stercoral typhlitis,
in this sense, does not exist. In the first place, the posterior surface of the caecum is
not lacking in peritoneum. In 1887 Tuffier showed that the caecum in the adult and
in the foetus is never in direct communication with the cellular tissue of the iliac fossa.
The caecum is surrounded by peritoneum, and " the hand can be passed round it in the
same manner as it can be passed round the apex of the heart in the pericardium."
On the other hand, American surgeons had begun to perform early laparotomy
for symptoms formerly attributed to typhhtis,and they saw clearly that these symptoms
had their origin, not in the cescum, but in the appendix. The same observation was
made hundreds of times by surgeons in England, Switzerland, Germany, and France,
so that the precise idea of appendicitis was gradually substituted for the mistaken
description of the old typhlitis. These ideas, which some authors were loath to admit,
were sanctioned at the Surgical Congress of 1895, and, in the discussions at the Societe
de Chirurgie, Routier took care to state that in a large number of personal cases the
appendix was the seat of the mischief, and not the caecum. I have witnessed operations
in more than 200 cases of appendicitis, and I am convinced that the various troubles
formerly put down to typhlitis must always be put doAvn to the appendix, and never
to the caecum.
This does not mean tlxat the word " typhlitis " is to be removed from our nosology,
but a clear understanding is necessary. The ulcerations of typhoid fever and of tuber-
cular disease frequently attack the ca-cum, but these specific lesions are beside the
question wliich at present occupies our attention. Tuberculosis may be locahzcd in
the csccum in a primary or chronic form, which is curable by operation, but this tuber-
cular typhlitis which simulates cancer so closely has nothing in common with the
typhlitis now under discussion,
A perforation of an unknown nature might involve the caecum, like the ileum, but,
once again, all these dissimilar cases, though seated in the ofocuni, have nothing in
common with the question before us, and it is well established that the troubles sot
down to lyphUtis must now bo put down to appendicitis.
734 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Finally, it will be said that in undeniable cases typhlitis with ulceration, gangrene,
or suppuration of the cajcum has been found. If, however, we examine them
closely, we shall see that these lesions are consecutive to appendicitis, and, as the
appendix, which is primarily diseased, runs along the posterior surface of the caecum,
the csecal and retrocaecal lesions are secondary to the appendicitis. Gambetta's case
was of this nature. Appendicitis must, therefore, be substituted for typhlitis.
These restrictions being established, it is hardly necessary to state that nobody has
ever thought of denying typhUtis in so far as inflammation of the mucous membrane of
the caecum is concerned. The caecum, like the colon or the ileum, shares in the infections
of the intestinal mucous membrane. Typhlitis exists, just as do enteritis and colitis.
Intestinal infections, classed together under the name of enteritis or of folUcular, muco-
membranous, or sabulous entero-colitis, are prone to affect the mucous membrane of
the caecum. I have given them the name of entero-typhlo-colitis, and yet no one has
ever seen typhlitis or typhlo-colitis whether it is accompanied or not by constipation,
membranes, or sand, produce gangrene, perforation of the ca3.cum, and peritonitis.
Pathological Anatomy — Bacteriology.— According to the particular
case, the appendix may be purple in colour, lengthened, doubled in size,
indurated, or in a condition of erection. We may find suppuration, fluctua-
tion, gangrene, perforation, calculi, twists, or kinks, strangulation by
bands, etc.
Its lumen is constricted or obliterated at its origin, or at some point of
its length. The canal may have recovered its permeability at the time of
operation. The obstructions of the canal favour the formation of closed
cavities. The closed cavity may be small, and of almost the normal size
and shape of the appendicular canal. In other cases it is larger, and gives
to the appendix the form of a spindle, club, ch,erry, pear, etc. The
closed cavity contains a small amount of muco-purulent, faecal, or blood-
stained fluid. It may be transformed into a pseudo-cyst, containing in-
offensive fluid. The pathogenic microbes of appendicitis are the microbes
of the intestinal flora, and the coli bacilli are most in evidence.
Pathogenesis of Appendicitis. — The pathogenesis of appendicitis has
been influenced by the views held as to the causation of typhlitis. Con-
stipation and diarrhoea have been given as causes, although it was not
known w^hich of these conditions was the more effective. Foreign bodies,
such as fragments of bone, fish-bones, egg-shells, pins, needles, prune-stones,
fruit-pips, etc., have been accused.
I may say at once that fragments of bones, prune-stones, date-stones,
cherry-stones, etc., though quite capable of injuring the caecum, are abso-
lutely incapable of entering the appendicular canal. At most only very
small bodies indeed, such as grape-stones, could do so, and even then, since
appendicular concretions have been carefully studied, it has been found
that these concretions, which may take the form of coffee-beans, date-stones,
grains of corn, beans, and pips, are simply calculi formed in situ. Thoir
origin and structure are now well known.
DISEASES OF THE INTESTINE 735
We must abandon, then, the old theory of a foreign body entering the
appendix, injuring its walls, and causing peritonitis by perforation. I
have tried, by collecting the anatomical, bacteriological, and experimental
proofs, to simplify the pathogenesis of appendicitis, and find a formula
applicable to every case. In my opinion the theory of appendicitis may
be summed up as follows : Appendicitis results from the transformation
of a part of the appendicular canal into a closed cavity, which
becomes a focus of infection and intoxication, due to the increased
virulence of the imprisoned microbes. Let us analyze first the different
ways in which the appendicular canal may be converted into a closed
cavity.
Calculous Appendicitis. — The presence of a calculus in the appendicular
canal has given to this variety the name of calculous appendicitis. The
calculus is found, if the infectious process has not destroyed it. If the
appendix has become gangrenous, the calculus may pass into the peritoneum,
where it is found at the time of operation or during the subsequent dress-
ings. These calculi have been described by Rochaz, who gives a description
and illustrations of sixty-five appendicular calculi. They are usually
elongated and fusiform or cylindrical. As a rule, one calculus is found,
but as many as three or four may be present. They then have several
facets. The colour is usually brownish, but their consistency varies in
nature — friable or dense and of stony hardness, while every intermediate
degree may be soen. These calculi are formed of different elements.
Berlioz has made a most minute analysis of several calculi, and the results
of his researches agree absolutely with those obtained by other chemists
(Vok, Butler, Pelet).
In these calculi we find brownish faecal matter, soluble in ether and
mineral salts, principally phosphates and carbonates of lime. We some-
times find salts of ammonia, traces of chlorides, sulphates, and, very rarely,
cholesterin (Walt). The various organic and mineral elements are cemented
by mucus from the glands in the appendix.
It will now be understood why the appendicular concretions are some-
times soft and friable, sometimes hard and, as it were, calcified. If the
concretion is rich in organic matter, it is soft, or at least it is easily softened
at the time of infection ; if the concretion is rich in calcareous salts, it may
assume a stony consistency, like a true calculus. It is easy to find these
concretions in the process of formation. It is only necessary to make a
section of them to see that they are usually stratified. Around one or
several nuclei there are eccentric layers, the stratification of which proves
that the calculi grow slowly in the appendicular canal by the addition of
organic and mineral layers.
By studying this process, and comparing the slow formation of appen-
736 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
dicular calculi with the analogous formation of biliary calculi, I was led to
propose the name appendicular lithiasis, which seems to me to be very-
similar to urinary and biliarj^ lithiasis.
What becomes, then, of the old theory (Talamon) that the calculi
reach the appendix after being previously formed in the caecum ? Accord-
ing to Talamon, it is in the caecum that the scybala are rolled and mashed.
— " they are rounded there like pellets under the finger " — and after this
pill-making process they pass from the caecum into the appendix. This
theory has been upset by the arguments of Rochaz : " Talamon supports
his theory by the perfectly spherical form of the calculi ; but we only met
with this spherical form three times in sixty-five cases, and the usual shape
of the calculi is cylindrical. How are the long stercoral sausages, filling
the appendix from one end to the other, to be explained by Talamon's
pellets ? How could large concretions penetrate by an opening which at
most has a diameter of only 5 millimetres, and which is, besides, more or
less completely closed by a valve ? On the contrary, the disposition of the
calculi in concentric layers indicates a slow formation, which could only
take place in a recess separated from the intestinal canal, and not in the
caecum, where the calculi would be carried away, after a short time, by the
flow of matter."
I have nothing to add to the excellent reasoning of Rochaz. It is,
indeed, clear that the so-called calculous appendicitis is associated with
a process of lithiasis, which may be compared in some measure to biliary
and urinary lithiasis.
Non-Calculous Appendicitis. — Appendicitis is not always of calculous
orisin. In most cases it runs its course without the smallest concretion
being found in the canal. It is here a question of an infection of the mucous
membrane, which American surgeons have called catarrhal appen-
dicitis, for want of a better name. I propose to call it obliterating
appendicitis. In such a case, perhaps from the swelling of the infected
mucous membrane, the appendicular canal is obliterated at its orifice,
or at some point in its length, exactly as the biliary canals are obliterated
in so-called catarrhal icterus, or as the Eustachian tube is obliterated in a
case of acute otitis. This acute process terminates in the formation of one
or several subjacent cavities in the appendix, and causes all the complica-
tions.
Several causes of obliteration are sometimes found in the same appen-
dix, and appendicitis may be at the same time calculous and obliterating,
The calculi may be free in the closed cavity.
These non -calculous cases of appendicitis are just as serious as the
calculous forms, and the symptoms and the complications are similar. They
may likewise cause appendicular and peritoneal troubles, and give rise to
DISEASES OF THE INTESTINE 737
gangrene, or to perforation of the appendix. We must therefore reject
Talamon's theory that a calculus (which frequently never existed) played
an important role in the compression of the appendicular vessels,
I have just spoken of the acute obliterative process, but there is also a
chronic form, which brings about fibroid constriction and obliteration of
the appendicular canal at some point of its length (a stenosis which may
be compared with stricture of the urethra). This process may be chronic
from the outset, or may follow attacks of acute appendicitis, just as endo-
carditis is sometimes followed by mitral constriction. In a case quoted
by Achard, where the lesions had caused perforation of the appendix and
abscesses of the liver, the infective focus in the appendix was due to
obliteration of the orifice of the canal by fibroid tissue. There was no trace
of a calculus. Rendu has published a case of purulent appendicitis
caused, not by calculi, but " by a sort of fibrous constriction, which separated
the diseased appendix from the healthy caecum." It w^s easy to see that
the communication between the caecum and the appendix was completely
obliterated.
Appendicitis caused by kinks and strangulation.— In some cases
the appendicitis is neither calculous nor obliterating, but results from
kinking of the appendix, from strangulation by bands or adhesions, or by
twisting of the appendix around its mesentery. In such cases the portion
of the canal below the kink or strangulation is converted into a closed
cavity.
The appendicitis thus caused is as serious as that due to calculus or
obliteration, and the toxi-infection in the appendicular focus causes similar
symptoms and results.
The Closed Cavity. — From the various processes just described, it
follows that the canal may be obstructed either at its csecal orifice or in its
length by a calculus, by inflammatory swelling of the walls, by twisting, by
kinking, or by strangulation of the appendix. The obliteration may be
temporary or persistent. It matters little whether the obliteration is due
to a calculus, strangulation of the appendix, swelling of the infected walls,
or kinking of the tube. The essential fact is that the portion of the
appendicular canal below the obliteration is converted into a closed
cavity. The microbes, which in tlieir normal state were inoffensive (as are
all the microbes of the intestine when free), are now imprisoned, and
therefore able to increase their virulence, as shown by Klecki's experi-
ments, and to give rise to acute toxi-infection. From this moment appendi-
citis is present, and if the microbes imprisoned in the appendicular
focus are endowed with suflicient virulence, abscess, perforation, or
gangrene of the appendix may result, or else the microbes may pass through
the walls of the appendix and reach the peritoneum, without these walls
i7
738 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
showing the slightest perforation ; or, again, the toxines and microbes
may reach the veins and infect the whole system. The patient is now liable
to multiple complications, which are only too often dangerous.
The formation of a closed cavity is not always followed by complications,
for they depend on the virulence of the imprisoned microbes, and on the
toxicity of their products. This virulence may be insignificant, or may
be annihilated by the phagocytes, in which case the appendicular lesions
do not run their full course. A chronic process may obliterate the whole
canal, causing a spontaneous and radical cure, which j)rotects the patient
from further trouble.
On the other hand, the infection of the walls may continue its course
even after the initial obliteration has disappeared. This explains why, at
the time of operation, we may find a canal which has recovered its per-
meability, the closed cavity being thus destroyed, after having been the
primum movens of ,the infection, which has continued its course. This
view of appendicitis due to a closed cavity was suggested to me by the
beautiful experiments of Klecki.
Experimental Research. — In 1889 Clado presented to the Surgical
Congress some remarkable clinical and experimental work on hernial
infection. He found that the microbes from the strangulated intestine
passed into the sac, without any perforation of the gut, as early as the day
following strangulation. He followed the migration of the microbes through
the unperforated coats of the bowel, and proved that the peritoneal cavity
could, in its turn, be invaded. Finally, he noiJed the- possibility of general
infection.
Bennecken, Oker-Blom, and many others, have since repeated these
experiments, and have proved that the coli bacillus, enclosed in a strangu-
lated or invaginated coil of gut, may pass into the peritoneum either by
penetration through the coats or by way of the lymphatics, and thus cause
peritoneal infection.
The most important work on this subject, however, is that of Klecki,
who, with strict aseptic precautions, occluded an intestinal coil in dogs
by means of caoutchouc rings. After twenty-four to forty-eight hours
the dogs were killed. The strangulated coil was not perforated, and yet
had caused peritonitis. The results of these experiments are : the intestinal
coil, converted experimentally into a closed cavity, contains swarms of
the microbes usually found in the bowel, but their virulence is much
increased. The microbes, in their new pathological state, can traverse the
non-perforated intestinal wall, and cause peritonitis. The virulence of the
microbes in the ligatured coil of gut is greater than in the peritoneum.
"It is therefore not in the peritoneum that the solution of the question
must be sought. The coli bacillus and the other microbes which give rise
DISEASES OF THE INTESTINE 739
to polyinfection reach the peritoneum through the pathological coil, in which
they have already undergone biological changes, causing an increase in their
own virulence, and also in that of their toxines."
As these experimental data appeared to me absolutely applicable to
the pathogenesis of appendicitis, I proposed the theory of the closed cavity.
Roger and Josue ligatured the appendix in a rabbit, taking care to spare the
vessels. They killed the animal some time afterwards, and found that the
part below the ligature was converted into a purulent cavity. They there-
fore concluded that it suffices to imprison the microbes in the appendix,
" in order to transform the inoffensive microbes of the intestine into patho-
genic agents."
De Rouville also has caused appendicitis experimentally in the rabbit
by ligaturing the ileo-csecal appendix at its base. He was thus able to
reproduce the lesions caused by the closed cavity. His conclusions are as
follows : " The first experiment showed the only too frequent course of
appendicitis in man, ending in gangrene, perforation of the appendix, peri-
appendicular abscess, and general peritonitis. The perforation was pro-
duced apart from any calculus or from any operative injury to the vessels.
The second experiment showed that, even if infective lesions may, in certain
cases, be for a long time limited to the appendix, the latter is none the less
the focus of an extremely violent infection, and the possible starting-point
of formidable complications, which nothing but early surgical intervention
can avoid."
" These two cases testify in the same manner as the one recently reported
by Roger and Josue, and, like the latter, support the theory of the closed
cavity maintained by Dieulafoy."*
Another experiment : De Rouville introduced into the appendix of a
rabbit a fine stem of laminaria. Appendicitis did not appear until the
swollen laminaria came into intimate contact with the walls blocking the
opening, and converting the lower portion of the appendicular canal into a
* The new theory of appendicitis, as maintained by myself, differs in many respects
from the ideas enunciated by Talamon. According to Talamon, the calcuhis " enters
the appendix suddenly by an untimely contraction of the caecum, penetrates into it by
rubbing, and encloses itself in the superior portion of the narrow canal." Kochaz, as
we have seen above, has disproved this theory. According to Talamon, one of the
consequences of the calculus thus engaged is " compression of the walls of the appendix
and stoppage of the circulation of the vessels contained in the walls " ; then " the in-
offensive microbes, which are powerless against the healtliy cells, triumph witliout
difficulty over these cells when they are deprived of their blood-supply." The experi-
ments of Kouvillo also disprove this hypotliesis. Accordingly, the various experiments,
and tlio numerous cases of appendicitis without calculus, condemn Talamon's theory,
which, however, has one happy expression — " tlie closed vaso " , but this expression was
still-born, lost in the midst of inexact theories (see Dclbet, Arch. Genir. de Medecine,
1897, p. :m).
47—2
740 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
closed cavity. Other foreign bodies, such as small grains of lead or pieces
of glass, introduced into the appendix do not cause appendicitis, because
they do not gradually swell up, causing obliteration of the canal, and con-
verting it into a closed cavity. These experiments prove that the arrest
of foreign bodies or of appendicular products does not suffice to provoke
appendicitis. Appendicitis is only produced when the canal is completely
obstructed at some spot.
Migration of Microbes. — If it is in the closed cavity that the virulence
of the microbes is increased, we must prove that their migration takes place
through the walls of this closed cavity. In conjunction with Apert and
Caussade, I have verified this point. We made use of an appendix which
had been removed. The histological lesions and the bacteriological features
are noted in Plate VI. The prominent features are as follows : above the
obliteration, the wall has preserved its normal structure ; no microbes are
found in it : on a level with the obliteration, the lumen of the canal has
completely disappeared, and the wall is largely replaced by fibrous tissue.
Microbes are few in number : below the obliteration, in the closed cavity,
the deep part of the mucous membrane still exists, but its superficial part
is ulcerated. The baae of the glands only is seen. The subjacent layer
forms two-thirds of the thickness of the wall. It has a lymphoid structure,
and is traversed by small veins, congested with blood, and by a few thickened
arterioles. The lymphoid tissue invades the muscular layers, and separates
the bundles, especially those of the circular layer. The continuity of the
longitudinal layer is better preserved. The peritoneum is very much
thickened, and the subperitoneal layer is traversed by numerous blood-
vessels. The walls of the closed cavity are traversed by numerous colonies
of microbes, occupying the lymphoid tissue below the mucous membrane,
and especially the spaces of the reticulum. These microbic masses are in
part engulfed by leucocytes, and are formed by agglomeration of the
microbes, as if the coli bacillus and other microbes had formed colonies
in situ. Similar colonies are found in the portions of lymphoid tissue
separating the layer of smooth muscular fibres. They can be followed into
the subperitoneal layer, and are spreading to the peritoneal cavity. The
pathogenesis of certain cases of appendicular peritonitis is thus explained,
although the walls of the appendix are neither gangrenous nor per-
forated.
The chief fact, which by itself alone would suffice to prove the patho-
genic role of the closed cavity, is that the colonies, though so numerous
in the walls of the closed cavity, where their virulence is increased, are
absent in the walls of the appendix above the closed cavity. The infective
process is, therefore, much the same in a closed cavity of the appendix or in
a strangulated coil of bowel. In both cases the increase in virulence favours
MIGRATION OF MICROBES THROUGH A SEGMENT
OF THE APPENDIX, WHICH HAS BEEN
TRANSFORMED INTO A CLOSED CAVITY.
Plate VI.
m
II
a
m
D
m
Fig. 5o. — A section of the walls of the appendix on a level
with th. closed cavity.
A. — The Deep Part of the Ulcerated Mucous Membrane.
B. — The Submucous Layer, very much thickened, forming
Two-Thirds of the Thickness of the Wall.
It has a lymphoid structure, and is traversed by small veins (v)
gorged with blood (w), and by arterioles with thickened walls [a).
C. — Muscular Layer, separated by the Lymphoid Tissue.
D. — Subperitoneal Layer.
m, Numerous colonies of microbes {Bacillus coli) traversing
the appendicular walls from the mucous towards the serous
membrane. To facilitate the description, the microbic elements
have been diagrammatically enlarged.
To face p. 740
DISEASES OF THE INTESTINE 741
the migration of the microbes through the walls. Mj researches as to
appendicitis agree absolutely with those of Klecki as to the intestinal coil.
It is now easy to understand how the infection of the walls of the appendix
at the site of the closed cavity takes place. We see the pathogenesis of
certain cases of appendicular peritonitis, the peritoneum being infected,
even when the walls of the appendix are neither gangrenous nor per-
forated.
And the proof that this is the crux of the question is that, while the
obliteration may be due to kinking, twisting of the appendix, strangulation
by a band, obliteration by calculi, or swelling of the walls, the result is
always the same. The infection starts from the closed cavity, and sets
up the same train of symptoms and complications.
Increase of Virulence in the Closed Cavity. — The following experiment
(Hartmann and Minot) helps us to comprehend the degree of virulence which
the microbes may acquire in the closed cavity :
Hartmann operated upon a patient for acute appendicitis, and found, on examining
the specimen, that the canal was obliterated in its middle portion, the lower portion
being converted into a closed cavity. Two sets of cultures were made on agar, one from
the mucus taken from the free end of the canal and the other from the mucus of the
closed cavity. Twenty -four hours later numerous colonies of the Bacillus coli had grown
on both cultures. Two tubes of broth were treated separately with the colon bacilli
taken from each of these cultures. On April 19 fifteen drops of these two broths were
injected under the skin of the Hank of two guinea-pigs. The guinea-pig inoculated
Avith the broth containing the bacillus taken from the free ends of the appendicular canal
remained in perfect health, whilst the fifteen drops of the broth containing the bacillus
from the closed cavity caused considerable oedema and loss of flesh in the inoculated
guinea-pig. On April 2-1: the experiments were repeated, the cultures being on this
occasion four days old. A guinea-pig inoculated with twenty drops of the first broth
suffered no ill-effects, whereas another guinea-pig, inoculated with twenty drops of the
second broth, died in thirty-six hours, with an enormous phlegmon of the wall, and pus
in the pleura, pericardium, and peritoneum.
I have repeated the experiments of Hartmann and Minot in my own
laboratory with Caussade, and have obtained identical results.
For our experiments we took an acute obhterating appendicitis in which the closed
cavity was absolutely shut off. We treated two broths, the one (No. 1) with liquid
taken from the free part of the canal, the other (No. 2) with liquid taken from the
closed cavity. These broths were placed in the oven. They contained quantities of
colon bacilli. Wc chose twelve guinea-pigs of about the same weight, and divided them
into two series of six each. The six guinea-pigs of each series were given, by injection
under the skin of the abdomen, fifteen drops of No. 1 broth, in the one case, and in the
other five drops of No. 2 broth. The twelve guinea-pigs were not, however, inoculated
at the same time. They were inoculated two at a time on succeeding days, the last
cultures being seven days old. The guinea-pigs inoculated with No. 1 brotli showed
at the point of inoculation a small indurat(!tl nodule, wliich was readily absorbed. They
all remained in lo.fect health, whilst the guinea-pigs similarly inoculated with No. 2
brotii sliowed gangrenous abscesses, witli pus containing tlio liacillus coli, and all died
from the infection. These experiments are therefore couclusivo.
742 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Manufacture of Toxines in the Closed Cavity.— The preceding experi-
ments, though conclusive from the point of view of infection, gave no
precise information as to the toxicity of the products elaborated in the
closed cavity.
As I was anxious to make some experiments concerning the toxicity, Caussade and
I filtered the culture broths, and made inoculations with the filtered hquid, which
contained toxines, but not bacilli. Six guinea-pigs were inoculated, three with the
filtrate of No. 1 broth and three with the filtrate of No. 2 broth. Each guinea-pig
received an injection of twenty drops of filtered broth : the two guinea-pigs inoculated
on Monday received cultures three days old, those inoculated on Tuesday cultures four
days old, and those inoculated on Wednesday cultures five days old. In no case did the
inoculation produce either abscess or induration.
The three guinea-pigs inoculated with the filtrate of broth No. 1 remained alive and
well, but of the three guinea-pigs inoculated with the filtrate of broth No. 2 two died
on the fifth and sixth days of the inoculation. They did not die of infection, but of
intoxication. The closed cavity is a focus of infection and of intoxication, and the con-
clusion is that I was correct in calling appendicitis a toxi-infectious disease. This
explains a series of complications which will be studied under the toxicity of appendi-
citis.
etiology. — As we have discussed fully the role of the closed cavity in
appendicitis, we can pass on to the aetiology. We must first consider the
question of heredity. Roux, of Lausanne, rightly maintained that appen-
dicitis is frequently hereditary. My own experience has shown me that
appendicitis is often seen in members of the same family, both in collateral
branches and in descendants. On a closer study of the question it has
seemed to me that heredity was especially noticeable in gouty families, and
in those suffering from urinary and biliary lithiasis, so that I would include
many cases of appendicular lithiasis under the gouty diathesis. To quote
examples :
One of my assistants sometimes has renal colic. His father was gouty and his
brother died of appendicitis. A few years ago one of my colleagues died of diabetes
and his daughter of appendicitis. For some time past I have been treating a family
in which gout, obesity, and diabetes are present. In this family I know of three cases
of appendicitis, one of which, in a child of ten years of age, was fatal. One of my best
friends had attacks of renal colic. His son was attacked by appendicitis ; he was
operated on by Bouilly and recovered. I know a lady who, for the past fifteen years,
has been subject to hepatic cohc, and, at my request, her son was operated on by
Routier for calculous appendicitis. At Trouville I saw, with Collet, a child of five
years of age taken ill with appendicitis, who was operated on by Pozzi. The girl's
mother had attacks of hepatic colic. In 1895 I was called to a lady of seventy-two,
who was suddenly taken ill with calculous appendicitis. Routier operated at my
request. Two months later it was the fortune of her granddaughter to be operated
upon, and she also had calculous appendicitis.
Appendicular lithiasis is, therefore, a family and hereditary disease. It
is sometimes of arthritic origin, and it must therefore rank with biliary and
urinary lithiasis. I might even say that of the three kinds of lithiasis, the
DISEASES OF THE INTESTINE 743
appendicular form generally appears first, since it is common in children.
It is the more to be feared because the complications consequent on renal
or biliary calculi are not to be compared either in gravity or frequency with
those resulting from appendicular lithiasis.
In other cases the heredity of appendicitis (calculous or non-calculous)
is manifest apart from any gouty diathesis.
Since I drew attention to this question of hereditary and family appen-
dicitis,* cases have multiplied. Faisans communicated to the Societe
Medicale des Hopitaux six cases of family appendicitis, in which two, three,
and four persons of the same family were taken ill with appendicitis. At
the same meeting Rendu communicated similar cases. La Societe de
Chirurgie has also found identical results (Brun, Berger, Tufiier, Jalaguier,
Quenu).
It is possible that the malformations of the appendix may also be heredi-
tary (Talamon, Pozzi), and ready to favour the formation of a closed
cavity.
Determining Causes. — Appendicitis may occur during pregnancy.
Metchnikoff has blamed intestinal worms and the trichocephalus. Some
authors have assigned a part to entero-colitis, as if appendicitis were the
result of entero-colitis, but this opinion seems to me erroneous. I shall
discuss this question in Section IV. Influenza has been blamed (Faisans),
and also measles, angina, etc. I cannot agree with this opinion. It is
more correct to say that the primary cause of appendicitis often escapes our
notice.
Onset of Appendicitis. — Every intermediate stage is seen between an
insidious onset, whicli is almost afebrile and painless, and a sudden onset,
with much fever and pain. As a general rule, prodromata rarely occur, and
the disease usually starts suddenly in the midst of excellent health, so that
on the previous day there is no suspicion of trouble.
Mild appendicitis runs the following course : The patient has a feeling of
pain and fullness in the belly, especially in the right iliac fossa. Nausea or
vomiting is generally present, but the fever is insignificant, and the patient
fancies that he is suffering from indigestion. He takes a purgative and an
enema, because his intestinal functions are not normal. A physician is
called in. The patient speaks of constipation and nausea, and calls atten-
tion to the pain in the right iliac fossa. " Quite so," says tlie doctor. '" I
find some induration and tension." And if the physician in question still
believe in typhlitis, he will diagnose stercoral typhlitis or CMJcal obstruction,
and prescribe " a purgative," or even leeches.
In other cases the pain rapidly becomes very severe in the right iliac
* Diculafoy, " Cours de Pathologic liitorno dc la Faculty wn,
reddish {Kippoarenchyma — most frequently the right lobe— is destroyed by the
tumour. In all observed cases there was vicarious hypertrophy of the left
lobe. In one of these cases this lobe alone weighed more than the entire
normal liver. The increase in size of the lobules is apparent to the naked
eye. Under the microscope the hepatic trabeculae are hypertrophied and
composed of cells larger than normal, and containing two, three, or even
four nuclei, in which karyoldnesis can be distmguished. It is a remark-
able fact that the colunms of the hepatic cells do not preserve their normal
relation, and here, as in experimental cases, the lobule no longer exists.
The rows in some cases are sinuous, and arranged without regular order ;
in other cases — and these are the more common — the rows have a tendency
to the concentric arrangement observed in nodular hyperplasia.
This process of regeneration which exists in hydatid cysts of the Hver,
and which I have described in Hydatid Cysts of the Spleen, has been found
to be well marked in hypertrophic cirrhosis. It supplies us with the key
to the different evolution of the atrophic and hypertrophic forms of alcoholic
cirrhosis. In the former most of the cells are destroyed or are on the way to
fatty degeneration ; in the latter, not only do the cells show no change, but
we find in places foci of hyperplasia, cells with karyokinetic proliferation
and concentric nodules, comparable in every way with those seen in the case
of hydatid cysts. Here again the idea of compensation in hypertrophic
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 899
alcoholic cirrhosis is verified by clinical evidence. We have seen, as a matter
of fact, that the urinary toxicity, instead of being increased, as in the
atrophic form, remains normal. Furthermore, researches upon urobihnuria
and alimentary glycosuria show the perfect condition of the cell. In alco-
holic cirrhosis this regeneration may be diffuse, and give the microscopic
appearance just described. The hypertrophy affects the liver as a whole,
or is confined either to one lobe or to a part of a lobe. All these varieties
of one and the same pathological condition differ in their microscopic aspect,
but they are blended in the condition of the living and regenerated cell
that is peculiar to them. The condition of the cell must serve to classify
cirrhoses, for it commands the evolution, while the prognosis is closely
related to it. The proximate causes of this reaction by the organism are
still obscure in certain cases. The regenerative process has been noticed
particularly in young arthritic individuals. We shall meet mth this com-
pensatory hyperplasia when we study other kinds of cirrhosis, such as
hypertrophic biliary cirrhosis, in which, as far as Hanot is concerned, it
explains the course of events. It manifests itself especially by the forma-
tion of concentric nodules. '' Similarly, it is admissible that the lesion
described by Kelsch and Kiener and by Sabourin under the name of hyper-
plastic nodular hepatitis in certain, cases of malarial and tubercular cir-
rhosis with enlargement of the liver, is only the expression of a process of
more or less developed, though often insufl&cient, regeneration."
VII. CURABILITY OF CIRRHOTIC ASCITES AND CIRRHOSIS.
Cirrhosis and cirrhotic ascites were considered to be incurable, and
every individual with cirrhosis of the liver was doomed in almost the same
manner as an individual suffering from cancer. These opinions must be
modified. In 1886 Troisier made an interesting communication to the
Societe Medicale des Hopitaux on the curability of cirrhotic ascites, and
mentioned with regard to this subject the work of Lendet and Ribeton.
The following examples give an idea of this process :
Troisier : A man was admitted to hosijital for ascites, oedema of the lower limbs, and
collateral circulation. The quantity of fluid in the peritoneum was estimated at
about 12 pints. The Uver seemed to be enlarged, and the spleen was hypertrophied.
The diagnosis pointed to alcoholic cirrhosis, and absolute milk diet was jirescribed.
Under the influence of this treatment the urine rose to 5 pints, the ascites disappeared
in a few weeks, as did the oedema of the lower Umbs. Since then the ascites has not
returned, and the patient is in excellent health.
Descoust : A patient was suffering from considerable ascites, with d ckiua of the
legs, and jaundice. The urine was scanty, but did not contain albumin ; tlic lieart was
healthy. The man had for a long time been addicted to drink, and tlio cUagnosis of
cirrhosis with ascites was made. Ascites, ccdema of the lower limbs, and jaundice had
appeared four years before, but had disappeared as long as the patient abstained from
57—2
900 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
alcohol. Vulpian, who saw the patient at the time of his second attack, gave a very
grave prognosis. Soon after this consultation the patient left for the country. No news
was received from him, and it was thought that he was dead. Great was the surprise
of Descoust to see him walk into his consulting-room, completely recovered.
Seailles : A blacksmith, of alcohohc habits, was taken ill with ascites and oedema
of the legs. The hver was enlarged and extended beyond the false ribs by 2 inches.
The case was one of alcohohc cirrhosis, with enlarged hver. The abdomen was tapi)ed,
and 18 pints of a citrine Hquid were removed. The reproduction of the liquid was so
rapid that, between January 28, 1885,and November 5 of the same year, eighteen tappings
were necessary, and gave a total of 360 pints. Each tapping was followed by rehef,
but the cachectic condition became more pronounced and the patient began to waste.
From the commencement of treatment absolute milk diet had been prescribed. After
the eighteenth tapping the ascites again recurred ; and then the urine became abundant,
the circumference of the abdomen fell from 45 to 40 inches, and the ascites disappeared,
although the hver remained hypertrophied. In a few weeks he regained his health,
and went back to his trade as a blacksmith ; his appetite was good, but, as regards
drink, he replaced wine by milk.
]\Iillard : This was a case of a man of alcoholic habits. After a prodromal phase,
lasting a year and a half (diarrhoea, tympanites, yellow complexion, and emaciation),
oedema of the lower limbs, and soon afterwards ascites, appeared. A doctor tapped him,
and drew off 16 pints of clear fluid. The effusion rapidly reappeared. Millard found
considerable ascites ; the liver was enlarged, and the spleen was hypertrophied. An
exclusive milk diet was prescribed. From that time the ascites diminished progres-
sively, and the liver and spleen decreased in size. The improvement was maintained,
and health was regained in a few months. The ascites completely disappeared, the
liver and spleen resumed their normal size, and the man was cured of ascites and of
alcoholic cirrhosis.
Kahn : A woman, of alcoholic habits, noticed a gradual enlargement of the
abdomen. Soon afterwards she suffered from shght jaundice, oedema of the lower limbs,
and difficulty in breathing. She went into Hanot's ward. Considerable ascites and
a well-marked collateral circulation were found ; the lower Umbs were cedematous ; the
face was cedematous ; the stools were almost clay-coloured ; and she experienced
dyspnoea on the least exertion. The urine contained neither albumin nor sugar,
though urobilin and red pigment were foimd. Paracentesis was performed, and
30 pints of yellowish fluid were removed. The patient was placed on a strict milk diet.
After tapping, the size of the liver was more easily appreciated, the organ being much
enlarged. The diagnosis of hypertrophic alcohohc cirrhosis was made. The hquid was
rapidly reproduced, and a second tapping was necessary in three weeks' time, 34 pints
being withdrawn. Other tappings were performed on the following dates : April 3,
42 pints ; April 20, 41 pints ; May 6, 41 pints ; May 25, 40 pints ; June 26, 37 pints ;
August 16, 34 pints ; October 10, ninth and last tapping, withdrawal of 36 pints.
From this date the ascites did not return, the hver gradually diminished in size, the
general condition became excellent, and the patient finally recovered. The saUent
feature is that she was seen three years later in good health.
At the Hotel-Dieu I had two patients whose history I have given in a chnical lecture*
on " The Curabihty of Ascites and Cirrhosis." Resume : A woman was admitted
into my wards for ascites estimated at about 24 pints. The patient told us that the
trouble began seven months before, in August, 1897. She noticed that it caused her
pain to put on her corset, and that her stomach was more swollen than usual. As regards
digestive troubles, she had occasional vomiting. In November shght oedema of the
lower limbs made its appearance, and quickly increased, so as to make walking
* Clinique Medicale de VHotd-Dieu, 1897, 19™^ legon.
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 901
impossible. Micturition became difficult. She was admitted in this condition to a
surgical ward on February 2, 1898, the diagnosis being ascites, following a cystic lesion
of the ovary.
On February 5 an incision was made in the median line below the umbilicus, and
about 30 pints of serous liquid withdrawn. The ovaries were examined, but were
healthy, so that the ascites was not due to an ovarian lesion. The peritoneum was care-
fully examined, but was healthy, so that the ascitic form of tuberculosis was out of the
question. The diagnosis of cirrhotic ascites was, therefore, made, and, as soon as the
abdominal wound had healed, the patient was sent over to the medical wards, under
Chauffard. For some time after the evacuation of the fluid the patient felt better, and
breathed more freely, and the legs were less oedematous. She was placed on a milk
diet, and oxymel scillae was prescribed. On February 15 (ten days after laparotomy)
ascites was again present ; the oedema of the legs had increased, and the urine was less
abundant. On March 2, 27 pints of yellowish liquid were withdrawTi. The oedema
of the legs diminished rapidly and the patient left the Cochin Hospital on March 6
for home. To her great despair, the cedema reappeared, and the belly again swelled, so
that she was compelled to keep to her bed.
On March 15 she was admitted to my wards, complaining, as before, of the size of
her belly, of cedema of the legs, and of difficulty in micturition. On examination I
found the recent cicatrix of the median laparotomy. The ascitic hquid was very
abundant and free in the peritoneal cavity. The size of the belly and the displacement
of the intestinal coils made the measurement of the liver impossible. Palpation
revealed neither tumour nor induration. A well-marked collateral circulation was
evident in the right flank and the epigastrium. The urine contained neither all urain,
sugar, nor urobihn ; examination for ahmentary glycosuria remained negative. The
existence of haemorrhoids was noticed.
The previous operation simplified the diagnosis greatly, and I knew that neither
cystic degeneration nor peritoneal tuberculosis had been found, so that I could only
agree with the previous diagnosis of cirrhotic ascites. Moreover, the patient had " a
hepatic past," which must always be taken into account. A few years previously
she had had jaundice. Again, she had managed a wine-shop, which in itself is an
invitation to drink. My chagnosis was, therefore, profuse ascites, hepatic cirrhosis,
relative integrity of the hepatic cells ; bladder troubles caused by the amount of the
ascites. The patient was placed on a strict milk diet. Iodide of potassium was given
only for a short time.
On March 27 tapping became necessary. Thirty pints of albuminous yellow hquid
were withdrawn ; the lower edge of the liver was then found to be smooth. Percussion
gave a vertical dullness of 5 inches. The cirrhosis was therefore not atrophic, but had,
rather, a hypertrophic tendency. During the next few weeks the ascites slowly
reappeared, and the oedema of the legs persisted. On May 16 a fresh puncture was made,
and 26 pints of yellowish liquid were withdrawTi. The patient continued her milk diet,
and felt much better. During the next few months the situation comph^toly changed :
the cedema of the legs became insignificant, and the increase in quantity of the
peritoneal fluid was so slow that in two months and a half the belly contained only a
few pints. Nevertheless, on August 2 I tapped again, 15 pints of fhiid being withdrawn.
From that dat,(! not the slightest peritoneal effusion was noticed ; the ondema of the legs
disappeared r;omplotoly, and the woman felt in perfect health ; but I kept her in bed on
a milk diet. On October 15 I allowed the patient to get up, and I added eggs and
vegetables to her milk diet. She left the hospital on November I, promising to
continue her diet. She came back to see us on several occasions, and we found her in
the best of health. She ate almost all kinds of food, but she drank only milk. There
has not btH?n a trace of oedema in the legs, the ascites has never rea})i)eared, and the
liver has gone back to its normal size. Summary : In this case of ascitic cirrhosis
902 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
134 pints of fluid had been withdrawn in six months. After the last tapping the cure
remained permanent.
I saw a similar case at the Hotel-Dieu. A wine-broker was admitted into my
wards for ascites. He told me that the belly had commenced to swell three months
previously, and that it became enormous in six weeks. The appearance of the ascites
was preceded by precirrhotic symptoms — loss of appetite, irregularity of the bowels,
appearance of haemorrhoids, tympanites, epistaxis, wasting, and loss of strength. On
examination I found that he had an earthy complexion, and that his conjunctivae were
yellowish. The belly was much enlarged, and measured 50 inches around the umbilicus,
which was very prominent. The flanks were bulging, and the skin was covered with
dilated veins, indicating a collateral circulation. Dullness was complete in the flanks
and hypogastrium, and the resonance only appeared to start from the umbiUcus. The
sensation of fluid was very clear. I estimated the quantity of fluid in the peritoneum
at about 20 pints. In spite of the distension of the abdomen the enlargement of the
liver was perceptible ; on dipping it was found to extend an inch below the false ribs.
The hypertrophy was Ukewise shown by the vertical dullness, measuring 6 inches.
The spleen was enlarged. The urine was of normal quantity, and contained urobihn in
small amount. The legs were not oedematous. The heart was normal.
The man was an alcohoUc, drinking some 12 pints of wine a day. He had followed
the wine trade for twenty-five years. Chronic alcoholism showed itself by such
symptoms as dyspeptic troubles, nightmare, pains and cramps in the legs, and tremors
of the hands and tongue. The diagnosis of ascites, associated with hypertrophic
alcoholic cirrhosis, was obvious. The large size of the Uver was not antagonistic to this
diagnosis ; on the contrar^^ an enlarged hver is frequently characteristic of alcoholic
cirrhosis.
In spite of the ascites, I postponed tapping, and ordered complete rest and milk
diet, to which a tablespoonful of Trousseau's diuretic wine was added daily. The
urine became more abundant, and the general condition improved. After a month's
treatment the belly was more supple, and grew smaller. Strict' treatment was continued,
and gradually cured the ascites and the cirrhosis. Whilst the size of the belly diminished,
the urine, which amounted to 3 pints daily, no longer contained urobilin.
After the disappearance of the fluid the hypertrophied liver could be more easily
felt. Improvement ended in cure, and when the patient left the hospital, the ascites had
completely disappeared, and the general condition was excellent. His food consisted
of white meats, bread, and vegetables ; the wine was cut off, and replaced by 4 pints of
milk. I saw the patient after he had left the hospital : the Hver had regained its normal
size ; the cure was maintained.
These cases prove that cirrhotic ascites is curable. Eecovery has
occurred after five tappings (my first patient), after eighteen tappings
(Seailles), after nine tappings (Kahn), and one tapping (Millard), and cure
sometimes results without tapping (Troisier's case and my second patient).
This cure of ascites is not spontaneous, but is due to an exclusive milk diet,
to diuretic medicines, and to the absolute suppression of alcohol. Two
factors contribute to the cure of ascites — diuresis, on the one hand, and, on
the other hand, total suppression of alcohol.
Cirrhotic ascites is curable. Is cirrhosis of the liver also capable of
cure ? Cirrhosis of the liver may be cured. I am of opinion that the more
it resembles the type described by Hanot and Gilbert as " alcoholic and
hypertrophic cirrhosis " (the type described in the preceding section), the
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 903
more easily will it be curable ; and tlie farther it is removed from this type,
the less curable it will be. Let me explain : In cirrhosis with an atrophic
tendency the hepatic lobules undergo such destruction that the disease
is incurable ; but there are cases of alcoholic cirrhosis with compensatory
hyperplasia. By this hypertrophy the losses sustained through the cirrhotic
process are more than compensated by the new formation of liver substance.
This fact was proved in one of my patiente who recovered from cirrhosis and ascites,
finally dying of erysipelas. The examination of his hver was of exceptional interest.
The liver weighed over 4 pounds. The histological examination showed the existence
of bivenous cirrhosis ; the portal lesions were of especial interest. The intrahepatic
capillaries were enormously developed, both in the fibrous tissue and in the lobules,
the portal circulation being completely re-established.
Furthermore, the numerous centres of cellular regeneration found ex-
plained the disappearance of the signs of hepatic insufficiency. The
remedy, therefore, exists side by side with the disease ; the regenerative
process supplants the degeneration, and the liver, instead of becoming
atrophied, may finally be much larger than normal. The curability of
ascites and of hepatic cirrhosis by suitable treatment is more likely when
the cirrhosis approaches the type of alcoholic cirrhosis with an enlarged
liver. Clinically this type differs slightly from Laennec's cirrhosis. The
course is less rapid ; there is less cachexia, and the liver is enlarged.
If we refer to the preceding cases that prove the curability of ascites
and of cirrhosis, we see that hypertrophy of the liver was present. In the
case of Troisier's patient the liver seemed to be increased in size. In one
of Letulle's patients the liver was very much enlarged, and on percussion
showed dullness of 6 inches in the nipple line. In Seailles's patient the liver
was larger than normal, and reached below the false ribs. In Millard's
three cases the liver was very much enlarged, and in two of my patients it
was increased in size. The curability refers not only to the ascites, but
also to the cirrhosis, provided the treatment is continued for a long time.
Nevertheless, I repeat, all kinds of cirrhosis are not apt to be cured, but
recovery is the more probable, the more the cirrhosis approaches the hyper-
trophic alcoholic type.
The treatment is very sim.ple. It consists in suppressing alcohol in
any form (Millard). The patient must be placed on absolute milk diet
and wator (Vittel or Evian water), with or without lactose. Rest in bed is
essential. If the ascites is considerable, the fluid must be removed, and if
it reforms rapidly, tapping must be done as often as necessary. Improve-
ment and euro may sometimes be obtained. On the other hand, recovery
is sometimes slow : after the fifth tapping in my first patient ; after the
ninth tapping in TIanot's ])atient ; or after the eighteenth tapping in
Seailles's j)ationt.
904 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
VIII. HYPERTROPHIC CIRRHOSES.
Hypertrophic biliary cirrhosis does not sum up the entire history of
hypertrophic cirrhoses. Besides hypertrophic biliary cirrhosis there are
other varieties of hypertrophied liver, which I shall now mention.
1. First of all, we find malarial hypertrophic cirrhosis, described by
Kelsch and Kiener, who found in the liver of patients dying from per-
nicious fever " that not only the portal vessels and the capillaries of the
islets contained white pigmented corpuscles, but that the endothelial cells
of these vessels contained also black pigment. In patients who died from
intermittent fevers of long duration or from malarial cachexia these authors
have seen different forms of cirrhosis, generally with hypertrophy of the
liver, the lobules being affected by nodular parenchymatous hepatitis
(regeneration of the liver) with adenomatous growths, as well as with more
or less marked pigmentation of the new connective tissue and of the hepatic
cells " (Cornil and Ranvier).
2. There is a hypertrophic alcoholic bivenous cirrhosis, described in
one of the preceding sections.
3. There is a bivenous hypertrophic cirrhosis due to auto-intoxication of
gastro-intestinal origin.
4. Fatty degeneration of the liver, with increase in size of the organ, is
sometimes accompanied by a cirrhotic lesion, which allows us to describe a
fatty hypertrophic cirrhosis. This variety is especially seen in alcoholics,
or in patients who are alcoholic and tubercular at the same time. This
variety will be described under Tuberculosis of the Liver.
5. Amyloid degeneration of the liver, with or without previous syphilis,
will be discussed later. It is sometimes associated with cirrhosis, which
may be hypertrophic or atrophic.
6. We find in some patients with diabetes cirrhosis which is almost
always hypertrophic, and presents special characters. It will be dealt with
in the next section.
IX. PIGMENTARY HYPERTROPHIC CIRRHOSIS— PIGMENTARY
CACHEXIA.
The disease, "with which I am going to deal in this section, has received diverse names.
It has been called pigmentary hypertrophic cirrhosis, which is not absolutely true,
because the pigmented hver may not be hypertrophied. It has also been called
bronzed diabetes, which does not answer to the sum-total of the cases, because diabetes
and bronzed skin may be absent in pigmentary cirrhosis. The more vague name of
" pigmentary cachexia " would be more in accordance with the actual facts.
I had in my wards a patient suffering from this pigmentary cachexia. On
admission I was struck with the extreme pallor of his face, while the skin of the forehead,
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 905
the orbits, and the cheeks were of a bistre colour, somewhat resembhng the bronzed tint
of Addison's disease. He could hardly stand erect, because he was so weak. I examined
him, and was confronted by a most difficult diagnosis. On the one hand the patient
was covered with large purpuric ecchymoses, and on the other the liver was enormous.
The urine contained neither sugar nor albumin. The analysis of the blood showed that
there was no increase in the number of the leucocytes. The clotting was normal. The
enormous Uver and the bistre tint of a jjortion of the face rather pointed to bronzed
hypertropliic cirrhosis, . and I made this diagnosis -with reserve. It was, however,
correct. A few days later the patient died.
The post-mortem examination revealed some interesting features. The Uver was
enlarged, but it was heavier in proportion, because it weighed 110 ounces, instead of
50 ounces. It was hard and creaked under the scalpel, even more than an ordinary
cirrhotic liver. It seemed as though the knife were crushing grains of sand. Finally,
and this was the particular point which arrested my attention, the liver had a sjiecial
tint ; it was the colour of rust. Granules of cirrhosis were observed in the sections,
which were of a rusty colour. These granules and the intermediary tissue were coloured
with two different tints of rust. These macroscopic characters already showed that
the liver was affected with the cui'ious lesion called " pigmentary cirrhosis."
The microscopic and chemical examinations fully confirmed the diagnosis of
pigmentary cirrhosis. The sections showed large bands of fibrous tissue, forming
irregular rings, di\ading the lobules and surrounding the hepatic veins, as well as the
portal spaces. In short, the lesion had the aspect of a bivenous cirrhosis. The hepatic
lobules were let into the cirrhotic tissue, and in places the cells were affected with
vesiculo-fatty degeneration. The characteristic feature of the lesion, however, was the
presence of irregular polyspherical granules of a golden-yellow colour in the bands of
the fibrous tissue ; in the interior of the hepatic cells granules of the same colom-, though
much smaller, were found. In the cells they were almost regularly divided, but they
formed tracts in the fibrous bands, and were united into compact masses in some places.
These granules had very peculiar micro-chemical characteristics, and in spite of
staining with many reagents they preserved their yellow colour in the midst of tissues
coloured pink, red, or blue. Even in very thin sections, cleared with balsam, they
appeared bright yellow, while the tissues were so transparent as to be almost invisible.
Acids or alkaUs did not atTect the yellow colour. They were, therefore, rebellious to all
colouring and decolouring organic materials. On the other hand, with sulphide of
ammonia they assumed the black tint of sulphide of iron, and with ferrocyanide of
potassium and hydrocliloric acid they gave the beautiful blue colour of ferrocyanide
of iron (Prussian blue). The granules were, therefore, formed of an iron pigment.
Summary : The liver was affected with hypertrophic cirrhosis, and was infiltrated
with pigment, giving the reactions of iron. There was, therefore, no doubt tliat it
was a case of tlio pigment called ochre pigment and of the lesion knowTi as pigmentary
hypertrophic cirrhosis.
The lesion and the disease that it causes have for some years been tlie object of
much investigation that tends to modify former conceptions. A recent discussion at
the Societe Medicale des Hopitaux showed great difference of opinion with regard to
this subject. In this di.seaso it is the rule that the liver is not the only organ infiltrated
with tlie jtigment ; the pancn^as, the salivary glands, the supranmal capsules, the
myocardium, and the lymphatic glands (corresponding to the diseased organs are often
infiltrated with pigment. The more active the cells the more apt are they to bo loaded
with iron pigment.
Description. — This disease was first described by Trousseau. Tii a
man with dialx'tes brought on by overwork and privation, Trousseau was
struck with the brouze-liJr(' able to produce a
tubercular furrowed liver.
Finally, Pillct has recently shown that cultures of Ir.unnn tuljorculoais
920 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
inoculated in a guinea-pig or in a dog may cause large degenerative lesions
in the liver from coagulation necrosis. The hepatic cells swell, their proto-
plasm liquefies, and their nucleus loses its affinity for colouring matter.
Experimental tubercular hepatitis has contributed, as we have said, to
the elucidation of the histogenesis of the tubercle in general. Cornil and
Yersin made intravenous injections of avian cultures in rabbits, and were
able to observe the course of the lesion in the liver. About the fifth or
sixth day after inoculation the bacilli simply cause small fibrinous clots in
the capillaries, where they end near the portal spaces. A zone of leuco-
cytes soon envelops the fibrinous thrombus within the vessel. The leuco-
cytes, no doubt under the influence of the substances secreted by the bacilli,
are converted into epithelioid or giant cells. The process has not time to
proceed farther, as death supervenes about the end of the third week.
Metchnikoff, and Gilbert and Girode consider that the principal part in the
formation of the nodules and of the giant cells is played by the endothelial
cells of the vessels and by the large mononuclear leucocytes. One of the
proofs of the activity of these elements is the presence of glycogen in the
protoplasm.
The hepatic cells do not, as Baumgarten maintained, take part in the
initial constitution of the tubercle. The hepatic tubercle may consist in
a simple agglomeration of round cells, like the infective nodules of typhoid
fever or smallpox. Experiments as well as pathological anatomy prove,
therefore, that the tubercle bacillus produces in the liver the fatty degenera-
tion of the cell and the fibrosis, as well as the tubercle. How does it produce
these different lesions ? Does it do so by direct action, or by means of the
toxines which it secretes ? According to Hanot and Lauth, the bacilli
act through their secretions, which are said to be sclerogenous for the con-
nective tissue and fat-producing for the hepatic cell. The experiments
carried out with Koch's tuberculin have not confirmed this alluring hypothesis
(Chauffard).
It is, perhaps, more probable to consider, with Hanot and Gilbert, that
the difference of the lesions is due to an abnormal individual resistance
against the tubercle bacillus, or to an infection of the organism by bacilli
which, in the very extensive scale of virulence that the bacillus of Koch
must possess, occupy no very high place as regard species.
Koch's bacillus is, perhaps, not the only factor at work. Alcoholism has
been considered as a contributory cause in the first researches published on
fatty hypertrophic cirrhosis. Whilst Sabourin wrongly adopted alcohol as
the only cause, Hutinel explained the fibrosis by alcoholism, and the fatty
condition of the liver by tuberculosis. According to Hanot, alcoholism plays
only a secondary part, and recent observations made by Hutinel on young
children free from the suspicion of alcoholism are in favour of this opinion.
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 921
The researches of Hanot and Letienne have proved that biliary infections
play a secondary part.
Symptoms. — Clinically, hepatic tuberculosis is, as a rule, silent in its
progress, whether we have to deal with tubercular granules, peribiliary
cavities, or nodular foci. The symptomatology in these cases points to the
general disease — tuberculosis — rather than to the hepatic localization. If,
however, we make a practice of examining the liver in tubercular patients,
certain signs will show that the organ is affected. The slightly hypertrophied
liver, extending two or three fingers' breadth below the edge of the false
ribs, may be somewhat painful on pressure. The spleen is also somewhat
enlarged. Slight jaundice, some decoloration of the faeces, scanty and
brick-coloured urine, urobilinuria, and alimentary glycosuria, show that
the liver is diseased. As for the anatomical type, it is sometimes impos-
sible to decide without taking these symptoms into account, and confusion
between a fatty and an amyloid liver is still possible. Tubercular cirrhosis,
however, has a much clearer clinical indi\aduality, which should be well
known, so that errors of diagnosis may be avoided.
During the past few years two types have been described^atty hyper-
trophic cirrhosis of the Hutinel-Sabourin type and tubercular cirrhosis of
the Hanot-Lauth type.
In fatty hypertrophic cirrhosis a premonitory period and a stationary
stage may be distinguished. In the premonitory period the patient is an
alcoholic who shows all the symptoms of gastro-intestinal alcoholism — viz.,
phlegm, anorexia, vomiting, slight swelling of the liver, and scanty urine,
loaded with urates. On these symptoms there are grafted those of pul-
monary tuberculosis, which most frequently become predominant. After
some months, a chill, a fresh outburst of tuberculosis, or some alcoholic
excess, causes the latent cirrhosis to throw off its mask. The digestive
troubles, then, become marked, the anorexia is complete, the skin assumes
a yellowish tint, and the urine becomes scanty, with but little urea, though,
on the other hand, urobilin, sugar, and sometimes albumin, are present.
The faecal matter is sometimes colourless ; the lower limbs become
(jedematous ; attacks of haemorrhage (especially epistaxis and haematemesis)
may appear ; and the patient falls into a state of profound asthenia. To
these syin})tonis of auto-intoxication there are added a subcontinuous
febrile condition and an aggravation of the pulmonary tuberculosis, which
may prevent the lesion being recognized. Ascites is, in general, negligible,
and the subcutaneous veins are not much dilated. The key to the diag-
nosis lies in the examination of the liver, which is considerably increased
in size, and extends below the false riijs by four or five fingers' breadth. It
is hard, smooth, and painful on the slightest pressure. The spleen is like-
wise enlarged. This stationary stage, characterized by painful liyper-
922 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
trophy of the liver, with hepatic insufficiency, is generally complete in five
or six weeks.
Although alcoholism is frequent in the premonitory period, it is not
indispensable to the development of fatty hypertrophic cirrhosis, as shown
by the recent observations of Laure and Honorat, and of Hutinel, in
children. Tubercular cirrhosis of the Hanot-Lauth type, which anatomi-
cally is allied to alcoholic cirrhosis by the topography of the fibrosis, may
show itself clinically by the cardinal symptom of Laennec's cirrhosis —
ascites. The abdominal effusion and the collateral circulation may be
sufficiently marked to make the diagnosis between the two affections most
difficult.
The appearance of abdominal pains, tenderness of the liver on pressure,
marked jaundice, and rapid cachexia, are especially observed in tubercular
cirrhosis. Advanced signs of pulmonary tuberculosis or of tubercular
peritonitis are most important in diagnosis. Tubercular peritonitis often
completes this form of cirrhosis, and in a number of cases, clinically labelled
as tubercular peritonitis of an ascitic form, the effusion is due rather to a
cirrhotic lesion than to peritonitis. Clinical medicine has, therefore, gained
by the careful anatomical study of the liver in tubercular patients during
recent years, and we see that the methodical examination of this organ in
tubercular patients will furnish valuable indications as to prognosis and
diagnosis.
XIII. CANCER OF THE LIVER AND BILE-DUCTS.
Pathological Anatomy — etiology. — Cancer of the liver maybe primary
or secondary. Primary cancer is very rare, since it forms only the eighth
part of the cancerous tumours of this organ, but secondary cancer is fre-
quent. It may, indeed, be said that secondary growths are most common
in the liver. Cancer of the stomach, intestines, rectum, lungs, uterus, bones,
skin, or choroid, may lead to secondary growths in the liver, including
columnar- celled epitheUoma, encephaloid, scirrhous, hsematoid, colloid, and
melanotic carcinoma, according to the rule that a secondary cancer is always
of the same kind as the primary growth. The encephaloid form and the
cylindrical epithelioma are the most frequent.
L Secondary Cancer. — I have just said that columnar-celled epithelioma
is one of the most common malignant tumours of the liver. The reason is
that this variety has as its seat of origin the stomach, the intestine, and the
bile-ducts, the mucosae of which are provided with columnar epithelium,
and has, as a means of transport, the portal veins leading from these organs
to the liver. Histologically, the columnar epithelioma differs from encepha'
loid and colloid carcinoma by reason of its tube-like or irregular cavities.
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 923
lined with columnar cells, and seated in the midst of a fibrous, embryonic,
or mucous stroma ; but to the naked eye " this epithelioma presents abso-
lutely the same disposition, the same dissemination, and the same aspect
as encephaloid carcinoma."
These secondary cancers, instead of forming one single mass, like massive
primary cancer, form islets that are more or less spherical, mammillated,
varying in size from a millet-seed to the head of a foetus, and disseminated
throughout the entire organ. On scraping the cut section, the islets yield
a milky juice, and their, yellowish- white colour stands out against the
brown-red background of the parenchyma. The nodules which protrude
on the surface of the liver are often umbilicated, from the degeneration and
softening of their central portion. The softening may be so complete as
to convert the cancerous tumour into a cyst, which, in its turn, becomes the
seat of haemorrhages. These cancers acquire enormous proportions, some
weighing as much as 20 pounds. Their development is sometimes very
rapid, and they may arise from a cancerous ulcer of the stomach hardly as
large as a florin. Melanotic sarcoma also grows to a large size. It is
usually secondary to a primary growth in the choroid. It is not nodular,
like the encephaloid cancer, and the hepatic tissue is infiltrated with black
pigment.
A study of the cancerous lesions under the microscope will show that
all the elements of the hepatic lobule (cells, vessels, biliary canals, and con-
nective tissue) are invaded by the cancer. If we study the hepatic zone
next to the cancer, which serves, so to say, as the transition tissue, we find
that the hepatic cells are deformed, spindle-shaped, hypertrophied, and
swollen by accumulations of protoplasm. The interlobular connective
tissue loses its fibrous appearance, and becomes infiltrated with embryonic
nuclei. The ramifications of the portal vein and of the hepatic artery
which surround the lobule become thickened, and their walls are infiltrated
with cancer cells. The endothelium of the vessels is, in its turn, invaded,
and cancerous vegetations project into the lumen of the vessel. The biliary
canaliculi are invaded in a similar manner ; their calibre is increased, and
their walls are infiltrated with cancer cells. The same process mav attack
the larger branches of the portal vein, causing ulceration of the walls. " It
would be incorrect to say that the growth near the vein has perforated the
wall so as to open the vein, for it is the carcinomatous nodule in the walls
of the vein that has become ulcerated " (Cornil and llanvier). The question
is : Which tissue of the liver is first attacked by the cancer ? Is it the glandular
(Rokitansky, Lancereaux), or the connective tissue (Virchow, Vulpian) ?
Both opinions are admissible, though the epithelial origin now seems to be
])n)V(>(l. It is, however, certain that the portal vessels and the biliary ducts
play a considerable part in the transportation and dissemination of cancer.
924 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
2. Primary Cancer. — Primary cancer is much rarer than secondary
cancer. In some cases it has the nodular form of secondary cancer, but it
most frequently deserves the name of massive cancer, because it forms
a uniform mass. When the growth does not reach the surface of the organ,
the cancer is said to be almond-like. The liver in massive cancer is not
nodular and deformed externally, as in secondary cancer, and its surface
and form remain normal ; but the hypertrophy, especially in the right lobe,
is such that it may weigh from 15 to 18 pounds.
On section, the liver is transformed into a soft or lardaceous mass,
yielding a small amount of cancerous juice on scraping. The surface of the
section is greyish or yellowish, and the centre of the cancer is hardly ever
softened, whilst softening is frequent in the nodules of secondary cancer.
In some cases a few nodules are found around the main growth.
The extrahepatic bile-ducts and the large arterial and venous trunks
are healthy. Perihepatitis, which is frequent in secondary cancer, with
its superficial nodules, is rare in massive cancer. Here, as in secondary
cancer, cancerous degeneration is found in the glands of the hilum as well
as in the gastro-hepatic, peripancreatic, prevertebral, and mediastinal
glands, into which the lymphatics of the liver empty. Specific emboli may
follow the course of the hepatic veins and sow cancer in the lungs.
At first sight massive cancer has most frequently the look of encepha-
loid cancer, with or without hsomorrhagic foci. Histological examination
shows that it is a variety of epithelial cancer. Prirhary cancer of the liver
assumes two principal forms — alveolar epithelioma and trabecular epithe-
lioma. These two forms may combine and take on the trabeculo-alveolar
form, but in the great majority of cases the alveolar epithelioma is the
type of massive or nodular primary cancer, whilst the trabecular epithelioma
is the type of primary cancer with cirrhosis.
3. Adenoma and Cirrhosis. — When describing alcoholic venous cir-
rhosis of the liver, I said that discrete or confluent and small or large adeno-
matous growths may be met with in cirrhotic livers. These growths do
not project in a section of the liver ; they have a putty-like consistency
and a yellowish-grey colour, sometimes tinted by haemorrhage. A stream
of water may enucleate them from the surrounding capsule.
According to some writers, the association of cirrhosis with adenoma
of the liver may be explained in the following manner : Interstitial hepatitis
opens the scene, and produces cellular irritation and parenchymatous
hepatitis, which may end in the formation of epithelial tumours or adeno-
mata. From this point of view the adenoma would so far be a benign
tumour, like adenomata of the breast. The adenoma, however, may,
according to some writers, be transformed into carcinoma — that is to say,
into a malignant tumour. The proofs of this transformation are said to be
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 925
drawn, not from the structure of the tumour, for the structure of a
tumour does not suffice to indicate its malignancy ; they are drawn from
the general invasion of the glands of the hilum and " the neoformation
of a tissue made up of hepatic cells in the interior of the portal vessels — an
indication that the adenoma becomes infective." Adenoma of the liver is
said to have this character in common with certain adenomata of the breast,
which, after being harmless for a long time, assume the characters of
malignant tumours. According to Brissaud, the series of transformations
is even more complete. The venous cirrhosis is the cause of the adenoma,
and the adenoma is transformed into carcinoma — in other words, cirrhosis,
adenoma, and carcinoma are successive links in the same pathological
chain.
Gilbert interprets the association of adenoma and of cancer in another
manner. According to him, there is no question of transformation, for
adenoma and cancer are one. " Adenoma, as described by Kelsch and
Kiener and by Sabourin, forms, according to my opinion, a particular
variety of hepatic carcinosis, and cannot therefore undergo cancerous
transformation."
This is also the opinion of Hanot : " Adenoma is a variety of epithe-
lioma. It is a trabecular epithelionaa, also called adeno-carcinoma, and it
might be called cylindroma, tubular epithelioma, or acinous epithelioma."
As I have previously remarked, in the great majority of cases alveolar
epithelioma is the type of massive or nodular primary cancer, whilst trabe-
cular epithelioma is the type of primary cancer with cirrhosis. Hanot and
Gilbert write : " The relations of trabecular epithelioma and of cirrhosis
have been differently understood by writers. Lancereaux supposes that
the cirrhosis results from development of the neoplastic nodules in the
liver. Sabourin, on the other hand, places cirrhosis first in chronological
order, and looks upon adenoma as a complication of cirrhosis. We cannot
accept either of these explanations. Lancereaux's explanatioji, which
might be maintained if it were always a question of the coexistence of neo-
plastic nodules disseminated throughout the liver, together with cirrhosis,
cannot account for cases in which only a few neoplastic nodules coexist
with cirrhosis. Sabourin's explanation falls to the ground when confronted
with the fact that adenoma may exist without cirrhosis. We admit, with
Kelsch and Kiener, the simultaneous development of cirrhosis and adenoma,
and we believe that these two processes result from the action of the same
irritating agent on the connective tissue and on the hepatic epithelium, that
tlie cirrhosis may evolve by itself, and also that, in exceptional cases,
trabecular epithelioma may develop sc])arately." This simultaneous process
of cirrhosis and adenoma was very evident in one of my cases. The in-
vasion of the lymphatics and of the glands is rapid in alveolar epithelioma,
926 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
whereas trabecular epithelioma invades the veins and respects the lym-
phatics.
4. Ascites and Jaundice. — The compression of the portal vessels by the
cancerous tumour causes ascites ; the compression of the bile-ducts in the
hilum of the liver causes jaundice.
Adhesions are established between the cancerous liver and the neigh-
bouring organs, and are frequently invaded by the growth.
The causes of hepatic cancer are as obscure as the causes of cancer in
general. Hereditary predisposition plays a great part, and though cancer
of the liver is a disease of advanced age, it is, nevertheless, seen rather often
in adults, and even in children.
Symptoms. — Secondary cancer of the liver sometimes shows itself as
a late epiphenomenon in advanced stages of cancer of the stomach, intestine,
or rectum, and the patient succumbs before the hepatic lesion has given rise
to special symptoms. Sometimes, on the contrary, cancer of the stomach,
gall-bladder, or intestine, has only shown indefinite symptoms, when the
hepatic cancer declares itself, and spreads with such rapidity that it claims the
entire attention. Finally, there are cases — rare, it is true — in which hepatic
cancer is primary. In these various conditions what symptoms and signs
indicate cancer of the liver ?
Let us deal first with secondary cancer. It often commences with a
latent stage, and some patients have advanced cancer (hypertrophy and
nodules in the liver, cachexia) without having experienced manifest symp-
toms. Amongst the symptoms digestive troubles appear first, and we find
dryness of the mouth, loss of appetite, anorexia, ballooning of the belly, and
foetid stools. So far there is nothing significant. The patient complains
of heaviness or dull pain in the right hypochondrium. Acute pains are
absent, unless perihepatitis is present. Jaundice is frequent, and has been
noticed in thirty-nine cases out of ninety-one (Frerichs). It varies from a
slight tinge to deep and permanent coloration. It is due to multiple
causes : catarrh or compression of the bile-ducts. Ascites is frequent, but
not as abundant as in cirrhosis. It is due to divers causes : cancerous masses
obstructing the large trunks of the portal vein, partial peritonitis near the
liver, or the cancerous nodules which invade the peritoneum and the
omentum. In the latter case the ascitic liquid is often blood-stained.
Melsena is fairly common when the cancer attacks the gall-bladder and
bile-ducts (Hanot). Dilatation of the subcutaneous abdominal veins is
often noticed.
The liver is enlarged in four-fifths of the cases (Lebert), and may weigh
15 or 16 pounds. It reaches below the false ribs, and stands out in relief
under the abdominal wall, extending below the umbilical region, and en-
croaching on the left flank. When the growth is formed of large nodules,
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 927
as is usually tlie case, the upper surface of the liver is hard, uneven, and
nodular. Its sharp edge, instead of being smooth and thin, grows soft and
irregular. In some cases the growth of the cancer is so rapid that con-
siderable increase is noticed from one week to another. The spleen is never
hypertrophied. This negative sign is most valuable.
As the disease progresses the general symptoms become more marked.
Emaciation, loss of strength, anaemic colour of the skin, gradual diminution
of the red blood-corpuscles, and peripheral oedema, are the signs of cancerous
cachexia, and the patient dies — in a couple of months if the course of the
cancer is acute, and in six or eight months if the course is chronic. Death
is due to cachexia or to complications, such as subacute peritonitis, cerebral
troubles and multiple haemorrhages, icterus gravis, lowering of the tempera-
ture, or rupture of a blood-cyst found in the interior of a cancerous
nodule.
Primary cancer of the liver in its massive form presents a somewhat
different picture. Anorexia, nausea, and meteorism open the scene, as in
secondary cancer. Pain in the right hypochondrium is common, but
ascites, dilatation of the subcutaneous abdominal veins, and jaundice are
almost always absent. The chief sign is hypertrophy of the liver, which is
usually considerable ; but the liver is smooth and hard, with a sharp edge,
that shows neither the indentations nor the deformities found in secondary
cancer. Another very important symptom is acholia, or hypocholia. The
liver makes but little bile, because many cells are replaced by the neoplasm.
The faecal matter is almost colourless, and very offensive. The intestinal
coils are distended by gas. The same cause — i.e., the changes in the liver
producing acholia — opposes the production of jaundice. " Jaundice in
these conditions is almost unrealizable, even though the excretory bile-ducts
are blocked " (Gilbert). Though the acholia (acholia by secretion) may not
be absolutely special to massive cancer of the liver, it has none the less a
great value. It realizes the type of acholia from secretory trouble, in
which decoloration of the faecal matter coincides with the absence of
jaundice, and is very different from false acholia or acholia caused by ex-
cretory trouble, such as obstruction of the common bile-duct, in which
case decoloration of the faecal matter is accompanied by an icteric tint of
the skin and of the urine. The urine is scanty, and never contains albumin,
it is very poor in urea, on account of the lesions in the liver and of the
inanition (Robin).
Cachectic oedema, obliterating phlebitis and diarrhoea, are observed in
all forms of cancer. During the course of hepatic cancer fever is at times
a symptom of great iniportance. It may be remittent (Monneret) or
intermittent, with evening exacerbations. It is due to periliepatitis or to
true attacks of hepatitis. Febrile cancer ends very rapidly in death.
928 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Diagnosis. — The diagnosis of cancer of the liver is especially difl&cult
when the cancer is primary and massive, because it has several signs in
common with the amyloid liver, with certain forms of hypertrophic cirrhosis,
and with hydatid cysts.
Amyloid degeneration of the liver causes smooth hypertrophy of the
liver, with absence of jaundice and ascites, just like massive cancer ; but it
differs from cancer in the hypertrophy of the spleen, in the presence of
albuminuria and in the pathological conditions (scrofula or prolonged
suppuration) which cause lardaceous disease.
Hypertrophic biliary cirrhosis, Uke massive cancer, causes enormous
smooth hypertrophy of the liver, without ascites and without dilatation of
the abdominal veins ; but it differs from cancer by its slow course, poly-
cholia, and early persistent jaundice.
Hydatid cysts of the liver, like massive cancer, cause a large smooth
tumour, with absence of ascites and icterus ; but they differ from cancer
in the following points : In hydatid cyst the liver is not uniformly enlarged,
but is swollen at one point, and gives a feeling of resistance or almost
of fluctuation, and not a feeling of wood-like hardness. The cyst is for a
long time compatible with good health. The diagnosis is very difficult in
a case of alveolar cyst, and tapping is often the only means of diagnosis.
The diagnosis is sometimes difiicult between cancer and syphilis of the
liver, because we find in either case an enlarged lobulated fiver, jaundice,
ascites, oedema, and cachexia. The only distinctive sign is that in cancer
the compfications are rapid, whereas they are slow in syphilis.
The prognosis is absolutely fatal, and the treatment is purely pallia-
tive. It consists in maintaining the patient's strength and in treating the
symptoms as they arise.
Cancer of the Biliary Passages.
Cancer of the gall-bladder and bile-ducts is almost always primary.
Primary cancer of the gall-bladder may be columnar-celled, encephaloid,
colloid, or scirrhous. The mucous surface of the bladder is villous at the
points invaded by the new growth. The cavity of the bladder is generally
enlarged, and the walls, especially the tunica musculosa, are hypertrophied.
The bile contained in the bladder is sometimes colourless, sometimes
brown and thick. Gall-stones are usually found (fourteen times in fifteen
cases), and it is probable that the appearance of the cancer precedes the
formation of the calculi.
The tumour commences in the bladder, and then invades the cystic and
common ducts, narrowing their calibre. The neighbouring lymphatic
glands are attacked, and the duodenum, the colon, and the stomach are the
seat of adhesions, often infiltrated with growth. The liver is almost always
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 929
invaded, and in certain cases the primary growth in the gall-bladder is small,
while the liver is crammed with secondary growths.
The cancer may primarily invade the large bile-ducts, and Claisse has
compiled the following statistics : Primary cancer of the large bile-ducts is
often situated at the duodenal end of the common duct. The lesion may,
however, occur in other spots. In Claisse's two cases the cancerous nodule
attacked the hepatic duct and the middle portion of the common duct. In
Griffon and Aitigue's case the cancerous nodule was not far from the end
of the common duct, but did not involve the ampulla of Vater. Hebb,
Birsch-Hirschfeld, and Kraus have noted the localization of cancer in the
middle portion of the common duct. In Rabe's case the cancer was seated
in the middle portion of the common duct, and the gall-bladder was involved.
In the two cases of Naunyn and Schuppel the cancer was situated in the
hepatic duct or at the union of the hepatic and cystic ducts. Such was
the case in one of Jourdan's patients. In Debove's case the cancer was
situated between the cystic duct and Vater's ampulla. In my own case the
cancer was found at the union of the cystic and common ducts.
Cancer of the common bile-duct generally causes permanent jaundice,
and the diagnosis is very difficult, as we shall see in Section XXI. When the
infection involves the Hver, the symptoms are blended with those of hepatic
cancer. Melsena almost always points to the presence of cancer of the
bihary passages (Hanot).
XIV. SYPHILIS.
In this section I shall describe secondary and tertiary troubles and
hereditary syphilis.
1. Secondary Troubles — Jaundice.
Benign Jaundice. — Jaundice appears within a few months of infection.
The colour of the skin is sometimes light, sometimes deep, yellow,
and the faeces may or may not be colourless. The jaundice may appear as
an isolated symptom, but it more often is accompanied by digestive troubles,
diarrhoea, and especially by general symptoms — fever, lassitude, malaise,
headache — which belong to this stage of syphilis. The pathogenesis of
the condition is imperfectly known. It is probably due to catarrh of the
bile-ducts, analogous to the secondary syphilitic catarrh of the mucosnc of
the pharynx, larynx, or bronchi.
Icterus Gravis. — Icterus gravis may appear during the secondary stage
of sy])hilis. Contrary to the opinion of Mauriac, who believed in simple
coincidences, the observations of Lei)ert, (lubler, Lacombc, Senator, Ro(jue
and Devic, and Talamon, show that icterus gravis is a direct manifestation
59
930 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
of the syphilitic infection. It is chiefly seen in women. In Talamon's case
the histological examination showed acute diffuse hepatitis, characterized
by embryonic infiltration of the whole connective tissue of the organ, with
more or less profound destruction of the hepatic cells. The lesions are
those of acute yeUow atrophy, without any specific character. Early hepatic
syphilis, then, may be compared with early renal syphihs, in which the
anatomical lesions are those of ordinary toxic nephritis. Between the benign
and maKgnant varieties of early syphilitic icterus there are intermediate
forms, as one of Senator's cases seems to show.
As it is important not to confound syphilitic icterus with common
catarrhal icterus, we must always look for some syphihtic manifestation on
the mucosae or the skin. The spots of the macular roseola may be hidden
by the jaundice, but the papular, squamous, or lenticular syphihdes are
perfectly recognizable. The syphihdes of the throat, mouth, vulva, or
anus, the crusts of the scalp, and adenitis in the groin, are signs which may
help us in the diagnosis, and must be carefully sought after. The patho-
genic cause of the jaundice being recognized, it is necessary to order imme-
diate treatment with mercury.
2. Tertiary Troubles — Syphilitic Liver.
Pathological Anatomy. — In hepatic syphihs, perihepatitis is more pro-
nounced than in any other form of chronic hepatitis. It fonns solid and
resistant adhesions between the liver and the diaphragm. The false mem-
branes may surround the liver, compressing the veins and ducts in the
hilum, and causing ascites and jaundice.
Syphilis of the liver shows itself in the form of fibrosis or of gummata.
The two kinds of lesions are generally associated (sclero-gummatous hepa-
titis), though one of them may predominate. We can, then, describe
(1) fibrous hepatitis ; (2) gummatous nodular hepatitis.
1. Diffuse fibrous hepatitis has some characters in common with ordinary
cirrhosis. The liver is hypertrophied or atrophied, nodular, dark brown,
and lobulated rather than granular, whilst it is granular rather than lobu-
lated in atrophic cirrhosis. In typical cases the lesion has the follo^ving
characters : the edges of the Uver are anfractuous and irregular ; the surface
is nodular, and furrowed by deep fibrous cicatrices, whence the name of
tight-laced liver. The fibrous tissue, which forms bands, encloses small
indurated or caseous gummata. Adhesions are formed between the liver
and the neighbouring organs (kidney, colon, or diaphragm). In some cases
atrophy of one lobe and hypertrophy of the other are noticed. Under the
microscope the syphihtic liver shows a mixture of common and of hyper-
trophic cirrhosis. The cirrhotic tissue surrounds the lobules, and penetrates
into them. The hepatic arterioles are affected by endarteritis, and are
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 931
doubtless the origin of the sclero-gummatous process. These arterial lesions
are ahnost peculiar to syphilitic cirrhosis, and portal phlebitis is of secondary-
import.
2. Gummatous nodular hepatitis is characterized by the presence of
gummata on the surface or in the parenchyma of the Uver. The tumours
rarely exceed the size of a pea or of a small nut. They are generally spherical,
and often grouped in islets, each enclosing several gummata. During the
first period of their growth the gummata are greyish and resistant, but later
their centre becomes opaque and softens. The fibrous tissue then invades
the little tumour, and the gummata contract, and those present on the
surface of the liver under Glisson's capsule often terminate in star-shaped
cicatrices with puckered edges. On making a section of a gumma three
distinct zones are seen. The central part is opaque and caseous, and often
divided into Islets. Around this central mass is a fibrous covering, com-
posed of connective tissue, that varies in appearance according to the age
of the gumma. The most external zone is formed of fibrous tissue, which
infiltrates between the neighbouring hepatic lobules.
To these lesions must be added amyloid degeneration, which attacks the
liver as a secondary lesion in the same manner as it attacks the spleen and
the kidneys. Hanot found hypertrophic hepatitis with splenomegaly and
chronic jaundice in three cases — an anatomical syndrome which belongs
to hypertrophic cirrhosis. In the lobule he found dilated capillaries, the
walls of which were infiltrated with nuclei, and filled with white corpuscles ;
displaced rows with atrophied, hypertrophied, or disaggregated cells ;
numerous embryonic nodules in the portal spaces — lesions, in short, conmion
to every infected liver. Hanot in his specimens, however, did not find
telangiectatic cirrhosis, catarrhal angiocholitis, or newly-formed biliary
canaliculi.
Description. — The tertiary lesions are generally late, but they may
appear as early as the third or fourth year after infection. Their onset is
usually obscure, and is not accompanied by acute pain, fever, or marked
symptoms. Only slight digestive troubles may be found. Later, the
symptoms are more evident. The appetite is bad, the digestion is at fault,
the loss of flesh progresses, and diarrhoea, oedema of the feet and legs, and
absolute loss of strength appear. The patient has a yellowish colour, but
true jaundice is rarely seen. Ascites and collateral circulation are often
absent, or only appear at a late period. In some cases hepatic syphilis
is most insidious, and ascites is the first symptom. It is due to several
causes — either compression of the portal vein by the glands in the hilum or
by adhesions, or to compression of the hepatic veins at their entrance into
the vena cava (liarth).
Examination cf the liver furnishes indefinite information. The liver
59—2
932 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
may be li}^ertropliied or atrophied. It is nodular and uneven. Hanot
has applied the name of " syphihtic hypertrophic hepatitis with chronic
jaundice " to a special form of tertiary hepatic syphilis, which he considers a
morbid entity. As it is accompanied by splenomegaly, it somewhat re-
sembles certain forms of malarial hepatitis and Hanot's disease. It is
distinguished from the latter by the syphilitic aetiology, by the absence of
paroxysmal attacks, and by the more rapid march of events when treatment
has been taken in hand too late. Furthermore, the spleen and the liver are
never as large as in Hanot's disease. Finally, leucocytosis, which is the
rule in the latter affection, has not been noted in the former.
Hepatic syphilis runs a very slow course. It may take years. As long
as the liver performs its functions sufficiently, and as long as the other
viscera are free, there is no danger; but the risks arise when amyloid or fatty
degeneration causes hepatic insufficiency, or when the kidneys are attacked,
and urinary insufficiency results.
3. Hereditary Syphilis. *
Hereditary syphilis of the liver in the new-born child (early hereditary) and
that at a more advanced age (late hereditary) must be described separately.
Description. — Syphilis of the liver during intra-uterine life hampers the
venous circulation. The pressure in the umbilical vein increases, and extra-
foetal ascites or hydramnios is produced. The size of the mother's abdomen
may be enormous (48 inches at the umbilicus). The movements of the
foetus cannot be felt distinctly, and the uterus forms a huge sac, in which
a fluid thrill may be felt. At the same time, especially in acute hydramnios,
where the abdominal girth has not been able to increase gradually, compres-
sion of the abdominal organs and of the ureters, increasing dyspnoea, vomit-
ing, cyanosis, and lumbo-abdominal pains show themselves (Chauffard).
The foetus dies in the proportion of 23 per cent. (Bar). The accouchement
is often premature, and takes place under the worst conditions.
In the new-born child syphilis is but the continuation of the intra-
uterine disease. In some cases the child is born with syphilitic cachexia
(extreme wasting, palmar and plantar pemphigus), and death supervenes
in a few hours. In other cases the new-born child appears to be in good
health, and syphilis of the liver, like all the other forms of early hereditary
syphilis, appears during the first months of life. Syphilis of the liver is
generally accompanied by coryza, mucous and cutaneous syphilides, fissures
of the umbilicus, anus, or lips, eruptions on the skin, etc. The hepatic or
hepato-splenic lesion may be so pronounced that a spleno-hepatic form of
heredo-syphilis has been described. The skin is bistre-coloured or yellowish ;
the digestive troubles are constant ; the loss of flesh is rapid ;_and the liver
is enlarged, smooth, and tender on pressure. The belly is enlarged and
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 933
streaked with veins. Tympanites is sometimes accompanied by ascites.
The spleen is enlarged and painful. The prognosis is very grave, but
recovery may occur.
The diagnosis of hepatic syphiHs is easier in the new-born child than
in the adult, because the customary symptoms of early heredo-syphilis are
usually present.
Pathological Anatomy. — The description of the syphilitic liver in the
adult differs from that applicable in the foetus or in the new-born child.
This anatomical difference is the result of variation in the mode of infection.
In the adult the lesion is disseminated in the liver, following the hepatic
arterioles, which are attacked ynth. arteritis and peri-arteritis, and ending
by a more or less slow process in sclero-gummatous tissue. In the foetus,
on the contrary, the liver immediately receives a portion of the blood from
the placenta, and is infected as a whole. " It sustains the first attacks
of the infection, and thus reacts more surely to congenital syphilis "
(ChaufEard). We find in a syphilitic child stillborn or dying soon after
its birth from hepatic syphilis the following lesions : The liver has pre-
served its form and its smooth appearance, because there is as yet no fibrosis.
The organ is larger than in the normal condition, hard, and elastic. The
habitual red-brown tint has given place to a grey-yellowish colour, like flint,
and on section of the parenchyma we see little whitish granulations (micro-
scopic gummata) like grains of semolina (Gubler). The lesions are usually
found in the left lobe and the sharp edge of the liver.
This syphilitic hepatitis is a young cirrhosis. The embryonic tissue is
not yet fibrous, but, histologically, diffuse and nodular lesions are noticed.
Hutinel and Hudelo have shown that this periportal cirrhosis at its com-
mencement follows the vessels, and with them penetrates the hepatic lobules,
where it becomes diffuse. The perihepatitis is not as marked as in the
adult, and the ascites is often blood-stained.
Late Hereditary Syphilis. — I must specially mention the late form of
hereditary syphilis. The gummatous, amyloid, and cirrhotic lesions in
the liver may be the result of hereditary syphilis appearing in childhood
and adolescence or adult life. Fournier has collected twenty-five cases.
When the lesion is cirrhotic, the liver is generally enlarged, indurated, and
deformed. Jaundice is rare, but ascites is constant, and sometimes it is
the symptom whit-h gives the alarm. This syphilitic cirrhosis is often
associated with hypertrophy of the spleen and with renal lesions acc-ompanied
by albuminuria.
We can understand the difhculties of diagnosis in syphilitic cirrhosis
if a proper clue is not given by the antecedents and by the reminders.
We may look upon the case as one of common cirrhosis — a disea.se usually
incurable — when we are really face to face with syphilitic mischief, which
934 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
often recovers. Too much attention cannot, therefore, be given to the
pathogenic diagnosis, and too much care cannot be devoted to the tracing
of acquired or hereditary syphihs, which may assist in finding the cause of
the disease.
The course of the disease may help in diagnosis. Syphihtic cirrhosis
most resembles Laennec's atrophic cirrhosis. Ascites, oedema of the lower
limbs, meteorism, and collateral circulation exist in both cases. In syphi-
litic cirrhosis the liver is more enlarged, and the ascites and the other
symptoms develop, as a rule, much later.
In hereditary syphilis it is very necessary to recognize the stigmata
which may help in diagnosis. They include dental changes, diffuse kera-
titis, natiform cranium, bosses on the forehead, nasal deformities with or
without ozsena, swelling and incurvation of the tibia, cicatrices on the skin,
sarcocele, and glandular enlargement.
The treatment is that of tertiary syphilis. Injections of biniodide of
mercury, with or without iodide of potassium, must be employed as soon
as the cause of the disease is known or suspected.
XV. HYDATID CYSTS OF THE LIVER.
Evolution of the Hydatids. — The mature cyst is formed of an envelope
containing clear watery liquid, i.i which float daughter cysts, echinococci,
and booklets. We must now study the life-history of the hydatid in detail.
There is a little ribbon-like worm, called Tcenia nana (dwarf), or Tcenia
echinococcus, measuring 4 millimetres in length, reaching its complete develop-
ment in the intestine of the dog. This little worm is composed of a head like
that of the echinococcus and of three segments. The head is armed with
a double row of strong booklets and with four suckers. The last of these
segments contains a branching ovary, a lateral genital orifice, and several
thousand embryos, or eggs. These segments are excreted in the dog's
dejecta, and break up, liberating the eggs. The eggs attach themselves
to vegetables or plants, and may be swallowed by man or by a herbivorous
animal, with the following result : The egg introduced into the digestive
passages has a very thick wall, which softens, setting free the embryo,
The hexacanthic embryo, provided with sharp spicules, perforates the
tissues, and is probably carried by the blood of the portal vein to the liver,
in which it is usually arrested. It loses its booklets, and secretes from its
posterior portion an envelope, in Avhich it becomes encysted, forming the
hydatid pocket, composed of an internal layer, which is but the transfor-
mation of the embryo (germinative membrane), and of an external layer,
which is the product of the secretion. A clear and transparent liquid
accumulates in the cavity.
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 935
At a later stage the cyst surrounds itself with a new wall or pericystic
layer. This is a borrowed wall, which forms no part of the cyst, and which
is due to the irritation of the neighbouring hepatic connective tissue. Let
us next consider the cyst at this advanced period of its evolution.
As I have said, the pericystic layer does not form an integral portion of
the cyst, but is a connective fibroid membrane, produced by the irritant
action of the parasitic vesicle. This membrane may be I inch in thick-
ness. It is covered with a nutrient network of vessels derived from the
hepatic artery and the portal vein. It is in this layer that the phenomena
of calcification and suppuration take place. This fibrous envelope is
intimately connected with the parenchyma of the liver, but it can be
separated from the cyst. The isolated cyst appears in the form of a soft
whitish and trembling spheroidal mass. I have already explained the
formation of the two membranes which make up the wall of the cyst, and I
shall now follow them in their growth.
The external membrane of the cyst has a thickness of from 1 to 3 milU-
metres, and looks like half-cooked albumin. It is opaline, semitransparent,
and formed of several stratified, non-vascular, amorphous layers. These
layers have been compared to the leaves of unequal thickness formed by
the edges of an album. When cut, they curl up like elastic membranes,
though the microscope shows no trace of any figured element. As this
formation is absolutely peculiar to hydatid cysts, it is impossible to make
a mistake, and the diagnosis is fixed when a shred is found in a pathological
liquid. Above this membrane we find a granular, raspberry-like,. germi-
native membrane (Giraldes), which gives birth to vesicles and to echinococci.
The vesicles begin as sessile buds, which become pedunculated and
filled with liquid. They enlarge, become detached, and fall into the interior
of the cyst (daughter vesicles). The daughter vesicles in the primary cyst
are more or less bulky, and some of them contain a third or fourth genera-
tion. Their structure is identical with the parent cyst. As long as the
germinative membrane of the hydatid cyst produces vesicles and not
echinococci, the cyst is said to be acephalocystic. When the germinative
vesicle produces echinococci, the cyst is said to be fertile. This fertility
may be shown by the iodophilic reaction. With iodized gum (Loeper)
the germinative membrane, the heads of the echinococci, and the hydatids
are seen to be filled with glycogen when they are aUve ; tliey have none
when they are dead.
The echinococcus (e;^u'09. hedgeliog ; KOKKo^i, grain) at first resembles
a whitish granulation, which protrudes on the internal surface of the cyst,
and becomes pedunculated. It is formed of a head with four suckers and
a double crown of twenty to thirty booklets. The head is separated from
the body by a neck. The body Is rounded, and ends in a process, fixing
936
TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Fig. 56.
(a) Adult Tcenia nana, or echinococciis. The head is provided with a double
crown of hooklets and four suckers. The last segment contains an ovary, with a
lateral genital pore.
(b) Egg ; the granular shell encloses the hexacanthic embryo.
(c) The ingested hexacanthic embryo, perforating the tissues by means of its hooklets.
(d) Hydatid cyst, formed by the distension of the embryo, fixed and encysted in the
liver.
(e) Under the pericystic stratified membrane, the true wall, or proligerous membrane,
gives birth to sessile buds, which form secondary vesicles, or daughter cysts.
(/) Vesicle, without echinococcus, such as the acephalocystic cyst produces.
{g) Vesicle, with an echinococcus and a granddaughter cyst.
(h) Hydatid, producing scolex, each of which has the head of an echinococcus.
(i) Hydatid full of piled-up echinococci.
(j) Freeing of the echinococci by the bursting of a hydatid daughter cyst.
{k) Free scolex in the mother hydatid.
(I) Scolex of echinococcus, with its four suckers and its crown of hooklets.
(m) Separate hooklets.
(n) The echinococcus, still pedunculated and adherent to the fertile wall ; the tube
is evaginated.
(o) The same, with the tube invaginated.
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 937
the animal to the germinative membrane. When this process breaks, the
animal falls into the Uquid of the cyst. The liquid is transparent, like
spring-water, whence the name of these cysts {v8dTLrinci])al varieties l)efore discussing acute hepatitis.
1. Metastatic Abscesses of the Liver. — These abscesses arise from any
cause of purulent infection, such as traumatism, head injuries, surgii^al
operations, smallpox, puerperal infection, or medical septica'mia (endo-
carditis, infective aortitis, or suppurative ])neumonia). The abscesses are
miliary and commence with an ecchymotic tint of the hepatic lobule. The
bloodvessels of the lobule are congested with red and white corpuscles.
952 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The latter, having passed out of the bloodvessels, infiltrate the lobule ; the
hepatic cell becomes granular and atrophied, and the small abscess is formed.
These little islets of suppuration grow larger, unite with the neighbouring
islets, and attain the size of a pea or a hazel-nut. The branches of the
portal vein around them show secondary periphlebitis, phlebitis, and
thrombosis. The phlebitis, in its turn, causes extension of the abscesses
to the neighbouring parts.
How is the formation of these abscesses to be explained ? The old
theory of capillary embolism (Virchow) has been replaced by that of microbic
infection. The pyogenic microbes enter the general venous system and
are carried to the liver by the hepatic artery. These pyogenic agents,
which are almost always the streptococci and the staphylococci, are arrested
in the radiate capillaries of the hepatic lobules, where the circulation has
become sluggish. Their presence and their toxine produce lesions in the
vascular endothelium, obliteration of the capillaries, invasion of leucocytes,
formation of a clot, suppuration, and miliary abscess.
Hepatic pyaemia is ushered in by rigors, marked rise in temperature, and
profuse sweating. The liver becomes enlarged and painful, the skin is
yellowish and earthy, and the urine contains bile pigment.
2. Pylephlebitis. — The abscesses do nat begin in the general venous
system, but in the portal system. Purulent inflammation of the portal
vein (pylephlebitis) may follow ulceration of the intestine (dysentery), or
an abscess in the spleen and the phlebitis extends as far as the bloodvessels
of the liver. Various micro-organisms, especially the coli bacillus, must
be in evidence. At several points in the liver httle abscesses are situated
along the course of the inflamed veins. The vein is attacked by phlebitis
and periphlebitis, and surrounded by embryonic tissue. In certain places
the walls of the vein are destroyed. Such is the course of the abscesses
caused by pylephlebitis, but in many cases pylephlebitis is not necessary,
and the arrival of the pathogenic microbes in the liver may cause suppurative
inflammation of the vein, which produces inflammation of the liver tissue
and abscesses in the surrounding region. Abscesses of the liver consequent
on appendicitis (appendicular liver) will be discussed later.
3. Can embolism of the portal vein caused by thrombosis of the
mesenteric vein or of the other portal tributaries cause abscesses of the
liver ? It gives rise to an infarct of the embolized region, with consequent
anaemia and granulo-fatty degeneration ; but this infarct is not followed
by suppuration. An exception must be made with regard to portal
embolisms loaded with micro-organisms, such as the coli bacillus (septic
embolism).
Widal has shown that the pyaemic abscesses of the liver in puerperal
infection begin round the hepatic veins. The process commences with
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 953
endophlebitis, leading to periphlebitis and abscess. The periportal tissue
is generally free.
4. Biliary Abscesses. — Several causes (gall-stones, obstruction of the
common duct, etc.) may lead to inflammation and enlargement of the bile-
ducts. The dilated ducts are at times as large as the finger and filled with
muco-pus. At first sight the condition might be taken for abscesses, but
on closer inspection it will be seen that it is caused by dilatations of the bile-
ducts, which are often surrounded by new connective tissue. In certain
cases, however, the walls of the ducts are destroyed, and the angiocholitis
is followed by abscess of the liver. This question is discussed under Angio-
choHtis and Gall-stones. We have seen how the secondary infections begin
and cause these biliary abscesses.
Acute Suppurative Hepatitis — Large Abscesses of the Liver.
etiology. — Acute suppurative hepatitis is rare in France, and very
frequent in hot countries (India, Algeria, Senegal, Bengal, Cochin-China,
Martinique). Dysenteric infection is the chief cause. Several conditions
may present themselves : In the first series, dysentery precedes the abscess ;
in the second series dysentery and abscess march side by side. Finally, in
the third series, the hepatitis or tropical abscess, as Murchison called it,
appears to be independent of dysentery. This independence is most fre-
quently only apparent. In any case, it may be said that the amoeba of
dysentery produces hepatitis, abscess of the liver, and dysentery, separately
or simultaneously.
Abscess of the liver is found in countries where dysentery is found, and
both diseases have the same origin. There are, however, cases of suppu-
rative hepatitis in hot countries, and of abscess of the liver which have an
origin apparently independent of dysentery. The intimate nature of these
various abscesses is unknown to us, but it may be said that they have nothing
in common with malaria.
Tropical dysentery is not the only form which may cause abscesses of the
liver, Boinet has described large abscesses of the liver of dysenteric origin
in France.
What does bacteriology teach us ? In non-dysenteric abscesses bac-
teriology has revealed the presence and also the absence of staphylococci.
As far as dysenteric abscesses are concerned, they are chiefly due to amoebic
dysentery. The pus of tropical abscesses of the liver is often aseptic, or
of slight virulence, even though it is exceedingly foetid. This feeble viru-
lence is the more remarkable " because such is far from being the case in
angiocholitic pus, which is essentially septic and infective " (Chauffard).
Description. — Acute hepatitis does not always commence in the same
manner. It is sometimes preceded by hepatic congestion, which does not
954 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
end in suppuration. The congestion shows itself by " pain in the side,"
with or without fever ; the liver is enlarged, and vomiting and diarrhoea
appear. A few days later recovery supervenes, but the patient is liable to
recurrence or to abscess if he does not leave the country.
Acute hepatitis often commences with a severe rigor and sharp pain in
the hypochondrium and the right shoulder. The liver is enlarged, the fever
is remittent, and jaundice is seen in a third of the cases. The tongue
is dry, and the patient has a typhoid look. In other cases the hepatitis is
practically latent at first. The local symptoms are absent, and the general
symptoms merely comprise malaise, or attacks of intermittent or remittent
fever, readily taken for malaria. The pus forms from the eighth to the
twelfth day, and the foregoing modes of onset indicate that tropical abscess
may be ushered in by acute symptoms of hepatitis or only by slight gastro-
intestinal troubles. The abscess may even be latent without fever in one
case, and in another case it may reveal its presence by most grave symp-
toms. Locally the abscess of the liver cannot be recognized unless it is
of fair size. The extent of the dullness, the deformity of the Uver, and the
projection of the organ towards the thoracic or iliac region, depend on the
seat of the abscess.
The abscess, once formed, may remain stationary for weeks and months ;
but most commonly in about three weeks it tries to make its way outwards.
Rupture of the abscess into the peritoneum is not always followed, as might
be supposed, by rapid and fatal peritonitis. In several cases surprising
tolerance of the peritoneum has been noticed, death occurring after some
days, with symptoms of prostration. Rupture of the abscess into the
intestine sometimes leads to recovery, which may also follow if the abscess
opens through the abdominal wall or into the bronchi.
I may mention, as exceptions, rupture of the abscess into the stomach,
pelvis, kidney, vena cava, or pericardium. It appears possible that the
pus may be absorbed, the abscess being replaced by a cicatrix.
The foregoing description shows that the diagnosis is often difficult.
The prognosis is grave, especially because endemic hepatitis is subject to
recurrences, and sometimes ends in a chronic form, after long periods of
intermission. An opened and cured abscess does not protect against fresh
abscesses. No limit to the period of formation of abscesses can be fixed,
and persons may leave the tropics for Europe, but yet fresh abscesses may
still appear.
Pathological Anatomy. — The liver in acute hepatitis is large, reddish,
and friable. It is rare for several abscesses to be found, and suppurative
hepatitis in three-quarters of the cases only causes one abscess — a marked
difference from the pj^semic abscesses, which may be very numerous.
The tropical abscess is most frequently seated in the right lobe of the
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 955
liver, and on its convex surface (Dutrouleau). The quantity of pus may
amount to 2 or 3 pints. It is yellowish or reddish, thick, creamy, and
sometimes stained with bile. It may become foetid from the close connec-
tion of the intestine, or in consequence of communication with other organs.
The walls of the abscess are often anfractuous, formed of embryonic
tissue. Sloughs often detach themselves from the walls. At a more
advanced period the pyogenic membrane becomes surrounded with a fibrous
membrane. The abscess commences in the deep parts of the organ, and
gradually reaches the surface. When it comes in contact with Glisson's
capsule, it behaves differently, according to circumstances. Adhesions are
established between the liver and the neighbouring organs. Ulceration
takes place, and the pus makes a passage for itself through the diaphragm
and into the bronchi (vomica), into the peritoneum, the pericardium, the
pleura, or the intestine ; but the abscess sometimes opens through the
abdominal wall.
Treatment. — Bleeding has been recommended (Dutrouleau), and ipe-
cacuanha has been given in an enema (15 grains of ipecacuanha in twenty-
four hours) (MacLean). The formation of the abscess must be watched
in order to open it without delay.
XIX. APPENDICULAR LIVER.
I have given the name of appendicular liver to the toxi -infection of the liver con-
Becutive to appendicitis. From its situation the liver receives the frontal attack of
the toxines and microbes, whose virulence has been increased in the closed cavity. The
appendicular veins and the branches of the portal vein carry toxines and microbes to
the liver. It is nevertheless important to distinguish between toxic and purulent
hepatitis. Soon after the onset of appendicitis the liver may be affected by the toxines,
which are carried more rapidly than the microbes ; a change in the hepatic cells,
which deserves the name of toxic hepatitis, is the result. This early toxic hepatitis does
not suppurate. Later, during the second or third week of appendicitis, the microbes
are carried to tlie liver, and cause purulent hepatitis. It is, therefore, indispensable to
describe separately toxic and purulent hepatitis.
1. Toxic Hepatitis.
I have already described toxic appendicitis, or appendicsemia, in which the signs may
Ijo jaundice, choluria, urobilinuria, albuminuria, hajmatomesis, etc. I shall hero discuss
one of these signs, jaundice, with the concomitant lesion of the liver, which I was the
first to point out in my conMnunication to the Acadt'mie in 1898.
Clinical Cases. — A young man of twenty years of age came into my wards, and a
student remarked : " There is a man with jaundice." The man had, as a matter of
f u't, a yellowish tinge, not jironoimced on the skin, but well marked on the conjunctiva*,
lie said that he was sufTtiring from his stomach. Abdominal i)aiii and jaimdico
naturally aroused at first the idea of hepatic colic. The jmin in tlie belly had com-
menced four days before, on Sunday morning ; towards evening he was taken ill with
fever and vomiting, and ih(-. abdominal pain persisted all niglit. On Monday, as the
situation did not change and tlio belly remained tender, the patient came to the
956 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
hospital. I asked him to indicate the exact spot where the pains commenced, and also
where they were most severe. He at once placed his finger on McBurney's point.
Palpation revealed tenderness and muscular resistance ; the hyperaesthesia was most
marked at this point. The diagnosis was, therefore, appendicitis.
An explanation had still to be found for the jaundice : the Uver was neither enlarged
nor painful. Was the jaundice a simple coincidence, or was there some relation between
it and the appendicitis ? My first impression was that it was not a case of true jaundice.
Examination of the urine with nitric acid showed no ring of bihverdin or biUrubin,
but gave a brownish disc. Spectroscopic examination revealed the presence of urobihn
and of brown pigment. The yellow tint of the skin and of the conjunctivae was, then,
not the result of true jaimdice. The analysis of the urine hkewise proved the presence
of albumin in fairly considerable quantity. With these symptoms I expressed the
opinion that this youth was suffering from toxic appendicitis, the appendicular toxine,
elaborated in the closed cavity, having caused changes in the cells of the Uver and
kidneys, whence the urobiUnuria, jaundice, and albuminuria.
The diagnosis being given, treatment had to be decided. After having obtained the
consent of the patient, and in spite of the apparent mildness of the appendicitis, I
requested Marion to operate. He found a collection of foul-smelling pus in the peri-
toneum ; the appendix was gangrenous, and bathed in pus ; a large calculus was
found in the lower portion of the canal, which was greatly dilated, and converted into
a closed cavity. It is easy to see what would have happened had the appendicitis in
its gangrenous form been allowed to run its course.
This example shows once more that the gravity of the appendical lesions is not always
in direct relation to the intensity of the symptoms. The ablation of the appendix
removed the primary focus, but the Hver and the kidneys were also affected. On Wed-
nesday the situation became critical : the patient was prostrate ; his face was drawn
and yellowish ; hiccough was frequent ; the urine was scanty and albuminous ; the
temperature was 102° F., and the pulse 106. Two injections of serum (1 pint in each)
were administered. He passed a better night. Next day, Thursday, the hiccough had
almost gone ; the temperature was 99° F. ; but sUght jaundice was still present.
Urobilin still persisted in the brownish urine, but, an important point, the albumin
had disappeared. Two days later the jaundice disappeared in its turn, and the
urine contained no more urobihn ; a few days later the patient was out of danger.
This case, described in one of my lectures on the toxicity of appendicitis, is a proof of
this toxicity. The toxine had affected the hver and the kidneys, and the intoxication
revealed itself by urobihnuria, jaundice, and albuminuria. The appendix being
removed, the albumin disappeared within twenty-four hours, and the urobiUnuria
ceased three days later.
Routier has mentioned several cases to me. One of them referred to a young girl
who was operated on for appendicitis, and cured. From the commencement of the
disease she had jaundice, which became more pronounced during the next few days.
Another case referred to a man who underwent an urgency operation, and was cured of
appendicitis. The jaundice, which was present on the day of the operation, persisted
for several days.
Valmont saw a man who had had several attacks of appendicitis. He was taken
ill with jaundice during the last attack, and died in three days. One of the patients,
whose case I have referred to under Appendicular Vomito Negro, was taken ill,
at the commencement of appendicitis, -with jaundice, which became general over the
whole body.
In some cases the jaundice is obstinate, and may last for weeks and months, until
the appendix is removed. Hartmarui communicated the following case to me :
In September, 1897, a young man was taken ill with clearly-defined pain in the right
iUac fossa, Dreyfus-Brissac diagnosed appendicitis. The acute crisis once passed.
DISEASES OF THE LIVER , 957
the yoiing man still had a somewhat yellow complexion, and the liver was foimd to be
enlarged. Dreyfus-Brissac sent the patient to Breda for a cure. On October 2, 1898,
a fresh attack of appendicitis occurred. This time there was also jaundice, and
albumin was foimd in the urine. Hartmann removed the appendix on October 14 ;
on October 25 the jaundice and the albumin had disappeared.
In August, 1903, in consultation with Segond, I saw a woman who had had jaundice
since February, when she suffered from appendicitis. The pain in the right iliac fossa
had never completely disappeared. An operation was performed, and ten days later
the jaundice disappeared.
A woman was in the Salpetriere for appendicitis in February, 1903. She remained
jaundiced till Segond operated for appendicitis three months later.
Description. — This toxic jaurdice may appear on the second or third
day of an attack of appendicitis, but we must not expect to find marked
jaundice. The yellow tint is often slight. It is most pronounced in the
conjunctivae and the face, and it is only in exceptional cases that it becomes
general, hke true jaundice. The faeces remain coloured. The urine is
fairly dark, and true bile pigments may be found in it, but most frequently
it contains only urobilin or brown pigment. In some cases the liver is
enlarged.
The jaundice is not of long duration, and quickly disappears after
appendectomy. Patients have been seen who with each attack of appendi-
citis had an attack of jaundice. Sometimes, as we have seen in the cases
quoted above, the colour remains for weeks and months, and only disappears
after ablation of the appendix. In view of these facts, I think that the in-
toxication of the liver consecutive to appendicitis may play some part in
the causation of cirrhosis of the liver.
This form of jaundice is sometimes the sole evidence of the appendicular
toxicity, but most frequently it is associated with albuminuria as a second
sign. In patients suffering from appendicitis we must always look for
jaundice and albuminuria, and the urine must always be examined for
pigment, albumin, and casts, because all these signs, formerly, and even now,
too much neglected, point to the impregnation of the system by the appen-
dicular toxines. They are another argument in favour of early intervention,
so as to remove the focus which produces the poison.
Jaundice in an individual with appendicitis does not simplify the diag-
nosis. As a matter of fact, there are cases in which the pain of appendicitis,
though present at McBurney's point, may radiate as far as the subhepatic
region (ascending type of appendix). Let us suppose that in such a case
the patient also has slight jaundice. The idea of hepatic colic will naturally
present itself. How are we to make a diagnosis ? In the hepatic colic true
bile pigments are found in the urine, but this is not a pathognomonic sign,
because they may also be found in a|)pendicular jaundice. What is more im-
portant is that in the case of hepatic colic the painful focus has neither its
origin not its maximum intensity at McBurney's point. In appendicitis,
958 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
even when the pain radiates towards the hypochondrium, the maximum
intensity of the pain, the muscular resistance, and the h}^er8esthesia are
in the appendicular region. Hepatic coHc with jaundice, therefore, will not
be mistaken for the icteric tint of appendicitis.
From the point of view of prognosis we must always mistrust toxic
jaundice in appendicitis, for it is sometimes the prelude of a terrible general
mtoxication. We find at first slight jaundice and albuminuria, and later
urinary and hepatic insufiiciency, haematemesis, nervous troubles, and
death.
Pathological Anatomy. — In a case described more fully under Appen-
dicular Kidney I was able, thanks to the kindness of Letulle, to make a histo-
logical examination. Sections of the fiver treated with osmic acid, after
fixation in 10 per cent, formalin, showed an accumulation of very fine
fatty granules in the interior of the Liver cells, especially near the centre of
the lobule. The remainder of the trabeculse, however, were not free from
fat. One detail was interesting to note : accumulation of fat in the endo-
thelial cells, which showed a fair number of trabeculse, and in the interior
of the capillary vessels a large number of leucocytes charged with fatty
granules. In sections stained with haematoxyHn-eosin the lobulated look
of the liver was somewhat remarkable. This disposition was partly due
to condensation of the periportal connective tissue and to some islets of
trabecular atrophy, with pigmentation of the cells, grouped around the
hepatic veins of average size. There was no necrobiosis in the liver
cells. In short, I found in the fiver lesions of granulo-fatty degeneration
of the centro-lobular hepatic cells — that is, lesions due to superacute
intoxication.
In another case of toxic appendicitis published by Lorrain the histo-
logical lesions greatly resembled those described by Letulle. Certain cells
were filled with very fine grains of the colour of rust. " The presence of
the ochre pigment in abundance in the cells of the liver indicates deep-seated
trouble, probably resulting from acute intoxication."
In another case, discussed under Appendicular Kidney, the histological
examination made by Nattan-Larriei proved that the cells of the organ
were undergoing fatty degeneration.
2. Infective Purulent Hepatitis.
Toxic hepatitis, as I have said, occurs early, and is accompanied by
neither hepatic pain nor violent symptoms. Purulent hepatitis, due to
the infection by the appendicular microbes, is quite different. It appears
during the decline or convalescence of appendicitis. It is accompanied
by sharp rigors, severe fever, pains in the hypochondrium, rapid increase
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 959
in tlie size of the liver, jaundice, etc. The reader will get an idea of it from
the following cases taken from my clinical lectures :*
Clinical Cases. — A man came into my wards on March 12, 1898, Tvith febrile icterus.
The temperature was 102° F. on admission, and reached 104° F. the next morning ;
the pulse was rapid, and the tongue dry and parched ; the yellow colour (though not
very intense) extended over the whole body ; the urine was abundant, of a mahogany
colour, fairly rich in bile pigment, and GmeUn's reaction gave a very clear ring of
bihrubin ; a cloud of albumin was also visible. The faeces were only shghtly coloured,
but still they had not the whitish, putty-Uke appearance seen in obstruction of the
common bile-duct, when the bile can no longer reach the intestine. The case was,
therefore, one of true icterus, with high fever, and as the patient was prostrate, feverish,
and answered questions with difficulty, we thought at first of icterus gravis.
Examination of the hver gave valuable information. The hepatic region formed a
bulging which extended as far as the epigastrium ; this bulging was so marked that an
exploratory puncture had been made, without any result, prior to the admission of the
patient, on the hypothesis that it might be a fluid tumour. The hver was enlarged,
very tender on pressure, and extended below the false ribs by the wdth of two fingers.
The other abdominal and thoracic organs were healthy, and the entire disease seemed
to be confined to the hver. The man told us that, twelve days previously, on
February 27, he had been seized %vith a violent rigor and sharp fever, which was but the
prelude of many similar attacks. Rigors and fever had since recurred almost daily,
without any periodicity.
According to the patient, acute hepatic pain appeared with the fever ; this pain,
though less severe, was still present ; the jaundice had come on some days after the
attack of fever.
This information led to various suppositions. The acute attacks of fever, the hejiatic
pain, and the enlarged liver caused us to think of suppuration ; but what could be the
cause ? The hypothesis of a suppurating hydatid cyst was hardly hkely, and, more-
over, an exploratory puncture had been without result. Had we to deal Avith a large
abscess of the hver, analogous to the so-called tropical " abscess " which generally
follows on dysenteric infection ? On the other hand, had we to deal with small
miliary abscesses associated with suppurative angiochohtis ? The former hypothesis
was hardly admissible in the absence of any cause for a large abscess in the hver. As
for a large abscess from dysentery nostras, its symptomatology is so masked that it
often passes unnoticed. The second hypothesis was debatable, as the chnical picture
recalled the symptoms of infective angiocholitis, whether due to gall-stones or not.
Angiochohtis, however, does not cause so much enlargement of the hver in a few days.
There is a variety of suppurative hepatitis which must always be remembered in
these cases. I refer to hepatic abscesses consecutive to appendicitis. Sharp attacks of
fever, hepatic pain, rapid increase in the size of the hver and icterus, form a syndrome
which should awaken the idea of hepatic infection consecutive to infection of the
appendix. It became, therefore, necessary to know whether the patient had recently
had an attack of acute appendicitis. I say acute appendicitis, because it is only during
the active pha.so of the closed cavity that such complications can take place. On this
point the patient rcphed that some ten days prior to the attacks of fever he had felt sharp
abdominal pain, which had prevented him working. Ho indicated the region which
corre.spf)nds exactly with McBurney'a point. The appendicular pain had lasted only
a few days, but it was undeniable, and had been accompanied by severe constipation,
as is customary.
* " Lo Foio Appendiculaire," " Abces du Foio Consecutive k I'Appendicito "
(Clinique Medicate de VHotd-Dieu, 10m« le9on).
960 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
We were, therefore, able to state that the man had at this time an apparently benign
attack of appendicitis. Do we not, however, know that appendicitis is never benign,
in the true sense of the word ? Do we not know that the exaltation of virulence in the
closed cavity, which sums up the entire history ol appendicitis, may favour the emigra-
tion of the pathogenic microbes in all directions, and thus, by means of the lymphatics
and veins, give rise to remote infections, the most terrible of which undoubtedly is
hepatic infection ? In consequence I diagnosed purulent infection of the hver, following
appendicitis, and gave a fatal prognosis.
During the month that this patient was in my ward we counted fourteen severe
attacks of fever, the temperature reaching 105° F., and the attacks being preceded by
violent rigors. In a short time the Uver formed an enormous abdominal tumour,
which was hard and smooth. The jaimdice improved at times, and the faeces became
more or less coloured. The hepatic region was painful, the pain radiating to the
abdomen and thorax. Eespiration became difficult, and the rales due to pulmonary
oedema were heard at the base of the chest, especially on the right side.
On March 31 facial erysipelas broke out, and disappeared in a few days. During
the last days of the disease the hver was still enlarged ; the jaundice had, so to say,
disappeared ; the belly was much distended ; and the stools were loose, foetid, and
almost colourless. The patient sank into a typhoid state. He died with a temperature
of 104° F. four weeks after his admission, and less than six weeks after the start of the
hepatic infection. The appendicitis, which was the cause of the fatal complications,
was two months old.
As far as the treatment was concerned, I had not thought of surgical intervention,
because surgery is practically powerless in multiple abscesses due to appendicular
infection of the Uver. A single abscess is absolutely imique.
The post-mortem examination confirmed the diagnosis. The Uver weighed
100 ounces. Its surface showed at various points yellowish or brownish projections.
At first sight the specimen might have been taken for secondary cancer. The con-
sistency of the organ was soft. Sections of the lobe revealed abscesses everywhere,
the gland being riddled with them. From 150 to 200 abscesses, varying in size from
a pin's head to an egg, might certainly have been counted, and there was also an abscess
of the size of an orange in the right lobe. Some were just beneath GUsson's capsule,
others were deeply seated in the parenchyma. They contained fairly thick pus, without
foetid odour, the colour varying from yellow to green. These abscesses were mostly
independent, and were separated by septa of healthy or altered hepatic tissue, but
they had no proper walls. Other abscesses communicated with one another, forming
large anfractuous cavities. On section a fair number of these abscesses had a spongy,
areolar aspect, whence the name areolar abscesses of the liver (Chauffard).
The extrahepatic bile-ducts were healthy and permeable, and such was also the
case with the trimk of the portal vein. The organs of the abdomen were absolutety
normal, and, except for a few perihepatic adlaesions, we found no peritoneal lesion and
no ascites ; nothing in the spleen ; nothing in the intestine.
The appendix was surrounded by false membranes, which increased its size threefold
by uniting it to the posterior surface of the caecum and to the front of the psoas. Dis-
section of the adhesions, so as to isolate the appendix, revealed a small peri -appendicular
abscess, containing about a teaspoonful of sUghtly foetid pus. The veins at the base
of the appendix were so enlarged as to form a prominent varicose network, which, after
enveloping the appendix, spread over the caecum, where it blended with the mesenteric
veins.
I have never seen such a venous network in a case of appendicitis ; it is probable
that it only acquires such a development in the case of venous infection. The appendix
was not perforated, but the mucosa was ulcerated at three or four points, and towards the
tip there was a very small abscess. Let us next consider the histological lesions and
DISEASES OF THE LIVER
961
the bacteriological examination. The pus from the small peri-appendicular abscess
gave a pure culture of coU bacillus. The veins of the cellular coat of the appendix were,
in a large number of instances, attacked by endophlebitis and periphlebitis.
Several of these veins were filled -with thrombi, formed in j^art by endotheUal cells
and fibrous tissue. By the side of these thrombosed veins, especially under the serous
membrane, very dilated veins, which contributed to form the appendicular i)lexus, were
found. Microbes were present in the walls of the thrombosed veins, and in the inflamed
tissue roimd them.
The microbes, after leaving the closed cavity, became engaged in the appendicular
veins, giving rise to phlebitisand thrombosis, andreached the liver through the portal vein.
Fig. 57. — Formation of Abscess in LivjiK, .St* undary to Appendicitis.
After reaching the hver, they followed>the course of the portal veins — that is to say,
they occupied the periphery of the hepatic lobules. It was, therefore, around the lobules
that the infection of the liver had commenced. The microbes swarmed there, and
embryonic cells sheathed the portal vein like a sleeve.
The process gradually extended, and in the end the liver was transformed into a
sort of purulent honeycomb.
Summary.— In this case it was possible to follow the organisms in their migration
from the a^ipendix to the liver. When we remember that hundreds of abscesses were
Fig. 58.
L, normal lobule; vp, portal vein (normal) ; a, h, c, abscess in various stages.
formed in the hv(!r in a few weeks, the virulence of the microlies will be understood.
The exaltation of the virulence, acquired in tlie focus of the appendix, allowed tho
microbic colonics to pass througli tlie aj^pcndicular veins, to follow tho Ijlood-stream
as far as the portal vein, vena porta malorum, and rush forward in infecting columns to
the conquest of tho Hver.
Such is the hepatic infection. Tiiis complication of appendicitis, whicli dilTcrs from
toxi(! hepatitis, is far from being rare. Bcrtholin has collected twenty-eight cases in his
thesia
01
962 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Description. — Events usually run the following course : An individual,
either a child or an adult, is attacked with severe or slight appendicitis.
The physician commences to investigate carefully the area in which the pain
has first shown itself. Palpation, pressure, muscular resistance, and hyper-
sesthesia show that the painful spot is at the centre of a line drawn from the
umbilicus to the anterior superior iliac spine. Although the belly may be
sensitive in other regions, it is here that the pain commences and reaches
its maximum. He inquires as to the onset of the disease, and learns that
the patient was in a state of perfect health when he experienced the first
symptom. At that time, or a little later, attacks of nausea, and per-
haps of vomiting, supervened. The diagnosis of appendicitis is clearly
established, and the doctor explains how even slight appendicitis exposes
the patient to the greatest dangers, and mentions the many cases where
i discussed under Persistent Obliteration of the Common Duct.
Complications. — Hepatic colic is sometimes accompanied by complications.
Even at the commencement of the attack rupture of the cystic and of the
common ducts, followed by peritonitis, may occur. Sudden death in an attack
is not quite unknown. It is probably due to reflex action, and at the
post-mortem examination a large calculus is found impacted in the cystic
or the common duct. Hepatic colic may be accompanied by vascular
974 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
troubles, whicli show themselves by pulmonary congestion on the right
side, cEdema of the lower limbs, and dilatation of the right side of the heart,
with tricuspid insufficiency. The reaction of the biliary lesions on the right
side of the heart has been pointed out by Potain. Gangolphe has indicated
the existence of a murmur in jaundice, and placed it at the mitral opening ;
but it seems that this murmur should be located in the tricuspid opening.
Potain has shown that acute affections of the biliary passages and calculous
jaundice in particular may cause transitory dilatation of the right heart,
with tricuspid insufficiency and hypertrophy of the ventricle. The dilata-
tion is probably due to excess of pressure in the pulmonary artery, and
depends upon diminution in the calibre of the arterioles of the lungs, the
diminution being doubtless the result of reflex action transmitted to the bulb,
and reflected to the lungs by the branches of the great sympathetic.
We shaU see later that biliary hthiasis may cause infective endocarditis,
through organisms present in the bile ducts and derived from the intestine.
Diagnosis. — The diagnosis of hepatic cohc is generally easy. It is dis-
tinguished from renal colic in that the liver is not painful ; the pain starts
from the kidneys, follows the course of the ureters, and spreads to the tes-
ticles, the neck of the bladder, and the extremity- of the penis, and jaundice
is absent. Idiopathic heptalgia, or simple hepatic neuralgia (which Beau
thought so frequent), is very rare, since gall-stones have, after careful search,
been almost always found in the stools shortly after- the attack of colic.
The diagnosis from gastralgia is sometimes difficult ; some patients merely
complain of cramp in the stomach, but closer examination shows that the
so-called cramp means hepatic colic. The urine contains bile pigment, the
conjunctivae become yellow, the hver is enlarged and painful, and the pain
reaches the right shoulder. When the diagnosis of biliary lithiasis is difficult,
urobilinuria and peptonuria (Bouchard) are in favour of it.
I may mention the diagnosis of renal from lead colic, and I would insist
on the diagnosis of defaced hepatic colic, which may be painless, the presence
and the migration of the calculus being shown by rigors, fever, vertigo and
syncope. The diagnosis from the pain of intestinal hthiasis may present
some difficulties. In order to avoid repetition, I refer the reader to the
section on Entero-typhlo-colitis.
The diagnosis of hepatic colic from appendicitis has been already dis-
cussed. Hepatic colic must not be confounded with hepatic pseudo-colic,
which is due to adhesive pericholecystitis.
The prognosis of hepatic colic must always be reserved — first, because
the gravest complications, such as perforation of the bile-ducts, syncope,
and sudden death, are possible during the attack ; and, secondly, because
the calculi may give rise to a series of complications, described in the following
sections.
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 975
Treatment. — The objects in view are — (1) to relieve the pain ; (2) to facili-
tate the expulsion of the calculus ; and (3) to prevent the formation of new
calculi. In order to ease the pain, aspirin may be given in doses of 30 to
60 grains daily. Subcutaneous injections of morphia are of much service.
To these means may be added enemata of chloral and the appUcation of ice-
bags to the hypochondrium. Prolonged baths also give good results. In
order to facHitate the expulsion of the calculus, large quantities of oil and
massage of the hepatic region have been recommended (Pujol). AlkaUs
have a twofold action : they facQitate the expulsion of the calculi and prevent
the formation of new ones. With this object in view, cures at Vichy, Carls-
bad, Contrexeville, and Vittel may be described. Durande's remedy,
given in perles containing 3 parts of ether to 2 parts of essence of turpen-
tine, was frequently used by Trousseau. The patient must be careful to
avoid fat, acid foods, and drinks.
2. Migration and Arrest of the Biliary Calculi in the Intestine —
Stenosis and Obliteration of the Pylorus.
Intestinal Obstruction. — Obstruction of the intestine by gall-stones is
not extremely rare, because Dragon has collected 1-iO cases. In order to
cause obstruction, the calculus must be as large as a walnut or an egg. The
passage of these large calculi remains to be explained. While large stones
can pass through the bile-ducts, when much dilated, the majority of these
stones pass into the intestine through a fistula between the gall-bladder and
the duodenum.
The reason for the behef that these large calculi have not passed through
the bile-ducts is that patients may have previously experienced neither
hepatic colic nor jaundice. Some of them, however, have had symptoms
of calculous cholecystitis. The gall-bladder forms adhesions with the in-
testinal coil (pericholecystitis) ; a large fistula is established, and the calculus
then passes from the gall-bladder into the intestine. Sometimes the calculus
passes into the intestine without encumbrance ; at other times it causes
grave mischief. In the latter event the symptoms of intestinal occlusion
are sudden, but in a third of the cases recovery supervenes spontaneously,
and the calculus or calculi are passed per anum. When intestinal occlusion
persists, symptoms of peiitonitis are often present. The calcuh are generally
arrested in the jejunum, the ileum, or the lower portion of the rectum. In
some cases it has been found that the large size of the calculi was due to the
addition of calcareous deposits of fsecal matter. Intestinal spasm is also
an important factor in the pathogenesis of obstruction by gall-stones. The
following cases will give an idea of these complications :
Merklen : A woman with no previous history of gall-stones was suddonly taken ill
with colic, vomiting, arrest of faecofc, and liatus, followed by faecal vomiting, a cholera-
976 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
like condition, and lowering of the temperature. After a short respite the symptoms
again became acute ; hiccough, tympanites, and chilliness were present, and the patient
succumbed. The occlusion was seated in the small intestine, and was due to an
enormous calculus, measuring more than 3 inches in circumference. It had passed
into the intestine through a cystico-duodenal fistula. The gall-bladder contained
another large calculus.
Audry : A patient was taken suddenly ill with symptoms of intestinal occlusion :
sharp abdominal pain, vomiting, absolute constijDation, and meteorism. A respite then
supervened, but was soon followed by rapid aggravation of the symptoms, and the
patient succumbed in an algid condition. At the post-mortem examination recent
peritonitis and obstiniction of the small intestine, due to an enormous calculus, weighing
IJ oimces, and measuring 4^ inches in circumference, were fovmd. The calculus had
entered into the intestine through a cystico-duodenal fistula.
English Cases. — Maclagan reported to the Chnical Society of London the case of a
patient who was seized on four occasions ^^ith sharp abdominal pain and constipation.
The attacks lasted from three to six daj's, and after each attack the patient passed gall-
stones of the size of a walnut. The patient died, and at the post-mortem examination
a cystico-duodenal fistula was fomid. The gall-bladder contained another large calculus.
Broadbent had a case of intestinal occlusion in an old man who succumbed in four days.
At the post-mortem examination an enormous gall-stone was found in the small
intestine. Ord saw three analogous cases. Enormous gall-stones were arrested at the
end of the ileum in the first case, in the small intestine in the second case, and at the
anal sphincter in the third case. Harrington pubhshed a case of an aged woman -svith
symptoms of intestinal occlusion. She was operated on, and a gall-stone was foimd in
the ileum.
We see that intestinal occlusion, caused by gall-stones, supervenes in old
people who have not suffered from hepatic colic or 'from any sjnnptoms
indicative of the passage or the arrest of the calculi in the bile-ducts. These
large calculi are slowly formed in the gall-bladder, which becomes
infected, and enter the intestine generally through a cystico-duodenal
fistula. In ninety-two cases collected by Lobstein, the symptoms of
intestinal occlusion were preceded in seventeen cases only by symptoms of
cholelithiasis.
The treatment is surgical. According to Lobstein's statistics, out of
sixty-one cases which were operated on, twenty-nine ended fatally ; and out
of thirty-one cases, nineteen succumbed. It must be added that most of the
operations in which death supervened were performed on exhausted patients
with peritonitis. In order to have the best chances of success, the operation
should be performed as early as po.ssible.
Stenosis and Obstruction of the Pylorus.— The close relation between
the gall-bladder and the pylorus explains the pathological connections
of these two organs in calculous cholecystitis, which may react in
different ways on the pylorus and its orifice. Sometimes a large calculus
from the perforated gall-bladder becomes embedded in the wall of the
pylorus, forming a, pouch for itself, and obliterating the orifice. In other
cases the calculus is juxta-pyloric, and causes fibrous changes in the
pylorus, with stenosis. Marchant quotes three such cases in his work.
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 977
The contraction of the pylorus may not be due directly to the gall-stone ;
it may be due to adhesions and to perigastritis, which is secondary to cal-
culous pericholecystitis.
Summary : Calculous cholecystitis may cause stenosis and obstruction
of the pyloric orifice, either directly by the presence of large calcuh, or in-
directly by adhesions, by retraction of fibrous tissue, or by perigastritis,
consequent on pericholecystitis. The more or less marked contraction of
the pyloric orifice shows itself by the following sjonptoms : epigastric pains ;
vomiting several hours after the ingestion of food ; considerable dilata-
tion of the stomach, with tympanites and " clapotement " ; constipation ;
loss of flesh due to insufficient nourishment ; cachexia ; induration or tumour
of the epigastric region.
A patient vomits, loses flesh, and becomes cachectic. He complains of
sharp pains in the epigastric region. On examination, we find dilatation of
the stomach and pyloric tumour, and we cannot eliminate at first the idea of
cancer ; the induration, and particularly the tumour, obscure the diagnosis.
After all, vomiting, progressive loss of flesh, cachexia, pain, induration,
tumour, and dilatation of the stomach may all be present in pyloric stenosis,
whether it is due to ulcer, cancer, perigastritis, adhesions, biliary calculi,
etc. ; and if the patient has a history of hepatic colic, jaundice, or signs of
cholecystitis, we must think of pyloric stenosis, consequent on calculous
cholecystitis, and have recourse to prompt surgical intervention.
3. Persistent Obliteration of the Bile-Ducts — Biliary Cirrhosis.
Hepatic colic is only accompanied by a temporary and sometimes in-
complete obhteration of the cystic and common ducts. I shall now deal
with the persistent obliteration of these canals, and with the many com-
plications resulting therefrom.
When the cystic duct is permanently obstructed by a calculus, the bile
no longer reaches the gall-])ladder ; the bile already present is absorbed ;
the walls of the gall-bladder, as the result of chronic inflammation, become
thickened and converted into fibrous tissue ; and the gall-bladder atrophies.
In some cases the walls of the gall-bladder become infiltrated with lime-salts.
In other cases the bile gives place to a sero-mucous secretion, and the gall-
bladder (hydroj)s) may be much enlarged. The fluid in hydrocholecystitis
is mucous, .shreddy, whitish, and sometimes rich iu muco-pus. As the
obstruction of the cystic ducts allows the free passage of the Inle into the
intestine, this complication is by no means as serious as obstruction of the
common duct.
When the common duct is permaiiently oblitciated by one or more
calculi, it matters httle whether the obliteration occurs at some point of its
course or at Vater's ampulla ; the bile no longer passes into the intestine,
02
1)78 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
and clironic jaundice appears. There are, nevertheless, examples where,
in spite of the presence of several calculi (Cruveilhier), the common duct
has remained sufficiently patent to allow the bile to pass into the duodenum.
.Obliteration of the common duct, as also of the cystic duct, is not always
preceded by colic ; the obHteration may come on silently, without pain. Per-
sistent obliteration may last for weeks and months, without other symptoms
than chronic jaundice, with clay-coloured stools, distension of the gall-
bladder, and enlargement of the hver. Sometimes, also, persistent obHtera-
tion of the common duct may at length cause lesions in the Hver, gall-bladder,
and ducts ; dilatation and suppuration in the bile-ducts and gall-bladder ;
fibrosis of the liver (biliary cirrhosis) ; suppurative angiocholitis and abscess
of the liver ; and changes in the hepatic cells (parenchymatous hepatitis and
pancreatitis).
Dilatation of the Ducts and Gall-Bladder. — In consequence of complete
and permanent obstruction of the common duct, the cystic and hepatic
ducts may undergo enormous dilatation, while the common duct may be as
large as an intestinal coil ; the bile accumulates in the gall-bladder, which
may, then, descend as far as the umbilicus, and even into the right ihac fossa.
The distended gall-bladder may contain several pints of fluid. Cruveilhier
in his atlas has figured a gall-bladder descending into the right ihac fossa ;
and in Benson's case the gaU-bladder was punctured, under the impression
that the case was one of ascites, 4 pints of bile being withdrawn. The fluid
in obHteration of the common duct does not resemble the thready mucous
liquid of hydrocholecystitis due to obHteration of the cystic duct.
The obstruction of the common duct also determines enlargement of
the superficial and deep intrahepatic ducts, and the latter assume a cylindrical
or ampuUa-Hke form, analogous, says Monneret, to bronchial dilatations.
The dilatation is sometimes so general that the parenchyma of the liver
resembles cavernous tissue. The retention of the bile causes great enlarge-
ment of the Hver ; the surface is smooth and of an olive colour. On section,
the bile-ducts are seen to be dilated and to exude bile, which is often mixed
with muco-pus, sand, and biliary concretions, which have formed owing to
the stagnation of the bile. The biliary canals are attacked with chronic
inflammation (angiochoHtis), which commences in the mucosa, and later
involves the entire wall of the duct.
Chronic jaundice, clay-coloured faeces, swelHng of the Hver which may
descend as far as the umbilicus, and distension of the gaU-bladder, are the
first results of the permanent obstruction of the common duct. The faeces
may, however, from time to time regain their colour, if the calculus
or the calcuH engaged in the common duct do not completely obstruct the
lumen, and allow an intermittent flow of bile into the intestine. When these
compHcations supervene in an indixddual who has had hepatic coHc, it is
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 979
easy to trace the cause of the lesion ; but when the symptoms of Hthiasis
are not clearly defined, it is necessary to eliminate prolonged catarrhal
jaundice, ijrimary cancer of the bile-ducts, and cancer of the head of the
pancreas and of Vater's ampulla. The clinical side of the question will be
discussed in Section XXI.
Biliary Cirrhosis. — Obstruction of the common duct produces enlarge-
ment of the hver, but this hypertrophy is often replaced by atrophic cirrhosis.
In no case does this cirrhosis resemble Laennec's atrophic cirrhosis ; the
surface of the liver is smooth, and the parenchyma is but moderately in-
durated ; it is therefore a special cirrhotic process. Experimental oblitera-
tion of the common duct in animals by a ligature, and the pathological
obstruction of this canal in man by primary cancer of the biliary passages,
or by cancer of the head of the pancreas, cause similar cirrhotic changes.
The retention of the bile produces angiochohtis and peri-angiocholitis, the
process ending in diffuse interstitial hepatitis. This connective hyperplasia
affects at first the large ducts, and then the smaller canaliculi. It shows
itself first in the spaces, next in the fissures, and circumscribes the hepatic
lobule, without ever ending, like Laennec's atrophic cirrhosis, in the forma-
tion of nodules. Formation of bjliary canalicuU, which invade the lobule,
pigmentation of the cells, and invasion of the lobule by connective hyper-
plasia, are also found.
The differences are great between hypertrophic biliary cirrhosis (Hanot's
disease) and the biliary liver. The latter is not hypertrophied, but is
rather small and contracted ; dilatations of the biliary canals are often
found, with or without abscesses, and the angiocholitis commences in the
large bile-ducts, which are healthy in hypertrophic biliary cirrhosis.
These lesions may, like the various diseases of the liver, become com-
plicated at any moment by symptoms of icterus gravis, which causes
death in a more or less rapid manner. Moreover, no matter what arc the
lesions of the liver, no matter what are the causes of its anatomical and
physiological decay, as soon as it is unable to fight, it is invaded by secondary
infections (microbes and toxines), and the complex symptoms of hepatic
insufficiency appear.
Pancreatitis. — This question is discussed later, in Section VII. of Diseases
of the Tancreas.
4. Infection of the Biliary Passages: Angiocholitis, Cholecystitis,
Hepatitis, Endocarditis.
In the normal state, the bile-ducts, the gall-bladder, and the bile are
aseptic. Gilbert, Girode, and Thircloix have found that bile from the gall-
bladders of ])erson8 who had not succumbed to an infectious or biliary disease
was always sterile. In animals the bile in the gall- bladder is aseptic. The
62—2
980 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
effusion of pure bile into the peritoneum does not cause peritonitis. Normal
bile is, therefore, aseptic and sterile. The bile is not antiseptic, and does not
destroy germs, as has been supposed. As far as the microbes are concerned,
it is as favourable a culture medium as ordinary broth, and does not lessen
their virulence in any way. The coli bacillus, streptococcus, staphylococcus,
etc., grow readily in the bile (Gilbert and Dominici).
How, then, does infection of the biliary passages take place ? I said
that the canals were aseptic, but the last portion of the common duct forms
an exception. Numerous microbes have been found there, especially the
coli bacillus ; they come from the duodenum, which is very rich in germs
(Gessner). The common duct is, therefore, in danger of being infected, and
the duodenum is a constant menace to the bile-ducts. In the normal con-
dition, the flow of the bile mechanically maintains the asepsis of the ducts,
but any obstacle to the flow favours invasion of the biliary canals by the
microbes normally present in the duodenum, and the terminal portion of the
common duct. The infection ascends from the ducts to the gall-bladder
and to the liver. (The infection of the liver through the bloodvessels is quite
different, and was described in Section XIX.)
By ligaturing the common duct, biliary infection has been reproduced
experimentally (Gilbert, Netter, Girode). The ligature produces at the
same time arrest of the flow of bile and trauma of the walls, two con-
ditions favourable to the entrance of microbes. Thesis experimental con-
ditions are fulfilled pathologically by the obstruction of the common duct ;
calculi, by obliterating the canal, prevent the exit of the bile, and cause
traumatic erosion of the mucosa ; the door is, then, open to infection, and the
soil is prepared. In this way angiocholitis, cholecystitis, and abscesses
arise.
Calculous infection of the biliary passages (angiocholitis, cholecystitis,
and abscess of the liver) generally occurs in people who have had colic,
jaundice, swelling of the liver, pains in the hypochondrium, etc. These
symptoms may, however, be absent, or may have disappeared a long time
before the symptoms of infection appear. Fever is sometimes the prominent
feature, and is bilio-septic (Chauffard). There is no question here of the
satellite fever due to the passage of a stone, and we have to deal with true
infective fever, which is also intermittent, characterized, like satellite fever,
by more or less violent rigors, with a rise of temperature to 103° or
104° F., and followed by profuse sweating after the attack. These attacks
recur every night, or every other night, almost with the periodicity of swamp
fever. The apyrexia between the attacks may be complete (intermittent
form) or incomplete (remittent form) ; or, again, the fever may show
but slight remissions (contiimous form), and is, then, more serious. Inter-
mittent bilio-septic fever may accompany all the localizations of biliary
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 981
infection, but it is in hepatic infection that it attains its greatest intensity,
and it is much less marked or fairly often absent in the case of cholecystitis.
Angiocholitis — Hepatitis. — Angiocholitis may attack the extra- and
intrahepatic bile-ducts. In the latter case lesions of the liver are the most
important. In patients who have died of these complications we find post
mortem that the liver is soft, enlarged, and surrounded by adhesions, due
to simple or to suppurative perihepatitis. On section it seems to be
converted into a spongy, bilious, and purulent tissue ; the bile flows in
abundance through the dilated ducts, and the hepatic parenchpna is riddled
with abscesses of various forms and sizes. Some are miliary ; others are
larger than an orange. Some of them have been well described by Chauf-
fard under the name of areolar abscesses. These biliary abscesses have-
several origins : some are due to the cyhndrical, moniliform, or ampullar y
dilatations of the bihary canaHcuH, and are not true abscesses ; while others,
true abscesses, are much more common, and arise in the connective tissue
around the ducts (suppurative peri-angiocholitis), whether the walls of the
duct have been destroyed by the suppurative inflammation, or whether
the abscess has ulcerated into the bile-duct. The rupture of a dilated bile-
duct in the parenchyma of the liver may also become the origin of a large
abscess. The pus is whitish, yellowish-green, or brownish, and contains
biliary sand and debris of the hepatic tissue ; the purulent collection has no
limiting membrane, or, if the membrane is found, it is never lined with
cylindrical epithelium. If cylindrical epithelium is found in the pus, it
indicates communication between the abscess and a biliary canaliculus.
Micro-organisms, especially the Bacillus coli, abound in the pus from these
biliary abscesses.
Calculous Cholecystitis. — In exceptional cases the calculi may be formed
in the Uver, but they are almost always formed in the gall-bladder. The
number may be considerable ; sometimes there is only one, which may
be larger than an egg. The calculi may remain for a long time in the gall-
bladder without causing cholecystitis in the true sense of the word. This
calculosis of the gall-bladder becomes calculous cholecystitis when the
bladder is infected.
Calculous cholecystitis shows itself in different forms. In the first and
most common type the gall-bladder diminishes in size ; it may even be
reduced to " a calculous stump." This condition is due to atrophying
sclerosis of the walls. The fibrous walls are sclerosed and retracted on to
the calculi. On the inside, the gall-bladder is furrowed with folds and bands,
dividing it into partitions, and giving it the look of a beehive. In the
alveoli of the hive larger or smaller calculi are embedded in a purulent
cavity, and are sometimes very difficult to enucleate. An infiltration of
embryonic cells is found in all the layers of the gall-bladder, and numerous
982 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
micro-organisms are also found. No tumour is found, the gall-bladder being
retracted under the liver. As it does not reach below the lower edge of the
liver, and as it cannot be felt on exploring the region, it gives no aid in the
diagnosis.
In the second type of cholecystitis, which is less common, a tumour is
found. The walls of the gall-bladder are " as hard as a cardboard shell,"
much hypertrophied and thickened, and the cavity is enlarged. The size
of the cystic tumour is not due to the fluid, which is only present in small
quantities ; it results chiefly from the enormous thickness of the walls.
These cases of calculous cholecystitis make a large projection under the liver ;
the tumour can be felt on examining the lower edge of the organ.
Besides the two preceding types, represented by sclero-atrophic chole-
cystitis, which is very common, and by sclero-hypertrophic cholecystitis,
which is very rare, a third type is found ; it is characterized by great dilata-
tion of the gall-bladder, with thinning of the walls and accumulation of much
fluid in the cavity. This dropsy of the gall-bladder is generally associated
with obliteration of the cystic duct. The liquid is colourless, shreddy,
or tinged with bile. The mucosa of the gall-bladder is not alveolar, as in
the preceding forms, but smooth, Uke a true cyst wall (Schwartz). The
tumour may be pedunculated, and the obliterated cystic duct forms part
of the pedicle ; the tumour descends into the abdomen, and simulates other
abdominal swellings.
The infection of the gall-bladder is caused by the inechanism referred
to above, whether the obliteration is in the common duct or in the cystic
duct ; cases have been recorded where the gall-bladder became infected
in the absence of any obliteration. The lesions of calculous cholecystitis
are not always identical in these different forms. The liquid in the infected
gall-bladder is generally scanty. It may be scarcely clouded with
mucus, or it may be purulent, sanious, foetid, and coloured or not by bile
(empyema of the gall-bladder). The gall-bladder is the more distended, the
more its walls are thinned and the less they are sclerosed. Miliary abscesses
are often found in the walls.
The different forms of cholecystitis just described are often followed by
pericholecystitis. Adhesions form between the bladder and the neighbouring
organs (intestine, pylorus, cystic duct, etc.) ; ulcerations, perforation, and
fisti^lee appear, and are followed by passage of large calculi into the intestine
and intestinal occlusion, calculous peritonitis, stenosis of the pylorus, etc.
Symptoms and Diagnosis. — Let us take the simplest case first. A
patient has suffered for several years from hepatic colic, verified by the
presence of gall-stones in the stools. The pains have later lost the classical
characteristics of hepatic colic. The region of the liver has become painful.
Sudden movements, jolts, or tight clothing cause pain in the hypochon-
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 983
drium. The digestive functions are disturbed. Sometimes vomiting of bile
and bilious diarrhcEa are seen. Jaundice is absent, and the urine does not
contain bile. Fever, with or without rigors, is common ; the tongue is
dry and the appetite lost. At certain times attacks of pain resembling
hepatic colic occur, and the patient says : " A swelling is forming under the
hver."
The patient is examined in the erect and supine positions. I would
specially recommend the erect position, because it is very favourable for
the discovery of tumours and deformities of the abdomen. A tumour
appreciable to sight and touch, and painful on pressure, is sometimes seen
under the edge of the ribs, external to the rectus muscle, at the tenth costal
cartilage.
In such a case it is reasonable to diagnose calculous cholecystitis — a
diagnosis that may be confirmed by radiography. During the last few years
I have seen three similar cases : one with Pinard, in a recently confined
woman, successfully operated on by Hartmann ; another in a woman suc-
cessfully operated on by Delbet ; and a third in a woman successfully
operated on by Hartmann. In the three cases the inflamed gall-bladder
formed a tumour below the liver. The diagnosis of calculous cholecystitis
is not always as easy as in the preceding cases. For example, a patient
complains of sharp pains in the hypochondrium, vomiting, anorexia,
fever, and loss of flesh. The liver is not enlarged ; the lower edge of the
organ is painful on pressure, but neither bulging nor tumour in the gall-
bladder region is found, because the gall-bladder is hidden under the liver,
and is consequently inaccessible to exploration. Doubt exists as to the
nature of the disease. We may, however, arrive at a diagnosis if we find
a history of hepatic colic, as it is, then, probable that we have to deal with a
case of calculous cholecystitis. Pellereau and myself were thus able to
make a diagnosis in the case of a woman who was successfully operated on
by Tuffier. The calculus was as large as a walnut, and the gall-bladder was
hidden under the liver. Finally, the diagnosis of calculous cholecystitis
presents difficulties of another kind, when the gall-bladder, by its size or
by its displacement, simulates hydatid cyst, cancer of the liver, tumours
of the peritoneum or of the kidneys, or an aberrant lobe of the liver. All
these mistakes in diagnosis have been made. If the reader will refer to the
section on Aberrant Lol)e of the Liver, he will find the difliculty in
diagnosis discussed.
Calculous cholecystitis may become the cause of a series of complications,
such as passage of large calculi into the intestine and intestinal occlusion ;
obliteration of the pyloric orifice ; perforation of the diaphragm, and rejec-
tion of the biliary contents through the bronchi ; superacute peritonitis,
pyelitis, endocarditis, etc.
984 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Finally, there is quite a new side to the question — viz., the association
of cholecystitis with appendicitis, to which a special section will be
devoted.
Pericholecystitis and Adhesions. — For fuller details, I would refer the
reader to Section XXIII., on Cholecystitis in General.
Treatment. — When the diagnosis of calculous cholecystitis has been
made, recourse must be had to surgical intervention. The many com-
plications already described show the danger of undue delay. I need not
discuss what kind of operation should be undertaken. The progress made
in this direction during recent years has been considerable. Cholecystotomy
is sometimes performed, and consists in opening the gall-bladder, removing
the calculi, and establishing an external biliary fistula, which closes later.
Sometimes cholecystectomy is performed ; this operation consists in resection
of the gall-bladder. In other cases cholecystenterostomy is performed
(especially in the obliteration of the common duct) ; it consists in joining
the gall-bladder directly to the duodenum or the ileum.
Pylephlebitis — Aneurisms. — Calculous obstruction of the biliary pas-
sages and the lesions of angiocholitis which it causes are sometimes accom-
panied by pylephlebitis (infection of the portal vessels). Pylephlebitis may
attack the trunk of the portal vein or the secondary branches. The close
relation of the branches of the portal vein to the biliary canals explains the
possibility of portal phlebitis, consecutive to peri-angiocholitis. In the same
way, the inflammation of the portal trunk, secondary' to the lesions of the
common duct, may be explained.
Pylephlebitis may be obliterating or suppurative. Obliterating phlebitis
is very much the rarer ; when it affects the portal trunk, we find ascites,
swelling of the spleen, and collateral circulation of the abdomen. When the
pylephlebitis is suppurative, it is accompanied by attacks of intermittent
fever, and multiple abscesses of the liver are found post mortem.
In some cases the arteries of the neighbourhood may be affected by
enlargement and ulceration, causing fatal attacks of haemorrhage (hsema-
temesis and mela^na).
Biliary Endocarditis.— As I have already said, bihary lithiasis favours
the infection of the bihary passages, with or without suppuration. This fact
explains angiocholitis, pylephlebitis, cholecystitis, and hepatitis. The
pathological agents being readily transported into the heart, endocarditis
is a common result. The left side of the heart is usually affected, especially
at the mitral and aortic valves. Endocarditis fairly often assumes the
ulcerative forms. The symptoms of biliary endocarditis are generally in-
definite ; the fever and the jaundice that accompany it, indicate the onset
of the lesions, which, through lack of attention, may pass unnoticed.
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 985
5. Peritonitis — Biliary Fistulae.
Let us now consider cases of partial and general peritonitis, due to
perforation of the gall-bladder and bile-ducts and to the passage of micro-
organisms into the peritoneum.
Peritonitis. — The varieties of peritonitis, which for short I call calculous
peritonitis, are of diverse kinds. We find partial peritonitis, which is
Umited by adhesions, uniting the gall-bladder to the stomach, duodenum,
omentum, colon, and abdominal wall. Purulent cloacae, which may fuse
later, are thus formed. The diagnosis is very difficult in these cases. The
adhesions are sometimes so thick that they form a tumour around the gall-
bladder. Chnically speaking, these cases of partial peritonitis are much less
serious than acute general peritonitis, which will now occupy our attention.
Trousseau has reported three cases :
A rich shopkeeper of Tours, under Bretonneau's care, was suddenly taken ill during
an attack of hepatic colic which had lasted for six days, with imcontrollable vomiting,
and every sign of acute peritonitis, which proved fatal in twenty-four hours. The
autopsy revealed a gall-stone as large as a -v^-alnut in the peritoneal cavity, and in the
common duct was the perforation by which the stone and a certain quantity of bile
had made their exit.
" About eight years ago," says Trousseau, " I was attending an old notary, who
had been subject to attacks of hepatic cohc for some time. I was called in one day
because the symptoms were more severe than usual. He was vomiting incessantly,
the belly was distended, the urine was entirely suppressed, the pulse was scarcely
perceptible, and the temperature was subnormal. He had, in fact, all the symptoms of
superacute peritonitis. I considered the case hopeless, and, as a matter of fact, the
patient succumbed next day. Although no post-mortem examination was allowed, I
feel justified in stating that it was a case of peritonitis, caused by effusion into the
peritoneum, following rupture of the gall-bladder, or of one of the bile-ducts."
Werner's case : " I was called," says he, " to a patient who had extremely acute
hepetic cohc. I diagnosed gall-stones, and ordered treatment. Next day, as the jmins
were worse, and peritonitis had set in, I suspected a rupture of the gall-bladder. The
patient died two days later, and at the post-mortem examination I found twentv-live
stones as large as hazel-nuts in the gall-bladder ; the bladder was perforated, and the
bile had Howed into the peritoneum. A calculus larger than the others blocked the
common duct."
Calculous peritonitis is a most treacherous complication. It is due to
perforation of the large bile-ducts, and especially to perforation of the
gall-bladder. It may come on during an attack of hepatic colic, and as
the symptoms in each case are similar (violent pain and vomiting), it may
cause serious mistakes. More frequently it appears during the cour.se of
obvious, suspected, or latent cholecystitis. The prognosis is fatal, unless
speedy laparotomy can be performed. Tlic patliogonosis of these compli-
cations has yet to be studied. The peritonitis is due to infection by the bile,
fluid, or calculi ; the Bacillus coli is the most common and most active agent
986 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
in this affection. How does the peritoneum become infected ? Is there
always a rupture of the bihary passages ? and if so, how is this rupture
caused ? It might be supposed that if the gall-bladder is affected with
calculous cholecystitis and ruptures, it is because its cavity is greatly dis-
tended and its walls are very thin. Examination of cases proves, on the
contrary, that the gall-bladder is habitually contracted, and that its walls
are thickened, hypertrophied, and brawny. The mucosa of the gall-bladder,
however, presents numerous alveoli, formed by hypertrophied fibro-muscular
bands. In these alveoli, which are of various forms and sizes, we often find
large or small calculi that are difficult to enucleate, and are, as it were, let
into the wall. The alveoli also contain septic fluid ; they are, therefore, an
excellent culture medium for micro-organisms. The result is an ulcerative
process which may lead to perforation and peritonitis. Seuvre and Bouchard
have described this ulcerative process in the alveoli of the mucosa, but we
now understand the mechanism better, through bacteriological researches.
The Bacillus coli is the essential agent in the ulcerative process, and in certain
cases, just as in appendicitis, the organisms imprisoned in these closed
alveoli pass through the walls of the gall-bladder, and spread afar the
peritoneal infection, previous perforation of the walls not being absolutely
necessary.
Biliary Fistulse. — The process which has favoured adhesions between
the gall-bladder and the neighbouring organs frequently terminates in
ulceration and perforation, and gives rise to fistulas which give exit to the
contents of the bladder and to the calculi. These fistulas may be external
or internal, and either spontaneous or secondary to surgical intervention.
In Murchison's statistics we find eighty-nine cutaneous fistulse, thirty-six
duodenal fistulse, nine colic fistulse, and twelve gastric fistulse ; in addition
to the foregoing varieties, renal, vaginal, pleuro- pulmonary, and hepato-
bronchial fistulse have been found.
Hepato-bronchial and cystico-bronchial fistulse explain the rejection,
through the bronchi, of bile, pus, and calculi. The close proximity of the
pleura explains bihary pleurisy (Gilbert and Lereboullet).
The cutaneous fistulse have a fairly long, anfractuous, and irregular
course ; they usually occur in the umbilical region and the right hypochon-
drium. The formation of the cutaneous opening is usually preceded by
cellulitis of the wall, and the orifice gives exit to bile, pus, and often to
calculi. These fistulse generally heal.
The cystico-duodenal are more frequent than the cystico-coHc fistulse,
and it may be said that many large gall-stones found in the stools have
passed through intestinal fistulse. The calculi are sometimes so large that
they provoke symptoms of intestinal occlusion. The cystico-gastric fistulse
explain how gall-stones may be vomited. It is, however, not impossible for
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 987
a calculus to pass back into the stomach during an attack of hepatic colic,
and to be vomited later. In the celebrated case of Ignatius de Loyola there
was a communication between the common duct and the portal vein.
XXI. PERMANENT OBLITERATION OF THE CO.ABION DUCT-
DIAGNOSIS OF THE CAUSE OF THE OBLITERATION.
In permanent obliteration of the common duct it is essential to diagnose
the cause of the obliteration. Prognosis and treatment are equally con-
cerned. If the duct is obHterated by a calculus, an operation is indicated,
and recovery may be expected. If it is obliterated by cancer, the prognosis
is hopeless, in spite of the temporary improvement that may follow an
operation. By what signs and sjTnptoms can we make this pathogenic
diagnosis ? How are we to recognize the nature of the obliteration ? I
shall attempt to answer these questions, utilizing two clinical lectures
which I have devoted to this subject.*
In the first place, every permanent obliteration of the common duct
shows itself by an invariable syndrome, no matter whether the obliteration
is due to calculus, to cancer of the bihary passages, of Vater's ampulla, or
of the head of the pancreas, or to compression by a neighbouring tumour.
This syndrome includes jaundice, the presence of much bile pigment in the
urine, and clay-coloured faeces. The jaundice may be accompanied by
intolerable itching.
Of the lesions causing permanent obHteration of the common duct, some
are rare, others are common. Amongst the former, let me mention hydatid
cyst.s of the liver, hypertrophy of the glands of the hilum, cicatrix of an ulcer
of the duodenum, bands and adhesions in the neighbourhood, which all
cause retention of bile. The most frequent causes are prolonged catarrhal
icterus, cancer of Vater's ampulla, and primary cancer of the biliary pas-
sages. Of all these causes, the most common are cancer of the head of the
pancreas and chronic pancreatitis.
In the pathogenic diagnosis we must first eliminate hypertrophic biliary
cirrhosis (Hanot's disease) and chronic icterus, with enlarged liver and
enlarged spleen, which is distinguished from the syndrome that we are dis-
cussing, by the coloratioii of the faeces and by the uninterrupted flow of
bile into the intestine.
Permanent Obliteration of the Common Duct by Prolonged Catarrhal
Icterus.-^I have given the name of "prolonged catarrhal icterus" to a
vaiiety of infective icterus (with or without remissions), which may last
two or three months. In prolonged catarrhal icterus we must not forget
♦ " ()l)lit« ration Pormannnto du Canal aioledoquo " (Clintque Medicale de V Hotel-
Dieu, 1898, 11''^' et l^'"" 109003).
988 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
that, besides the icteric syndrome common to every permanent obliteration of
the large bile-ducts (hepatic and common), we may also find anorexia, loss of
flesh, and swelling of the liver, and that the disease, in spite of its threatening
appearance, generally ends in recovery. The diagnosis is sometimes very
difficult. When we see a patient who has been ill for two months or more
with jaundice, urobiUnuria, clay-coloured stools, enlargement of the liver,
and rapid loss of flesh, we naturally think of obstruction of the common duct,
due to cancer of Vater's ampulla or of the head of the pancreas. I have
often been anxious in cases of this kind as to the outcome of the disease.
Permanent Obliteration of the Common Duct by Cancer of Vater's
Ampulla. — The small cancer of Vater's ampulla, already described, may
cause permanent obliteration of the common duct. The growth remains
limited to the ampulla, has no invading tendency, and soon betrays its
presence by the " icteric syndrome." It may even be said that jaundice is
the first apparent symptom, and is due to obstruction of the orifice of the
common duct by the epitheliomatous tumour. It has all the attributes of
icterus due to permanent obliteration : yellowish or olive colour of the skin,
bile-stained urine, and colourless faeces. At times the faecal matter may
regain its colour and the jaundice become paler, proving that the orifice of
the common duct recovers its permeabOity for the moment. The liver is
enlarged ; the gall-bladder, though greatly distended, cannot always be felt
through the abdominal walls. Pain, either spontaneous or provoked, is a
rare symptom ; it is, however, seen in some cases. Rendu's patient had acute
attacks of pain in the right hypochondrium and the epigastrium. Palpation
was so painful at the pit of the stomach and over the left lobe of the liver
that a calcuhis was thought to be impacted in the common duct. The post-
mortem examination showed the' absence of calculi and the existence of a
cancer of Vater's ampulla.
In such a case the icteric syndrome (permanent jaundice, bile in the urine,
and clay-coloured stools, with enlarged liver) may persist for months. How,
then, are we to diagnose the cause of the obliteration in the common duct ?
The diagnosis is very difficult. It may be said that in the case of cancer of
Vater's ampulla icterus and decoloration of the stools sometimes undergo
remissions, but the transient remissions are of no value in the diagnosis,
for they are met with in other cases of obliteration. On the other hand,
it may be said that pain is an especial feature in gall-stones ; but cancer of
Vater's ampulla may also provoke pain similar to that of gall-stones, as in
Rendu's case. It has been said that diarrhoea is in favour of cancer, but
in reality this symptom is of no more value than the preceding ones ; it
allows us neither to accept nor to reject the hypothesis of cancer of Vater's
ampulla. Intestinal haemorrhage is of more value. When the growth
blocks Wirsung's duct, stearrhoea and examination of the faeces by Gaultier's
method give useful information {vide Section VII., Diseases of the Pancreas).
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 989
Permanent Obliteration of the Common Duet by Primary Cancer of the
Biliary Passages. — A small gro\vth in the hepatic or common duct may block
the canal and give rise to mtense and prolonged jaundice, bile in the urine,
colourless faeces, rapid loss of flesh, and sometimes pain. Primary cancer of
the gall-bladder only, causes the syndrome in question when it spreads to
the large bile-ducts or to the adjacent glands, and thus obstructs the flow of
bile ; as primary cancer of the gall-bladder is associated with the formation
of gall-stones, the result is that in three-fourths of the cases true hepatic
colic may be associated with the icteric syndrome — a fact that greatly
complicates the diagnosis.
Primary epithelioma of the common or of the hepatic duct is not rare.
In x3ither case the icteric syndrome is present, but the condition of the gall-
bladder differs. If the cancer is in the common duct, the accumulation of
bile in the gall-bladder may cause considerable distension ; if the growth is
in the hepatic duct (Claisse), the gall-bladder is not dilated. In primary
cancer of the biliary canals jaundice is sometimes preceded by loss of flesh.
The appearance of jaundice is sometimes sudden, sometimes progressive ;
when it has appeared, it does not recede, or, at least, the remissions are
momentary. The skin assumes a deep yellow or greenish tint. As a rule
pain is absent, but I have seen a case of primary cancer of the biliary passages
wliere the pain led me to believe in obstruction by gall-stone ; my mistake
was revealed at the post-mortem examination. The liver is practically
normal in size, and secondary cancer never attacks it. Anorexia is constant,
digestive troubles are frequent, and the patient grows rapidly thin, and
dies in eight to ten months. The pathogenic diagnosis of the obliterating
cause is for several months a matter of conjecture.
Permanent Obliteration of the Common Duct by Cancer of the Head of
the Pancreas. - -Cancer of the head of the pancreas is one of tlic most frequent
cau.ses of permanent obliteration of the common duct. The following cases
will give an idea of its evolution :
1 \\a8 called to an elderly lady suffering from jaundice, which had commenced a
few (lays previously, but Avas not very marked, though the urine contained bile, and
the fa'ces were (juito colourless. The diagnosis of obliteration of the common duct by
a calculus was, in my opinion, very improbable, because the i)aticnt had never luid any
sign of hepatic colic ; the jaundice had come on without ]iain, and the n-gion of the
gall-bladder was absolutely painless. Althougii tlio i)atient had had no vomiting, no
diarrhn'a, and no cohc, I nevertheless tiiought of simj)le catarrhal jaundice, and pre-
scribt^l mild jmrgatives, large cnemata of cold water, and ingestion of oil ; the patient
was put on milk diet. Tiireo weeks j)assed Avithout any improvement iji the symptoms,
and intolerable itching also appeared. The jiaticnt did not consider her.scif ill, and fol-
lowed her usual habits. Her ai)petite, however, grew less. The obstinacy of the jaundice
made me anxious, but I tried to fall back on the hypothesis of j)rolonged catarrhal
jaundice. E.xamination of the abdomen and of the liver gave no information. Other
remedies were tried with no better result, and after six weeks the )jatient, who had
grown thin and had a distaste for food, decided to leave lor one of the Mediterranean
towns.
990 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
During the five months of her residence in the South the symptoms were unchanged.
She wrote that her colour had now become a brownish yellow, the loss of flesh was
making rapid progress, and several times a week, without ajiparent cause, she had
acute attacks of fever, with a temperature of 102° to 104° P. These attacks com-
menced with a rigor, and ran through three stages — cold, hot, and sweating, just as in
malaria. Quiaine had no effect. Between these irregular attacks of fever the tem-
perature was normal.
When the patient returned to Paris I was immediately sent for. In six months she
had lost nearly 50 poimds in weight, and was hterally reduced to a skeleton. I
examined her. The anorexia was complete : she could scarcely drink a cup of milk.
The faeces were clay-coloured, but at times they showed a shght tint, proving that a
small quantity of bile reached the intestine. The extreme thinness of the patient made
the exploration of the abdomen very easy, but nothing abnormal could be felt. The Uver
was of normal size, and the gall-bladder could not be found. It was certainly a case
of cancer in the bile-ducts, Vater's ampulla, or the head of the pancreas, imless, by some
happy exception, a large gall-stone had become impacted in the common duct without
causing pain. In any case an exploratory laparotomy was absolutely indicated, and
Routier, who was called in, expressed the same opinion.
The operation was, therefore, performed. No calculus was found. The gall-bladder,
which was deep-seated and only sHghtly apparent at first sight, though much distended,
contained about 10 ounces of bile, removed by aspiration. There was no cholecystitis.
The fiver was almost normal in size. We were convinced, after careful examination,
that the obstruction of the common duct was due to cancer of the head of the pancreas,
and the operation was concluded by anastomosing the gall-bladder with a coil of small
intestine. A few days after the operation the jaimdice diminished, the faeces became
coloured, the urine was clear and Hmpid, and the patient was able to take Hght nourish-
ment. The improvement, however, was not of long duration^ and three months later
the patient succumbed to cachexia.
This case gives an idea of obliteration of the common duct by cancer of
the head of the pancreas, and corresponds to the classical description. In
their description of cancer of the head of the pancreas, Bard and Picq thus
sum up the question : " The characteristic symptoms of primary cancer
of the head of the pancreas are progressive jaundice, enormous dilatation of
the gall-bladder, loss of flesh, and rapid cachexia, without notable enlarge-
ment of the liver. The last of these four signs, though purely negative in
character, is just as important as the other three ; their union constitutes
the special characteristic of the disease." These conclusions hold good in
most cases, but the exceptions, which are far from being rare, must be taken
into account. These exceptions show us that the jaundice may not be pro-
gressive, the gall-bladder may not be dilated, and the hver may be consider-
ably enlarged.
I said previously that the jaundice may not always be progressive, and
in proof thereof I quote the following case, published by Legrand :
A man who was admitted for chronic jaundice had cancer of the head of the pancreas,
proved at the post-mortem examination. On admission we foimd very deep icterus,
bile in the urine, and colourless faeces. Furthermore, the gall-bladder was enormous
and easily felt. One day a flow of bile occurred ; the faeces were of a deep green colour,
and the tumour formed by the gall-bladder diminished. Dutil has pubhshed a similar
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 991
case : A patient was admitted to hospital with jaimdice, biUous urine, and colourless
faeces. On several occasions, however, it was noticed that bile was present in the stools,
and the post-mortem examination revealed cancer of the head of the pancreas.
The following case shows stiU better how the symptoms of cancer of the
head of the pancreas may differ from the classical type :
A man, thirty-six years of age, was taken ill in September, 1891, with digestive
troubles and pain, that was especially severe after meals. The pain was most severe
in the epigastrium and left hypochondrium, but thd not exactly show the characteristics
of hepatic coUc. It persisted for several months. In February, 1892, progressive
jaimdice supervened, with increasing loss of fiesh, great weakness, and intolerable
itching. These symptoms made progress in March, April, and Ma3\ At this date
Dr. Ferras de Macedo sent the patient to Paris. The condition was as follows : Very
intense jaundice, continual itching, colourless foul-smelUng fseces, and urine containing
bile and albumin. The liver was enormous, measuring 9 inches in the median line and
11 inches in the nipple line ; the surface was regular, of normal resistance, without
fluctuation, and the organ formed a marked bulging in the epigastrium. The edge was
soft, and palpation did not reveal the gall-bladder. The spleen was normal, and the
principal viscera were healthy. The appetite was good, but digestion was painful, and
accompanied by a feehng of heaviness and by pain racUating into the left hypo-
chondrium.
It was clearly a case of jaundice from obliteration of the common duct. Was the
obliteration due to cancer or to a gall-stone ? The pathogenic diagnosis was most
difficult. Bouchard and Terrier favoured the diagnosis of cancer of the pancreas, an
opinion shared by Ferras de Macedo. Hanot and myself favoured the diagnosis of a
calculus. Reclus, Perier, and Oettinger concluded, and tliis was also my opinion, that
it was necessary to perform exploratory laparotomy, followed by choledochotomy or
biliary enterostomy. The patient, wishing for further advice, went to Germany, and
finally returned to Paris. Reclus performed the operation. The Uver was enormous,
and of a very deep brown, colour. Under its soft edge the gall-bladder was found ; in
size it was larger than two fists. The gall-bladder and the cystic duct were free, but
the common duct, near the head of the pancreas, was obhterated by a hard body, as
large as a walnut, so firmly and deeply set that its extraction seemed impossible. The
gall-bladder was united to an intestinal coil (bifiary enterostomy).
The operation was followed by marked improvement, and the patient got up on the
fourteenth day. The appetite returned, and on the seventh day the fiver measured but
7 inches in the nipple fine. Three months later the patient was in perfect health, but a
short time after, as the pain and other symptoms returned, he came back to Paris.
Ho underwent another operation, performed by Reclus, who discovered that the hard
body found at the first operation was a cancer of the head of the pancreas. The fact
was verified at the post-mortem examination. This case proves, contrary to the
conclusions arrived at by certain writers, that the Uver may become much enlarged in
obstruction of the common duct by cancer of the head of the pancreas. It also sliows
that the icteric syndrome due to the obstruction of the common duct by cancer of the
head of the pancreas may be accompanied by jmin that is not always easily dis-
tinguished from that due to obUteration of the duct by a gall-stone.
Permanent Obliteration of the Common Duct by a Calculus. — We have
still to make tlu; pathogenic diagnosis hetwccu ohlilcratioii of the duct by
cancer of the head of the pancreas and by gall-stones. The diagnosis is singu-
larly simplified if the (j])]iteration lias been ])recedcd by classical hepatic
colic. In such a case the cause of the obUteration is obvious. In other cases.
992 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
however, the pains due to impaction of a stone are very difficult to distin-
guish from those due to cancer of the pancreas. Moreover, permanent
obliteration by a stone may cause considerable loss of flesh, thus resembling
the cachexia of cancer, and rendering the diagnosis doubtful. The following
case will illustrate this point :
On August 25, 1897, a woman, sixty-three years of age, was admitted for chronic
jaundice, involving the skin and the mucous membranes. The urine, which had an oily
look, was of a deep mahogany colour, and contained much bile pigment and traces of
albumin. On the other hand, the faeces were clay-coloured. The contrast between
the deep jaundice of the skin and of the urine and the whiteness of the faeces clearly
pointed to obstiiictive jaundice ; the bile, being arrested in its course, could no longer
flow into the intestine.
The patient told us that she had been yellov/ for a year. The jaimchce had been
preceded by pain, that came on about three hours after breakfast. The jjain started in
the epigastric region, and rachated over the belly, into the back, and between the
shoulder-blades ; it was sometimes followed by fainting-fits. The pain was frequently
accompanied by vomiting of bile. After the jaundice had appeared the faeces became
whitish. The patient still continued to work in spite of the pain. She had been unwell
for nearly a year, and although she no longer had the attacks of pain with which the
disease began, the pain was, nevertheless, almost continuous, with exacerbations and
vomiting of bile. The jaundice increased or diminished at intervals, but never dis-
api^eared. On several occasions she had severe attacks of fever, preceded by rigors,
and followed by profuse sweating. Pruritus was constant. The appetite had failed,
and the stomach had become so intolerant that she could only take milk in small
quantities. Her strength had gradually diminished, and she had lost over 30 pounds in
weight, and therefore when I saw this feeble old woman t\^ith cachexia, chronic
jaundice, and a-dema of the legs, I could not at first set aside the idea of cancer.
Examination of the patient gave the following results : The belly was sUghtly
distended, but there was no trace of collateral circulation ; ascites and tumour were
absent. The hver reached three fingers' breadth below the costal margin, and was
very painful on palpation. The gall-bladder, however, was not enlarged, and, even
supposing that it had been, it was deeply hidden, and could not be felt. The spleen,
heart, and lungs were normal. There was no tricuspid murmur, and the pulse -rate was
75. The urine contained some albumin, but not a trace of sugar — an important point.
Such was the condition on admission. It was now a question of making a diagnosis,
and it was necessary to find out the lesion preventing the passage of bile into the
intestine. Was it a calculus, or was it cancer ? Although she was old and very thin —
both points in favour of cancer — I was compelled to consider the nature of the pains at
the onset of the disease in making a diagnosis. These pains appeared to me to be in
favour of hepatic colic, rather than of cancer of the pancreas. In consequence, I decided
in favour of obhteration of the common duct by a calculus.
The question of treatment remained. As I felt that the obstruction was due to a
calculus, and as it had already lasted a year, I thought of surgical intervention.
Nevertheless, as I wished to observe the case closety, I prescribed milk, with bicarbonate
of soda, capsules of ether and turpentine (Durnade's remedy), and sahne purgatives.
I tried to reheve the itching by baths of starch and gelatine, alcohol rubs, and inunction
of a bromide ointment. From this date the disease ran the following course : The
icteric syndi'ome (icterus, bilious urine, and colourless faeces) was not always regular.
At times a small ciuantity of bile made its way into the intestine, the faeces became
sUghtly tinged, the colour of the urine and of the skin ^^'as not quite so deep, and the
itching was less troublesome. In vicAv of these shght remissions, I asked myself whether
the obhteration might not yield spontaneously. The faeces were strained tluough a sieve
DISEASES OF THE LIVER
993
and examined for gall-stones, without success. Evidently the bile under pressure was
able at times to force the barrier, which was not quite insurmountable, but the
obhterating body was not dislodged.
The hver extended below the ribs. The patient had no ajjpetite, and took only a
few spoonfuls of soup or milk. At times she complained of sharp epigastric and
hepatic pains, and vomited fluid containing a small quantity of bile, a further proof
that the bile was able to pass through the obstructed ducts. Suddenly severe attacks
of fever appeared, ^ith violent rigors, rise of temperature to 104° F., and profuse
sweating. Apart from these severe attacks of fever, which for some months past had
appeared at iiTegular intervals once or t\\-ice a week, the temi^erature was practically
normal, as the following chart shows.
Sepferhber
Date
Fxu. 60. — Temperature Chart in Obstruction of the Common
Bile-Duct.
I shall return later to these severe attacks of fever, and shall try to indicate their
cause. When fever supervenes in a patient suffering from obhteration of the bile-ducts,
wo think of cholecystitis or hepatic abscesses, but yet I ehminated the idea of infective
fever. The patient continued to lose flesh, the pain did not diminish, the itching was
intolerable, the nausea was permanent, and it was time to intervene. The patient
readily consented to an operation.
Du[)lay diagnosed obhteration of the common duct by a gall-stone. The belly
was opened, and the anterior edge of the hver was pushed upwards, so as to expose ita
lower surface. The gall-bladder was not distended ; indeed, it could not be felt in the
cystic fossa. After the hver had been tilted backwarrls, Duplay succeeded in feeling
near the hilum a deep-seated tumour as large as a hazel-nut, of stony hardness, and
covered by a fairly thick soft wall. It was impossible to state precisely whether the
tumour involved the common or the cystic duct, but it appeared rather to be at the
junction of the cystic and hepatic ducts with the common duct. Digital exploration
of the common duct along the free edge of the gastro-hepatic omentum and in its
retroduodcnal portion showed that the common duct contained no calculi in (liis
portion of its course. The soft parts covering the hard tumour were then incised, and
the curette brought out some small fragments, and then a largo calculus weighing
j^ ounce.
The diagnosis was therefore verified. The result of tlie operation was excellent.
The icteric syndrome disafipearod, the ffeces became colounid, the urine gradually
regained its normal tint, in a fortnight the jaundice had entirely disappeared, and in
three weeks the wound had healed. The itching ceased as soon as the bik^ (lowed into
63
994 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
the intestine ; there was no recurrence of pain or vomiting. The fever disappeared as
soon as the bile took its normal course, proving that it was not due to hepatic infection.
In less than three months the patient regained her normal weight and appetite. A
year later she was in perfect health.
Analysis of the Symptoms. — The patient had cachectic oedema and rapid
loss of weight. Such wasting in permanent obhteration of the common duct
might lead to error and cause belief in cancer, and yet we have just seen that
marked loss of flesh is of small importance in the diagnosis of the cause of
the obliteration of the common duct ; this fact I have noticed on several
occasions.
There is another point deserving of notice. Even before admission to
hospital, the patient had suffered from attacks of fever that commenced
with a violent rigor, and reached 104° F.
In order to discuss the cause and the value of febrile attacks in patients
with biliary retention, let us consider the question as a whole.
The migration of gall-stones during hepatic colic is sometimes accom-
panied by attacks of fever (Charcot's heptalgic fever). I have discussed this
point under the Satellite Symptoms of Hepatic Cohc. In this case, however,
the attacks of fever could not be attributed to migration of calculi, because
an enormous calculus was impacted in the common duct, and prevented any
migration. On the other hand, the attacks could not be attributed to infec-
tion of the bile-ducts (angiocholitis, hepatitis, cholecystitis), because the fever
ceased when the flow of bile became normal. How, then, are we to explain
the thirty or forty attacks of fever which the patient had within a few
months ? I have no intention of formulating a theory, but, seeing that the
attacks lasted as long as the biliary retention, and that they ceased as soon
as the biliary retention ceased, it is quite logical to attribute them to the
retention and absorption of bile. Is the bile altered in consequence of long
retention ? I do not know, but the great clinical fact is that in patients
suflering from permanent obliteration of the common duct severe and
repeated attacks of fever may occur without appreciable infection of the
bihary passages.
Similar attacks of fever were present in a case that I saw with Charrier on
July 7, 1895. The patient was suffering from bihary retention due to permanent obhtera-
tion of the common duct by a stone. The obstruction had already lasted seven months.
The gall-bladder could not be felt, but the Hver was enlarged and painful. We
recommended an operation, and the patient was taken to the Necker Hospital, where
Routier operated. The gall-bladder was of small size, and was not infected ; it contained
seven calcuH, whilst two others were impacted in the common duct, blocking it com-
pletely. No pus was foimd. The operation was a complete success.
In this case the attacks of fever could not be attributed to an infection of the bihary
passages, as the operator did not find any trace thereof, and as the attacks yielded as
soon as the operation had re-established the normal flow of the bile. The retention
and absorption of bile cause these attacks of fever. I have also noticed similar attacks
of fever in obhteration of the common duct by cancer of the head of the pancreas. I
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 995
have already mentioned a case of jaundice of eight months' duration following on cancer
of the head of the pancreas. The patient had also had attacks of fever, Avith a rise of
temperature to 104° F. ; the attacks lasted for several months. In this case also an
operation revealed no trace of suppuration ; the gall-bladder was not infected, and the
attacks of fever ceased as soon as the obstacle to the flow of bile had been removed.
The object of this digression is to emphasize certain varieties of fever in
cases of jaundice. First variety : so-called heptalgic fever (satelUte fever),
associated with the migration of calculi and hepatic colic. Second variety :
so-called bilio-septic fever, the result of infection of the bihary passages
(angiochoUtis, cholecystitis, abscesses). Third variety : fever resulting from
the permanent retention of bile. In these three varieties the fever occurs
in attacks, with this difference however : that the attacks are distinct and
separated by longer or shorter periods of ajjyrexia in the first and third
varieties, whereas they are part of a more continuous febrile condition in
infection or suppuration of the biliary passages.
Diagnosis. — Let us now consider the diagnosis of the cause of the oblitera-
tion. In general terms cancerous obstruction of the common duct causes
dilatation of the gall-bladder, while obstruction by a stone causes atrophy.
This rule holds in many cases, but as exceptions we find the cases of Cruveil-
hier, Sabourin, Billroth, Jalaguier, Hanot, Griffon, etc., in which the gall-
bladder showed enormous dilatation, consequent on obliteration of the
terminal portion of the common duct by a calculus, cancer being absent.
I agree, therefore, with Reclus that " dilatation of the gall-bladder is in
favour of cancer, because atrophy of the bladder is much more frequent
than enlargement in gall-stones." This sign is, however, not absolute, and
cannot jper se decide the question without reckoning on the fact that it
is not easy to make out dilatation of the gall-bladder, since there are cases
in which, though it is dilated, it is so deeply seated that it cannot be
examined.
Enlargement of the liver, formerly considered to be special to calculous
obliteration, may exist in the case of cancerous obliteration, as is shown by
the enormous size of the liver in the patient I saw with Reclus. i
Rapid loss of flesh and cachexia are in favour of cancer. And yet calcu-
lous obliteration of the common duct may be followed by considerable loss
of flesh and cachexia, as was seen in my patient, who had lost over 30 pounds
in a few months.
The comparative analysis of the faoces will be described under Pan-
creatitis.
Glycosuria has been given as a sign of cancer of the pancreas, but this
sign is only of slight value. Glycosuria is found in about a third of the cases,
and even then, according to Bard and Vm[, it is a secondary symptom,
due not to cancer, but to concomitant sclerosis of the pancreas.
03— 2
996 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Summary : The pain furnishes the most important support in the diag-
nosis of the cause of the obHteration, and even then it is necessary to define
clearly the character of the pain. Cancer of Vater's ampulla may cause pain
and simulate hepatic colic, as in Rendu' s case. Cancer of the head of the
pancreas is even more painful ; this fact led to an erroneous belief in
calculous obliteration. Pain is a valuable sign only when it appears in the
form of classical hepatic colic, which at more or less distant periods has
preceded or accompanied the definite obliteration of the common duct.
I have intentionally omitted in this section obliteration of the common
duct consecutive to pancreatitis. This question is so important that I shall
deal with it in a special section under Diseases of the Pancreas.
Treatment. — Operative interference becomes necessary at some stage of
obliteration of the common duct, even in the absence of an exact diagnosis
as to the cause. Even in cases of cancer an operation is proper because it
re-establishes the flow of bile, relieving the itching and giving the patient
some months of hope.
In obliteration by a gall-stone an operation leads to recovery. As my
experience has increased, I feel sure that surgical treatment is to be preferred
m obhteration of the bile-ducts by a gall-stone, because the obliteration is
so often accompanied by cholecystitis. The operation re-establishes the flow
of bile, and removes the gall-bladder, which may give rise to complications.
It has the further advantage of preventing the onset of' severe pancreatitis.
I know that the objection will be raised that obhteration by a calculus of
several months' duration may yield to treatment at Vittel, Vichy, Contrexe-
ville, Carlsbad, etc. ; it is, however, proper to add that many of these cases
are liable to relapses, to hepatic colic, cholecystitis, pancreatitis, and other
well-known comphcations.
We must be ready to decide, for it is better to intervene early rather
than late. In the case above quoted a late operation did not prevent
recovery ; the passage of small amounts of bile, however, saved the situation.
I feel, however, that more prompt decision is needed. In permanent ob-
literation of the common duct by a calculus, the most favourable time for
operation is within the first two months {vide Section VII., Diseases of the
Pancreas).
Cases recently pubished by Lejars and Morestin are in favour of this
view, and a case under my care at the Hotel-Dieu sums up the situation :
A woman was admitted into my wards on May 7, 1907. She had suffered from
attacks of hepatic coHc for four years, and the present attack was of seven weeks'
duration, the icteric syndrome being complete. I made a diagnosis of permanent
obliteration of the common duct by a calculus. As medical treatment failed, I asked
Terrier and Gosset to operate. The atrophied gall-bladder was excised, and the
common duct was catheterized, revealing a rounded stone, as large as a small nut,
near Vater's amijulla. The hepatic duct was drained. Complete recovery followed.
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 997
XXII. ANGIOCHOLITIS— CHOLECYSTITIS.
Pathogenesis. — Angiocholitis and cholecystitis are always due to microbic
toxi- infections. The infectious process is sometimes favoured by stagnation
of bile due to compression or obstruction of the bile-ducts ; at other times
the invasion of the bile-ducts by microbes takes place, without previous
obstruction. Biliary calculi realize the tj'pe of the obstructive infection ;
typhoid infection realizes the type of infection without previous obstruction.
I would therefore refer the reader to the sections on Biliary Lithiasis and on
Typhoid Fever.
In the normal state the bile, the gall-bladder, and the bile-ducts are
aseptic, the only exception being the lower portion of the common duct on
account of its proximity to the duodenum, in which coli bacilh, strepto-
cocci, and staphylococci are normally present. In pathological conditions,
however, these microbes enter the bile-ducts. Many other agents, such as
the pneumococcus, the Bacillus typhosus, the cholera bacillus, diplococci,
and liquefying saprogenic bacilli may also infect the biliary passages. In
some cases the organisms may even live in a latent state in the bile, which
has not the bactericidal properties formerly attributed to it.
The micro-organisms come mo^t frequently from the infected intestine.
Why, however, do the biliary passages allow themselves to be invaded ?
What cause governs the emigration of microbes from an infected intestine
to the aseptic biliary passages ? The virulence of the intestinal microbes
may be a sufficient cause for the emigration, but most frequently this migra-
tion towards the biliary passages is favoured by pathological conditions of
these passages from obstruction and injury due to calculi, by retention
of the bile in the intra- and extrahepatic ducts, or by some previous change
in the hepatic cell (alcoholism, gout, or syphilis). In other words, the
microbes rush in when the breach is practicable. When the organ is in a
condition of morlnd receptivity, the microbes and their toxines accomplish
their work.
When the biliary infection is established, whether the migration of the
organisms takes place with or without the previous assistance of trauma-
tism, of obstruction, or of biliary retention, how does the infection reveal
itsolf ? The answer involves the study of angiocholitis and cholecystitis.
Angiocholitis. — Angiocholitis, or inflammation of the bile-ducts, affects
both the lal-ge and small ducts (extra- or intrahepatic), just as bronchitis
affects the large and small Inonchi.
Angiocholitis of the large ducts, and especially of the common duct, Ls
usually due to gall-stones, but inllammation of the common duct (chole-
dochitis) is not always due to a calculus. Longuet mentions three cases,
reported by Terrier, Helierich, and fVhlfeld, in which the common duct con-
998 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
tained no stone, but yet it was enormously distended, and contained greenish
viscid or suppurating fluid.
Angiocholitis of the small ducts is so closely allied to the calculous form
that I would refer the reader to the section on Gall- Stones. It may give rise
to the areolar abscesses of the liver described by Chauffard, and also to enor-
mous intrahepatic enlargements of the ducts, simulating large abscesses of
the liver. Longuet quotes an absolutely characteristic case. Intra-
hepatic angiocholitis may be accompanied by jaundice, without decolora-
tion of the faeces ; swelling and pain in the liver are frequent but inconstant
symptoms. Fever is seldom absent ; it has been called intermittent hepatic
fever (Charcot), or intermittent bilio-septic fever (Chauffard). It exactly
resembles malarial fever, with this difference, that the attack is generally
vesperal and irregular in type.
In some cases the infection affects the liver and the blood, spreading from
the ducts to the portal and hepatic veins, and producing infective endo-
carditis of the right side of the heart, suppurating infarcts in the lungs and
pleura, infective endocarditis of the left side of the heart, suppurative
meningitis, etc.
Cholecystitis. — I would ask the reader to refer to the section on Calculous
Cholecystitis, where certain sides of this question have been treated in
detail.
The pathogenesis of the infection of the bile-ducts is, applicable to infec-
tion of the gall-bladder (cholecystitis). As regards its evolution, however,
cholecystitis may be divided into certain varieties — cholecystitis, para-
cholecystitis, and pericholecystitis.
1. Cholecystitis, whether it is or is not due to gall-stones, follows biliary
infection. In both forms there may be obstruction of the excretory canals,
either by calculi or " because the inflamed mucosa has formed a plug in the
fine cysto-choledochic ducts." The infected gall-bladder may or may not
contain fluid ; the fluid may be serous (hydrocholecystitis), sero-purulent
(pyocholecystitis), or haemorrhagic (hsemocholecystitis).
Cholecystitis with effusion causes more or less enlargement, so that the
gall-bladder may resemble a cyst with thin and distended walls, or a tumour
with thick, hypertrophied walls. In non-calculous cholecj^stitis the gall-
bladder is usually distended ; in calculous cholecystitis it is always con-
tracted and shrunken (Terrier).
2. In pericholecystitis the inflammation is localized around the gall-
bladder, and does not extend to remote organs. It may be calculous or non-
calculous, suppurative or fibrinous. Pericholecystitis is most frequently
suppurative in the case of calculous cholecystitis ; it is often fibrous and
rich in adhesions, whether it is or is not due to gall-stones.
3. Paracholecystitis must be reserved for suppuration more or less
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 999
distant from the infected gall-bladder. Longuet divides the abscesses into
four types : '■ Some, anterior and inferior, invade the abdominal wall (flank
and right hypochondrium), and give rise to fistulse. Others spread upwards
over the upper surface of the liver, between the diaphragm and the false ribs
on the one side and the liver on the other ; they form the antero-superior
type. If, however, they continue their course as far as the posterior wall of
the abdomen, they become postero-superior. Finally, the postero-inferior
abscesses leave the roof of the abdominal cavity, in order to reach the
posterior wall of the abdomen and the renal and lumbar regions." These
remote abscesses are more commonly seen in non-calculous than in calculous
cholecystitis ; they are comparable with the remote abscesses of appendicitis.
The symptoms of cholecystitis have been described elsewhere. Non-
calculous cholecystitis, as often as calculous cholecystitis, is complicated
by adhesive pericholecystitis. These adhesions may cause very acute pain —
a common symptom when adhesions are formed in the abdominal cavity.
Often, indeed, the other symptoms pass unnoticed, or are of minor impor-
tance, and a patient suffering from adhesive cholecystitis is seized, just as in
hepatic colic, with acute pain and vomiting. The attacks of pain recur ; the
diagnosis of hepatic colic or of calculous cholecystitis is made, and an opera-
tion is decided on. No calculus is, met with, but, on the contrary, adhesions
due to pericholecystitis are found. The adhesions are removed, and the
patient recovers from the so-called hepatic colic. He has really been suffer-
ing from hepatic pseudo-colic. Fraenkel and Terrier have reported cases of
this kind.
Kummel mentions a woman who was subject to hepatic colic with icterus, and
passed gall-stones in the stools. As the pains grew worse, an operation was per-
formed. The gall-bladder contained no calculi, but had become adlierent to the
omentum and to the cystic and common ducts. The adhesions were the cause of the
pains.
I have seen two similar cases. The adhesions were removed, and the
pains, which had been agonizing, ceased completely.
XXIII. ASSOCIATION OF APPENDICITIS AND CHOLECYSTITIS.
My communication to the Academie de Medecine,* on the association of appendicitis
with cholecystitis, is, I believe, the first work published in France on this subject. I
iiavo since discussed the question in a cUnical locture.f This association, which is
fairly frequent, is not the result of a fortuitous coexistence ; the two infections are
associated, the one causing the other. Appendicitis and diolecystitis enter into com-
bination, and from this coml)ination, wbicli may bo sudden and acute or slow and
jtrogressiv e in its onset, a complex condition results. The |)n!sent description is founded
* Academie de Medecine, stance du 17 Juin, 1903.
f Dieulafoy, Clinique Medicate de VHvtel-Dieu, 190G, 7'"' lo^on.
1000 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
on about thirty cases ; it is of importance, because it has as its immediate corollary, to
state, as precisely as possible, the indications for surgical intervention.
Clinical Cases.— On September 25, 1902, Achard asked me to see an old lady, seventy-
eight years of age, who had been taken ill two days before with abdominal pain, nausea,
and sliglit fever. On examining the patient, Achard had chscovered a painful spot
over the gall-bladder. There was no muscular resistance, and the belly was not
distended. Although there was no history of gall-stones or of hepatic cohc, the
location of the pain led him to suspect cholecystitis. The pain grew worse, and the
fever was more severe on the following day.
When we examined the patient two days later, the clinical picture was complete.
' he belly was distended ; the situation of the pain had changed, acute pain, with
muscular resistance, being present over the appendix. We, then, diagnosed acute appendi-
citis, and as the condition of the patient grew rapidly worse, we recommended immediate
operation. Segond was then called in. He also diagnosed acute api^enchcitis, and
operated at 11 p.m.
Before anaesthesia was induced, the pain and the muscular resistance had not allowed
us to ascertain certain details. As soon as the abdominal wall was relaxed, Segond
found induration over the appendix, and a tumour in the region of the gall-bladder. He
therefore made a rather high incision, and foimd two lesions, appendicitis and chole-
cystitis. Exudate matted together the gall-bladder, the colon, the caecum, and the
appendix. The gall-bladder Avas pushed down, and formed a violet and distended
tumour ; it contained a turbid and biUous fluid, as well as several calcuU. Cholecyst-
ostomy was performed. The appenchx of the ascending type was adherent and swollen.
It was then resected. The operation was followed by complete relief. During the next
few days the biliary fistula gave issue to bile and to two calcuh. Two months later
the patient left for Nice in excellent health. She no longer vomited, and had only a
small biUary fistula, which was cicatrizing.
This case shows the benefit of prompt operation, because imqaediate relief followed.
If the operation had been postponed, the double infection in the appendix and the gall-
bladder would very probably have proved fatal.
In December, 1902, 1 was called with Segond to see a man of about thirty years of age.
Two days previously the patient had felt indisposed. At first the symptoms of gastric
disturbance — loss of appetite, malaise, and slight fever — had not been characteristic ; on
the following day the abdominal symptoms were more marked, the pain was worse, and
a painful tumour could be felt in the region of the gall-bladder. The patient's physician
had diagnosed cholecystitis. The temperature had been over 104° F. on two occasions.
Two days later, when I examined the patient, the clinical picture had changed.
The fever persisted, and the most important feature was not the pain in the region of
the gall-bladder, but a sharp and characteristic pain -mth miiscular resistance over the
appendix. The pain was most marked above McBurney's jDoint, as is common in
cases of ascending appendicitis. Careful examination showed that the pain on pressure
decreased in proportion as we ascended towards the hver. No tumour was noticed in
the region of the gall-bladder. These signs left no doubt as to the existence of
appendicitis. Segond formed the same opinion. The urine contained albumin.
The symptoms of appendicitis, therefore, were more marked than those of chole-
cystitis. The rapid course of the disease, the temperature rising above 104° F., and
the presence of albumin gave us much alarm.
In such cases a decision is imperative. Segond and myself were in favour of im-
mediate operation. The patient's physician did not agree with us. As we shall see,
the operation was the more indicated in that it revealed peritonitis, appendicitis, and
cholecystitis.
The operation was performed at 10 p.m., Segond first attacking the appendix.
On opening the peritoneum he found some turbid serous fluid, indicative of appendi-
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 1001
citis ; a larger quantity of turbid fluid had spread into the pelvis. Tlie appendix, -which
was inflamed, and which reached up beliind the caecum, was excised. Subsequent
examination by Nattan-Larrier revealed ulcerative appendicitis. Below a plug of
fsecoidal matter were two large ulcerations, the one elongated, the other oval. At the
site of these ulcerations the tissues were so destroyed that they were transparent, the
wall of the appendix being reduced to a thin sheet. At other points the mucosa was
.swollen ; elsewhere there was a hanuorrhagic stippling.
Segond next turned his attention to the gall-bladder. The incision in the abdominal
wall was prolonged upwards, and by means of digital exploration he reached the gall-
bladder, which was deeply seated. He foimd that it was distended, with red and thick
walls. He performed cholecystostomy. The incision gave exit to a yellowish liquid,
then some creamy pus, and finally to some tinted pus ; no gall-stones were present.
The neck of the gall-bladder appeared to be obUterated.
The results of the operation were remarkable. In spite of the triple infection, two
hours after operation the temperature had fallen to normal. Speedy recovery followed.
In the next case (Grant) appendicitis and coexisting cholecystitis ended in perforation
and death. A man, fifty-three years of age, was said to have previously had hepatic
colic. Violent pains, localized to the region of the gall-bladder, suddenly appeared
one night. Grant diagnosed cholecystitis. Two hours later a fresh attack of pain
with vomiting appeared. Rupture of the gall-bladder was diagnosed. Next morning
intense pain over the appencbx also appeared. Freeman diagnosed appendicitis and
cholecystitis. The operation revealed appendicitis and cholecystitis, which had both
ended in perforation. The patient died four days later from general peritonitis.
Adolf Becker has recently collected some thirty cases of coexistent appendicitis and
cholecystitis. These cases fall into two groups — in the first group the appendicitis
appears to have preceded the cholecystitis, and in the second and larger group the
cholecystitis preceded the appendicitis.
First Group. — Kehrs Case. — A woman, forty-six years of age, who seemed to have
had previous attacks of appendicitis, was taken ill with acute hepatic colic. Laparotomy
was performed. The ajDpendix was surrounded by adhesions, and fixed to the back of
the caecum and colon. The gall-bladder, covered with membranes, contained turbid
liquid and eight gall-stones.
Kehr's Case. — In the case of a man, thirty-seven years of age, with appendicitis
cholecystitis was also suspected. The operation revealed a thickened appendix,
reaching up beliind and adherent to the ca'cum and colon. The gall-bladder was com-
pletely buried in adhesions. The gall-bladder and the appendix were removed.
Second Group. — Mvllers Case. — A woman, twenty-one years of age, had three attacks
of pain in the right hypochondrium ; the pain radiated to the shoulders, the back, and
the chest ; jaundice was present, and gall-stones were not present in the stools. The
diagnosis was cholehthiasis. Acute pains in the right ileo-csecal region supervened
several days later, with marked tenderness over the appendix. Miiller diagnosed
cholelithiasis and apj)endicitis. The ojieration revealed cholecystitis, with an adherent
and contracted gall-bladder containing calculi, and apjiendicitis, with stenosis of the
canal at the mouth of the caecum, thickening of (lie wall, and purulent exudate.
MaJleys Case. — A man, forty-six years of age, had for several years j)ast suffered from
hepatic colic with jaundice, but no calculi had ever been found in the stools. Later a
very painful tumour was noticed in the ca-cal region. Miiller diagnosed chronic
apiK!ndicitis, for which he operated. He found the appendix surrounded by adhesions,
and dilated in the shape of an ampulla in its lower third. In spite of resection of the
appendix the patient still continued to complain of violent pain in the right hypo-
cliondrinm. A very painful tumour was found in the region corresponding to the gall-
biaddcr. A scciond operation was perfornK^d, and the gall-bladder was found to bo
surnmiKJcd i)v adhesions and to contain several calculi.
1002 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The acute or clironic lesions in these cases of appendicitis associated with
cholecystitis are of every kind : muco -purulent or haemorrhagic fluid, ulcer-
ation of the walls of the appendix, stenosis, dilatation, perforation, gangrene,
adhesions, pericsecal suppuration, peritonitis, etc. The cholecystitis may
or may not be due to gall-stones, and the gall-bladder in different cases is
distended, thickened, retracted, and adherent, and contains fluid variable
in quantity and in quality.
Discussion. — We must now consider the cause of this double infection
of the appendix and the gall-bladder. Is it brought about simultaneously
by one cause, or is there rather a superposition of the two infections, the
one preparing the other ? And, in this case, which is the earlier, the appen-
dicitis or the cholecystitis ?
We might suppose that the two infections are due to a calculous process,
causing simultaneously cholecystitis and appendicitis. This hypothesis will
not hold in the face of the fact that in this double infection, calculi are very
seldom found in the appendix, and are sometimes absent in the gall-bladder.
We must therefore look elsewhere for the pathogenesis of the double
infection.
Is cholecystitis the result of appendicitis ? We know how readily ascend-
ing infections of appendical origin occur. In Section XIX. we saw that the
infection starts from the appendix, and is carried to the liver by the venous
network that ends in the portal vein and in the liver. This infection through
the veins has, however, nothing to do with the infection of the gall-bladder.
It is the liver that is attacked, and not the gall-bladder, and the proof is that
in the numerous cases of appendicular liver the gall-bladder remains healthy.
We may also ask whether the infection, starting from the appendix,
may not reach the gall-bladder by the peritoneal route, through the adhesions
"^^hich so often unite the appendix, the intestine, and the gall-bladder.
This ascending infection causes subphrenic empyema and pleurisy in appen-
dicitis. This question has been discussed under Appendicular Pleurisy. In
such a case the infection, starting from the frimum movens in the appendix,
travels up along the csecum and colon, reaches the hypochondrium, often
causing subphrenic empyema ; passes through the diaphragm, which may
or may not be perforated ; and invades the pleural cavity. The membranous
and purulent tracks stand out as landmarks along the route, so that we can
follow the infection from its modest origin in the appendix to its intrathoracic
expansion, where the pleurisy is often purulent and putrid. On referring,
however, to the numerous cases in which ascending infection has led to sub-
phrenic empyema and pleurisy, it will be seen that cholecystitis was not
present, the infection licking the walls of the gall-bladder, but not provoking
cholecystitis.
If the gall-bladder escapes the broad track of the appendical infection,
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 1003
which, as it ascends, spreads along the intestine, around and above the liver,
and even into the thoracic cavity, is it reasonable to suppose that it can be
infected by the small track which in the present case joins it with the
appendix ? In the majority of cases cholecystitis causes appendicitis, the
infection taking place from above downwards. Furthermore, in twenty-
five out of thirty cases the earliest symptoms are due to the biliary lesions,
while the symptoms of appendicitis appear some days, weeks, or months
later.
A patient, for example, has had undoubted signs of hepatic colic or of
cholecystitis, especially pains in the right hypochondrium or in the region of
the gall-bladder, the diagnosis of cholelithiasis, hepatic colic, or cholecystitis
being made. At a given moment pain appears in the right iliac fossa, and
is accompanied by other symptoms, indicating acute, subacute, or chronic
appendicitis. As a rule, especially in the acute form, the symptoms of
appendicitis, with or without peritonitis, become much more marked than
those of cholecystitis. In other cases, especially in the subacute forms, the
two foci (the one in the appendix and the other in the gall-bladder) remain
sufficiently distinct for the diagnosis of cholecystitis and appendicitis to be
made.
Many mistakes must have been made before attention was called to the
association of appendicitis with calculous or non-calculous cholecystitis. A
physician, having seen several attacks of typical hepatic colic in a patient,
may have believed in a fresh attack of colic when the appendicitis broke
out in a subintrant form. Another physician, having witnessed the onset of
acute appendicitis, may not suspect the previous occurrence of cholecystitip
if the symptoms of cholecystitis are effaced, or if the information given is
insufficient.
We have, then, a new chapter to add to the history of cholecystitis and
appendicitis ; the possible association of this double infection must keep us
constantly on the alert.
In the future, therefore, it will be necessary to pay attention to the
coupling of these two infections. The infection of the gall-bladder is cer-
tainly serious, but the toxi-infection of the appendix is even more so.
Failure to recognize appendicitis, and to fortify oneself on the ground of
cholecystitis only, is a grave error, because it may falsify the therapeutic
indications. The belief that we have to fight all the time against infection
of the gall-bladder leads to delay, and duiing that time the a])pendicitis,
which has not been recognized, may rapidly induce toxi-infcctious complica-
tions, with or without perforation or gangrene, and tlio life of the patient
is compromised by the double or tri|tle infection, because we have not acted
in time.
Pearly surgical intervention is especially indicated in such cases. An
1004 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
operation for cholecystitis alone when appendicitis is also present means
leaving the appendicular toxi- infection to do its worst. Not to operate on
either lesion, and to advise delay, is to anticipate the most dire results.
XXIV. ABERRANT LOBE OF THE LIVER.
In certain individuals the liver has an extra lobe, which has been called
the aberrant or erratic lobe, the hepatic tonguelet, and the floating lobe,
as it has a certain mobility. The aberrant lobe arises on the under surface
of the liver, close to the quadrate lobe. It is, as it were, hung from the liver,
which is not depressed. The aberrant lobe is sometimes directly continuous
with the liver substance ; at other times it is attached to the liver by a
rudimentary or a complete pedicle. The size, form, and length of the aber-
rant lobe vary ; it may reach a length of 7 or 8 inches. The more marked
the pedicle, the more mobile and depressed is the lobe ; it simulated a
floating kidney in the cases quoted by Pichevin and Faure.
Symptoms. — The floating lobe of the liver may remain unnoticed. It
often causes sharp pains in the right hypochondrium, radiating to the lumbar
region and to the shoulder. The pains simulate the crisis seen in calculous
cholecystitis or in floating kidney. On examining the belly, the tumour is
found. The liver is not depressed. The aberrant lobe descends more or
less ; it is smooth, fairly mobile, and sometimes painful on pressure. It
follows the movements of the liver, unless it has a well-marked pedicle. The
most frequent error in diagnosis consists in mistaking the aberrant lobe for
a displaced kidney. Sometimes a mobile lobe is found with a mobile kidney,
and, then, the diagnosis is complicated.
An interesting feature is that the aberrant lobe of the liver is fairly often associated
with gall-stones and cholecystitis. We may even find the tumour formed by the
aberrant lobe and the tumour due to cholecystitis side by side. The question was
discussed by Riedel (Berlin, 1888), who found six cases of aberrant lobe in women
suffering from cholecystitis, with or without cholehthiasis. The first authentic case,
as far as I know, was reported by Trousseau. A woman had been suffering from
hepatic coUc with jaundice and fever. A tumour was felt at the right edge of the Uver,
and was taken for calculous cholecystitis. The post-mortem examination revealed
calculous cholecystitis, but the tumour felt during Ufe was an aberrant lobe of the liver
masking the gall-bladder.
This description of the aberrant lobe of the liver shows the difficulties in
diagnosis, especially when an aberrant lobe and cholecystitis exist in the
same subject.
XXV. ICTERUS— JAUNDICE— CHOL^MIA.
Description. — Under certain conditions, the bile pigment, elaborated by
the liver, is reabsorbed ; it passes into the blood and circulates in the plasma.
The organs, tissues, and secretions are then more or less coloured by the bile.
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 1005
Icterus, or jaundice, is the yellow coloration of the skin and of the mucosae
by the bile pigments. Jaundice appears first in the conjunctivae, and then
spreads over the face, the mucosa of the mouth, the trunk, and the hmbs.
The colour of the skin varies from the palest yellow (subicteric tint) to a deep
yellow, which is generally the sign of icterus from retention. A golden-
yellow colour is especially seen in acute jaundice ; the greenish, olive, or
almost black tints are principally seen in chronic jaundice. The jaundice is
always general, and there is no such thing as partial jaundice, but it is more
or less pronounced, according to the region. The colouring matter of the bile
is deposited in the deep layers of the Malpighian network, and the jaundice
does not completely disappear until after the desquamation of the coloured
cells. The bile pigment is chiefly ehminated by the kidneys, whence the
characteristic colour of the urine ; but it is also eliminated by the sweat and
sebaceous glands, which explains the yellow colour of the linen in contact
with the patient's sweat. As the milk may contain bile pigment, a child
should not be suckled by a wet-nurse suffering from chronic jaundice. In
a pregnant woman suffering from chronic jaundice the yellow colour may be
communicated to the foetus.
When the skin is jaundiced, the urine is always affected. The coloration
oi the urine precedes by some hours that of the mucosae and of the skin.
The bile pigment is eliminated by the epitheUum of the tubules ; the kidneys
are greenish, especially in the cortical region, and the microscope shows the
pigment in the epithelium of the tubules. The urine is of high specific
gravity, and is generally less copious than in the normal condition ; its colour
varies according to the quantity of the bile pigment, being orange-yellow,
greenish, brownish, or almost black. The green tint is due to the conversion
of bilii-ubin into biliverdin by oxidation. The urine stains the linen, and
the more acid it is, the more marked is the green colour.
The analysis of the urine should be made in the following manner :
Fuming nitric acid is poured into a wineglass (Gmelin's reaction), and the
urine previously filtered is slowly added by means of a pipette. At the
junction of the acid and the urine a greenish band will be seen, and above this
green zone we see, from below upwards, blue, violet, red, and yellow rings.
The green tint predominates, but after some time all these shades are blended
ill an orange colour.
Effects of Jaundice. — I shall only describe the symptoms due to the
impregnation of the system l)y the lule.
1. Gastro-intestinal TrowW^'6'.^The faeces in obstructive jaundice are often
clay-coloured, foetid, and rich in fatty matter — a proof that the bile under
normal conditions promotes the a})sorption of fat. The clay colour of the
fccccs is due as much to the excess of fat as to the absence of bile. In obstruc-
tive jaundice we must carefully look for a return of colour in the faeces, because
1006 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
this is an indication that the obstruction has a tendency to yield. The
patient usually has a distaste for food ; the digestion is imperfect, the tongue
is coated, and there is a bitter taste in the mouth. According to Murchison,
the bitter taste is due to the passage of taurocholate of soda into the blood.
In certain patients the faeces are not colourless, and there may even be
an excess of bile ; the faeces are greenish and liquid, and we then speak of
polychoHa or pleiochromia. The liver secretes an excess of bile, which is
partly evacuated, partly absorbed.
2. Poisoning. — When the intestinal digestion is deprived of bile, less
fatty matter is absorbed, and the patient suffers in consequence. He may
lose flesh, or he may become poisoned by the products of fermentation
absorbed through the intestine, and by the bile salts absorbed by the liver.
This double cause of auto-intoxication is not marked in most cases, because
the healthy liver cells destroy the poison, while the healthy cells in the kidney
eliminate it. If, however, the cells of the liver and of the kidney are afEected,
symptoms of intoxication may result. In chronic jaundice the kidneys
assume a greenish colour ; the epithehum of the canalicuU becomes pig-
mented, and sometimes undergoes fatty degeneration.
3. Circidatory Troubles. — The pulse is generally slow ; it may fall below
30 a minute. Lowering of the arterial tension is also noticed. The slowing
of the heart-beats and of the pulse is due to the action of the bile salts in the
blood. The salts, and especially the colouring matter of the bile, are cardiac
poisons. I have described elsewhere the mitral and tricuspid murmurs
which sometimes accompany acute and chronic jaundice. Jaundice often
causes epistaxis, especially from the right nostril (Galen).
4. Changes in the Blood. — After numerous and contradictory experiments,
the following conclusions have been arrived at : Acute jaundice (I am not re-
ferring to icterus gravis) causes no change in the blood, except that the serum
is tinted by the colouring matter of the bile. Chronic jaundice causes diminu-
tion of the red corpuscles and increase of the fatty matter and cholesterin.
The red corpuscle, in order to resist attack, modifies the normal conditions
of its permeability.
5. Cutaneous Troubles. — Jaundice is often accompanied by pruritus.
The itching is particularly severe in the feet and in the hands, and is some-
times intolerable, depriving the patient of sleep. Urticaria and lichen may
also occur in jaundice.
In chronic jaundice we sometimes notice an eruption called xanthelasma
(from ^av6omaphein is formed, and is eliminated
by tlie kidneys, giving special characters to the urine. So far tliere is no colouring of
the skin, but if the kidnc^ys do not eliminate the colouring matter, the tissues take on
a yellow tint, and ha.'mapheic jaundice results.
1008 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
Gubler's ingenious theory is no longer accepted. In the first place,
hsemaphein has never been isolated, either from the urine or from the serum.
In the second place, the blood pigment does not play the part assigned to it
by this theory ; the chief factor is the liver cell, on which the evolution of the
haemoglobin and the formation of the pigments depend. The colour
reactions in the so-called hgemapheic urine are due to urobilin and a red-
brown pigment, its chromogene (P. Tessier). Urobilin (Jaffe) belongs to
the series of iron-free pigments derived from haemoglobin, and while it is
not found in normal urine, it is present in the faeces, which owe their ordinary
colour to it. Hayeni, who has carefully studied this question, found that
urobilin dissolved in water and in urine gave with the spectroscope a dark
band of absorption between the green and the blue. Urobilin, according
to Hayem, is the pigment of the diseased liver : when the liver cell is attacked
by organic and physiological decay, it elaborates urobilin and other modified
pigments instead of normal bile pigment.
Urobilin is really the result of a change in the haemoglobin ; this change
takes place in the liver, and not in the blood-serum. Urobilin, when
reabsorbed, gives urobilinaemia, and its excretion by the kidney causes
urobilinuria.
Urobilin, however, is not the only modified pigment. Winther has
isolated a red-brown pigment of supreme importance. These modified pig-
ments, which are sometimes associated with the normal but masked bile
pigments, give rise to the so-called haemapheic jaundice. These various kinds
of jaundice, however, are not absolutely distinct ; they may follow one
another or may occur together, and may be classified in the following manner
(Hayem) :
1. Bilipheic jaundice, with normal bile pigments in the urine and in the
serum of the blood. On examining the urine, we obtain Gmelin's reaction.
The faeces are colourless when the retention of the bile is sufficient. Uro-
bilinuria may or may not be associated with this form of jaundice.
2. Gubler's haemapheic jaundice. In the urine presence of urobilin and
modified bile pigments ; absence of true pigments. In the serum, bile
pigments and a trace of urobilin ; faeces without special characters. In
reahty haemapheic jaundice does not exist, because urobilin has an ex-
tremely feeble staining power. It is therefore more correct to say that
there are varieties of jaundice, with urobilin and other modified pigments.
3. Slight jaundice, in which the urine contains urobilin alone, whilst
the serum contains urobihn and bile pigments.
4. Jaundice in which the urine and the serum contain urobihn alone.
Custom has now prevailed : the name " haemapheic icterus " has been
abandoned, and we describe two varieties — true or bilipheic jaundice, and
jaundice with urobilinuria. These ideas are of much importance in prog-
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 1009
nosis ; in bilipheic jaundice the hepatic cell is healthy ; in urobilinuric
jaundice it is diseased (Hanot, Hayem). Urobilinuria and jaundice indicate
degeneration of the hepatic cell.
In urobilinuric jaundice the urine stains the linen with salmon-coloured
spots. In the test-tube the colour varies from amber-yellow to red-brown,
but the greenish sheen observed in true jaundice does not occur. Nitric
acid gives an old mahogany colour, and never the green tint due to bile
pigment.
The spectroscope is indispensable in the examination of the urine,
because it shows whether the brown colour of the urine is due to true bile
pigment or to urobilin. The use of the small hand spectroscope makes this
examination easy, even at the. bedside of the patient. The method is as
follows :
We commence by looking through the spectroscope, directing its extremity towards
the light. The normal solar spectrum is, then, seen, the colours succeeding one another
from left to right in the following order : red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
The instrument must be carefully focussed until the edges of the spectrum are clearly
defined. The cleft in the spectroscope is, then, carefully adjusted, so that the normal
lines of the spectrum are clear. Two Unes, B and C, are seen in the red ; one hne, D,
in the orange ; one Une, E, at the edge of the yellow and the green ; and one hne, F,
in the green.
A small glass reservoir, containing the urine, is then placed between the hght and
the end of the spectroscope. Normal urine does not affect the solar spectrum to any
appreciable extent ; such is not the case when the urine is charged with bile pigments
or with urobilin. Urine containing bile pigments blots out the whole right side of
the spectrum, and the large dark band commences a Httle distance to the right of the
E Une, leaving between this line and the left extremity of the dark zone only a narrow
luminous band of greenish -yellow.
Urine charged with urobilin gives two dark bands in the spectrum : the first one
completely obscures the violet and the indigo, and darkens the right part of the blue ;
the second is a black band, situated in the green, and completely masking the F hne.
If a few drops of aramoniacal chloride of zinc are added to the urine containing urobilin,
it becomes dichroic, rose-coloured by direct hght, and green by reflected light. The
dark band which obscured the F line is displaced towards tlie left, and the F Hne becomes
visible to the right of this band. This displacement of tlie band of ab.sorption and the
reappearance of the F hne on addition of a few drops of ammoniacal chloride of zinc
are characteristic of urobilin.
The distinctions just laid down in the pathogenesis of icterus are often
met with clinically, but there are cases (m the bUious fevers, for example,
in malaria, or in certain intoxications of the liver) in which the causes and
the varieties of jaundice are as.sociated.
Appendicitis may cause either variety. In Section XtX. I have de-
scribed a case of early jaundice with urobilinuria of tOxic origin, and a case
of jaundice associated with purulent infection of the liver. These cases of
appendicular jaundice arc important in clinical medicine.
The prognosis must always be reserved, because icterus gravis sometimes
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1010 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
commences like the simple catarrlial form. Jaundice accompanied by fever
or by adynamic symptoms must be looked upon with suspicion. We shall
see in the following section that pregnancy is a grave factor. Chronic
jaundice is often the index of formidable lesions. There is no treatment for
jaundice fer se. The treatment must be directed to the causative lesions.
The kidneys must be watched ; milk diet and mild diuretics must be pre-
scribed.
Cholsemia. — ^In addition to jaundice, which is the complete chnical ex-
pression of the impregnation of the organism by bile, we see mild attenuated
bilious conditions. Sometimes the skin is slightly jaundiced, but no pigment
is found in the urine ; this condition is known as acholuric jaundice. Some-
times the skin is normal, the urine contains no bile, and the only sign of
bihary impregnation is the presence of bile pigments in the blood ; this
condition is known as cholaemia. This morbid syndrome (cholsemia) has
recently been isolated by Gilbert and Lereboullet, who have made important
contributions to the subject.
The principal symptom of cholaemia is furnished by the examination of
the serum, which generally assumes an olive-yellow tint when it is collected
in a vessel. With the spectroscope, it shows absorption bands in the green
part of the spectrum ; with nitric acid it gives Grnelin's reaction. The
urine contains urobilin, but not true bile pigments.
According to the authors above quoted, cholsemia m^y be accompanied
by dyspepsia, pain in the stomach, and diarrhoea ; renal troubles — albumin-
uria and hsemoglobinuria ; subacute or chronic biliary pseudo-rheumatism ;
cutaneous troubles — erythema, urticaria, pruritus, bullous eruptions, lentigo,
xanthelasma, pigmentation, and melanoderma ; visceral and cutaneous
haemorrhage ; cardio- arterial phenomena, intermittence, and hypotension ;
psychical troubles — melancholia, hypochondria, and neurasthenia. The pre-
dominance of these troubles in a given case will allow us to classify the forms
as dyspeptic, hsemorrhagic, or nervous.
Cholaemia is said to predispose to canaUcular infections, and may be
complicated with acute or chronic hepatic troubles (Uthiasis and biliary
cirrhosis).
Cholsemia may supervene as a gymptom in many j)rimary and secondary
affections of the liver ; it may also exist as a kind of idiopathic disease — i.e.,
simple cholaemia and family cholaemia.
The anatomical substratum, variable in the first case, seems in the second
case to be a discrete and perhaps infective angiocholitis. The diagnosis
is probable when abundance of urobilin is present in the urine, and certain
when bile pigments are found in the serum. The treatment is practically
identical with that of other hepatic affections.
DISEASES OF THE LIVER iOii
XXVI. ICTERUS GRAVIS— ICTERUS AND THE PUERPERAL
STATE.
Nature of the Disease— Pathogenesis. — Transient icterus is in itself a
benign symptom. Witli few exceptions, tlie tissues may be impregnated by
bile without the least danger resulting. We meet people who have hepatic
colic or catarrh of the biliary passages, with temporary obUteration of the
common bile-duct, and experience no serious inconvenience from jaundice
that has lasted for several weeks. We also see people sufiering from hyper-
trophic biliary cirrhosis with persistent jaundice, and yet they preserve their
appetite, their strength, and their appearance of health. In these different
cases the relative benignity of the icterus arises, on the one hand, from
the healthy condition of the kidneys, which eUminate the pigment and the
bile acids (toxic substances), and, on the other hand, from the capital fact
that the hepatic cells preserve their functional activity. The danger of
certain kinds of icterus, then, does not come from the icterus itself, and
here, as elsewhere, the icterus is little more than a symptom. The danger,
as we shall see later, conies from the destruction of the hepatic cells, and the
name icterus gravis answers to a somewhat ill-defined morbid group, the
principal characters of which are. as follows :
An individual Ls in perfect health. After a few days of fever, lassitude,
headache, muscular pains, and prostration, symptoms that simulate the
invasion of influenza or typhoid fever, or after some gastro-intestinal trouble
which might easily be taken for a simple catarrh of the digestive passages,
slight or pronounced icterus supervenes. The fever is more or less high.
Epistaxis, haemorrhage from the gums, hsematemesis, mela^na, haomaturia,
purpura or ecchymoses, then appear, and are accompanied or followed by
nervous troubles, such as vomiting, hiccough, dyspnoea, dehriuni, convul-
sions, or coma, and in the majority of cases the patient is carried off within
two to three weeks, with ataxo- adynamic symptoms and hyperthermia or
hypothermia.
In the foregoing example icterus gravis strikes the individual in the
midst of good health, appearing as a primary disease, resembling typhus,
yellow fever, or some other infectious disease, and breaking out at times in
an epidemic state. In addition to primary icterus gravis, we find a
series of cas(\s in which icterus gravis does not appear as a morbid entity,
but as a secondary condition in the course of some otiier disease (maUgnant
syphilis, typhoid fever, or pneumonia), in pregnancy, or in the course of a
disease of the liver. Thus, in an individual suffering from cancer of the liver,
venous or biliary cirrhosis, gall-stones, hepatic tuberculosis, or hepatic
s}q)hilis, symptoms of icterus gravis appear, and the icterus in such a case
is only an episode in the course of the hepatic disease.
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1012 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
We must not speak of one but of several forms of icterus gravis (Jaccoud) ;
there are also cases in which the syndrome of icterus gravis is due to acute
intoxication (phosphorus), and in this section we shall have to separate each
of these forms.
Former observers, struck by the course and the symptoms of this disease,
gave it the name of icterus gravis (Ozanam), in opposition to icterus
benignus ; this name implied malignancy, without in any way specifying a
distinct morbid entity. On the other hand, the predominance of certain
symptoms gave the disease several names : typhoid icterus (Lebert), fatal
icterus, haemorrhagic icterus (Monneret).
Later, our ideas concerning the disease were modified. Icterus gravis
was no longer considered a syndrome, and writers wished to make it a
distinct morbid entity, with its own anatomical character. Rokitansky
had already announced that icterus gravis was the result of acute atrophy
of the liver. Frerichs confirmed his researches, and several writers called
it acute yellow atrophy of the liver. Subsequent researches proved that
the liver is not always atrophied, that the lesions of the cells do not consist
solely in atrophy (Robin), and that irritative lesions have a certain part in
it, and the disease for a time received the name of diffuse parenchymatous
hepatitis.
It may be said that the nature of icterus gravis is now established.
Icterus gravis, as Bright, Budd, and Trousseau saw it, is- an infective disease
which in some features resembles yellow fever. It has its origin in the rapid
anatomical and physiological decay of the cells of the liver, with or without
atrophy of the organ. The liver is not only attacked in its histological
elements, but also in the chemical constitution of its parenchyma (Quin-
quaud) ; the hepatic cell may be physiologically destroyed, while the morpho-
logical changes appear to be slight. In short, the multiple and important
functions of the liver are suppressed, glycogenesis is abolished, and, as a
consequence, there is rapid decay of the nervous, vascular, and muscular
systems. The hepatic cell is no longer able to arrest the passage of the
poisons and pepto-toxines brought by the portal vein ; the products of
digestion undergo incomplete elaboration ; the extractives, in the form of urea,
no longer undergo their final oxidation ; the bile acids are incompletely elabor-
ated, or, in a word, the hepatic function tends to be suppressed, and the
liver "is no longer the citadel advanced against the infection," but, on the
contrary, becomes the starting-point of secondary infections. To these
causes of infection and hepatic intoxication are often joined causes of
ursemic intoxication, as the renal epithelium may be attacked.
Another question now arises : we say that icterus gravis is due to destnic-
tion of the hepatic cells. What agent produces this change ? Is it a micro-
organism or a toxic substance ? Bacteriological researches have shown
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 1013
that various microbes may be associated with the lesions and symptoms of
icterus gravis. The Staphylococcus aureus has been found by Legall in two
cases of primary icterus gravis, and by Girode in one case of icterus gravis
during pregnancy.
In the cases reported by Hanot various microbes were found. A yoimg woman
died of icterus gravis. Streptococci were found in the small ducts and veins of the liver,
and in the serum from the lung and the spleen. An alcoholic youth was carried off by
icterus gravis, and the Bacillus coli.was found in the hepatic cells and capillaries. A
man suffering from cancer of the biliary passages died of icterus gravis, and the
Bacillus coli was found in the bile and in the blood of the cardiac cavities.
Boix reports the following cases : In a patient suft'ering from icterus gravis, with
hypothermia, Hanot and Boix found the Bacillus coli in the blood and in tho liver
four hours after death. In a patient suffering from icterus gravis, with hyperthermia,
the same authors foimd the Staphylococcus alhus in the blood twenty-four hours before
death, and the same staphylococcus in the hver half an hour after death. Babes has
published four cases of icterus gravis terininating rapidly in death, and associated with
the streptococcus. Hanot has commimicated two cases of icterus gravis that super-
vened in pneumonia and in secondary cancer of the liver. In the first case the pneumo-
coccus was found in the liver, and in the second case the pneumococcus was found in
the blood of the cephalic vein five hours before death. Achard has published two cases
of primary cancer of the liver ending in icterus gravis ; in each case the Staphylococcus
alhus was found in tho liver during life. Bar and Renon have reported the case of a
new-bom child who died of icterus gravis complicating hepatic syphihs. The Proteus
vulgaris was foimd in a pure state in the blood of the umbilical vein, in the liver, the
spleen, and the heart.
This enumeration proves that icterus gravis may be associated with the
Bacillus coli, streptococcus, staphylococcus, pneumococcus, and Proteus
vulgaris. There can, therefore, be no question of a specific disease, and we
have proof that the hepatic cell, under certain conditions of morbid recep-
tivity, may be attacked by various pathogenic agents, and undergo changes
which produce the syndrome of icterus gravis.
The hepatic lesions of icterus gravis are, however, chiefly due to the
toxines. The poison comes in some cases, perhaps, from ptomaines absorbed
by the liver. This hypothesis of a poison attacking and destroying the
hepatic cell is realized in phopphorus-poisoning, which exactly reproduces
the syndrome of icterus gravis : steatosis, destmction of the hepatic cells,
icterus, haemorrhages, nervous symptoms, and hypothermia.
Summary : Whether the pathogenic agent acts as an infective or as a
toxic agent, we may say that the pathogenesis of icterus gravis is being
cleared up. The only difference between primary and secondary icterus
gravis is that the former attacks an individual whose liver is apparently
healthy, whereas the latter attacks a person whose liver has been already
damaged. It is possible that the difference between the primary and
secondary forms is not so pronounced, for it is not proved that iji the so-
callod primary forms the liver has not been surprised in a condition of
morbid imminence, as a locus mirwris resistentiw. The varieties of icterus
1014 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
gravis would then all belong to one class, though distinct from one another,
according to the scale of gravity, in the same manner as cases of benign
icterus may be grouped in another class, having only the scale of benignity as
their distinctive sign.
The so-called primary icterus gravis, which so closely resembles yellow
fever nostras, must not be completely abandoned. It is much rarer than
secondary icterus gravis, but its symptoms are more clearly pronounced,
and it will serve best as a type for our description.
Pathological Anatomy.— In icterus gravis the Hver is generally small ;
the atrophy may be such that the liver may weigh only 15 to 20 ounces.
GUsson's capsule, having grown too large for the atrophied parenchyma, is
furrowed. In some cases, if the disease is very rapid, the liver remains of
normal size, and the lesions are only appreciable with the microscope. The
organ is hypertrophied when icterus gravis occurs as a secondary trouble in
a person whose liver was already enlarged (malaria, alcoholism, or hj^oer-
trophic cirrhosis). Most frequently the yellow colour of the liver is not
uniform, but presents mottlings and reddish islands (red atrophy). The
parenchyma is softened, friable, or sometimes diffluent, and in a section
the lobular appearance is no longer seen. The Uver contains but little blood
and bile, and there is also but Uttle bile in the gall-bladder and the large
bile-ducts.
Under the microscope the following lesions are seen : At the parts most
affected the liver cells have disappeared, and are replaced by an amorphous
veinstone, infiltrated with embryonic cells, hsematoidin, bile pigment, and
fatty granules. Elsewhere the cells remain, but have undergone complete
disintegration ; the protoplasm has disappeared, and the cell is infiltrated
with fatty granules and bile pigment. " The cloudy condition of the cells
and the infiltration with bile is the first phase in the degeneration, which
ends finally in fragmentation and destructive softening of the elements."
This destructive process has been explained in various ways. According
to some writers, it is simply a degenerative process ; according to others,
it is an irritative one. The irritative process seems at times to be limited
to the cells, passing over the connective tissue (parenchymatous hepatitis) ;
at other times the connective tissue is also affected (Frerichs). The hepa-
titis is both parenchymatous and interstitial, and the bloodvessels participate
in the process.
In certain cases, if the patient dies so rapidly that the lesions have not
time to develop, or if, for other reasons, the changes in the Hver are less
marked, the cells show cloudy swelling, and the parenchyma encloses a
quantity of extractives. Chemical analyses have shown that in some cases
the extractives have increased twofold. The bloodvessels, and especially
the hepatic veins, are changed ; they are almost bloodless, and contain much
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 1015
leucin and tyrosin. The bile-ducts are almost always involved; we find
angiocliolitis of the small canals, which are obliterated by cellular detritus
(Bamberger). This lesion is probably the cause of the icterus, unless we
admit, with Frerichs, that the icterus is due to the compression of the
biliary canaliculi by exudation into the periphery of the lobules. Cornil, in
one case, found the interlobular canaliculi dilated and filled with cells, and
the intralobular network abnormally developed. This intra-acinous net-
work, which has been noticed by other authors, is said to appear in the last
stage, when the fatty detritus of the parenchyma is absorbed. It is probable
that the bihary canals are intact in the very rare cases in which icterus is
almost absent. The kidneys are always affected, and show an early stage of
parenchymatous nephritis. Man}^ convoluted tubes are blocked by large
cloudy, granular, fatty, and deformed cells. A certain dependence has rightly
been found between the lesions of the kidneys and of the liver. According
to some writers, the lesion of the kidneys, following that of the liver, is said
to be caused by the icterus and by the ehmination of the bile ; according
to others, the renal and hepatic lesions are said to be dependent on the same
cause. Both theories are accepted.
The blood shows the abnormal fluidity found in cases of pyrexia and
in the infectious diseases (Vulpian). It has tittle tendency to coagulate,
being diffluent, blackish, and tarry. It is deficient in red blood-corpuscles,
and is loaded with leucin, tyrosin, and xanthin, due to incomplete oxidation
of the proteids. According to some writers, it is said to contain less urea.
The hsemoglobin affected by the changes in the extractives is said to absorb
less oxygen than in the normal condition (Quinquaud). The lungs, pleura,
capsule of the liver, spleen, and kidneys may show haemorrhages. The
spleen ls usually enlarged and softened. The heart is soft and fatty, endo-
perirarditis being common (Jaccoud).
Symptoms. — I shall first describe so-called primary icterus gra\as,
and then briefly mention the secondary forms. The onset is, as a rule,
insidious. The disease may at first resemble the simple catfirrhal form,
the symptoms of icterus gravis appearing a few days later. Sometimes the
disease begins with a violent rigor, accompanied by extreme prostration,
rachialgia, and vomiting ; but this sudden and acute onset which recalls the
outburst of certain pyrexias is more rare than a gradual onset. For some
days the patient complains of lassitude, pains in the hmbs, prostration, and
low spirits, resembling the invasion of influenza or of typhoid fever. At
other times gastro-intestinal troubles open the scene, and form the chief
feature. A diagnosis of gastric trouble is at first made. The malaise, however,
increases, fever appears, and from the third to the eighth day icterus sets in.
From this moment three classes of symptoms dominate the situation — viz.,
icterus, hajmorrhagc, and nervous troulilcs.
1016 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
The icterus varies from the lightest yellow colouring of the conjunctivae
and of the sldn to a green or bright yellow colour. There is, however, no
relation between the gravity of the trouble and the degree of the icterus,
and if I insist on this point, it is because an old theory assigned to the absorp-
tion of bile an important part in the production of the trouble. The icterus
is due to divers causes. When it is the result of absorption of the bile, nitric
acid gives the well-known green reaction in the urine ; but there are cases in
which the urine, treated with nitric acid, does not reveal pigment of hepatic
origin, and is coloured a dirty brown. Gubler called this condition haema-
pheic icterus. These two forms may alternate or may occur together.
As the disease progresses, the icterus may disappear — a bad sign, proving
the decay of the hepatic cell (Jaccoud). The feeces are lighter than in the
normal condition.
Haemorrhages are, so to say, constant, appearing in the course of the
disease or in its last stage. Epistaxis, which may be seen from the com-
mencement, purpura, haemorrhage from the gums, hsematemesis, and melsena,
are the most common ; haematuria, haemoptysis, and metrorrhagia are much
rarer. These haemorrhages are favoured by the fluid condition of the blood.
An attempt has been made to explain them by the passage of the bile into
the blood ; this theory must be abandoned. Experiments have decided the
point ; and, furthermore, the same haemorrhagic diathesis is found in other
diseases, such as black smallpox, purpura, and typhoid affections, and the
explanation does not require the presence of bile in the blood. The haemor-
rhages, as in phosphorus - poisoning, depend on the destruction of the
hepatic cell, and Galen was correct in saying, Hepar sanguifictmi. The
nervous troubles consist in phenomena of excitation : slight dehrium,
dyspnoea, hiccough, insomnia, tremor of the Ups, subsultus tendinum, con-
vulsive movements ; and in phenomena of depression : sleepiness, stupor,
and coma. These troubles of excitation and of depression occur together,
or follow one another without a fixed rule. The symptoms of depression
often open the scene, and the symptoms of excitation appear later, being
followed by coma.
The pulse and the temperature present marked variations. The pulse
may be quick or slow. The temperature may rise to 103° or 104° F., or
else it is lowered from the commencement of the disease, and remains low
until its last stage (Wunderlich). There is, therefore, no fixed relation,
from the point of view of prognosis, between the febrile condition and the
gravity of the general symptoms, but some relation may be estabhshed
between the temperature and the nature of the infective agents. Recent
researches have proved that the Bacillus coli and its toxine cause hypo-
thermia ( Dupre, Netter, Boix) ; it is certain, as experiments and clinical
medicine prove, that, in a general way, the intoxications and infections
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 1017
caused by the Bacillus coli produce a subnormal temperature, whilst the
infections and intoxications of other microbes — streptococcus, staphylococcus,
or pneumococcus — raise the temperature, often causing considerable hypo-
thermia. These same distinctions have been formulated by Hanot, as
regards the diseases of the hver, and especially of icterus gravis. Boix has
collected thirty-four cases of icterus gravis, in which the temperature, curve,
and nature of the pathogenic microbe are indicated. He shows that in
hepatic infection by the streptococcus, staphylococcus, or pneumococcus,
etc., the temperature rises to 104° or 105° F. (hyperthermia) ; on the other
hand, in hepatic infections by the Bacillus coli the temperature is lowered
to 95° F. (hypothermia). There are, of course, mixed and intermediate
cases.
The two morbid types of icterus gravis, hyperthermic and h}'pothermic,
are seen, as Boix has pointed out, in two morbid species which are dissimilar
as regards pathogenesis, but which both end in the syndrome of icterus gravis
— i.e., yellow fever, with its high temperature (h^'perthermia) ; and phos-
phorus-poisoning, with its low temperature (hypothermia).
The examination of the urine furnishes information of great value.
The urinary secretion is generally diminished. Cases have even been quoted
where the anuria was complete for several days. The icteric tint of the
urine is more or less pronounced. It is generally a case of biUpheic icterus ;
in some cases, however, the reaction of the so-called haemapheic icterus has
been noticed. The urine is often albuminous ; it contains hardly any urea
at an advanced period of the disease, but, on the other hand, leucin and
tyrosin are found in quantity in almost all cases. The urea is diminished
because, according to certain writers, the liver being the principal producer
of urea, this salt is less when the liver is destroyed, or when its functions
are suspended. The urine contains leucin and tyrosin, because the Uver no
longer fulfils its normal functions ; the combustion of the proteids is in-
complete, and, instead of producing uric acid and urea, wliich are the last
stage in the oxidation of the proteids, it only produces less oxidized products,
such as leucin, tyrosin, and xanthin.
The examination of the liver does not always cause pain ; it reveals the
atrophy of the organ. The spleen is enlarged. The skin shows such
eruptions as erytlicnia, roseola, miliaria, and urticaria.
Course, Duration, Prognosis. — I have already dwelt on the insidious and
variable onset of icterus gravis. According to the predominance of haemor-
rhage or of adynamic symptoms, ha?niorrhagic and typhoid forms have
been described ; but this division is not, in my opinion, suitable, the mixed
form being the more frequent. The prognosis is extremely grave ; in some
exceptional cases the patient succumbs in two or three days, and the course
is lightning-like. The final symptoms generally supervene from the sixth
1018 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
to the tenth day. However, icterus gravis is not absolutely fatal, and the
name of fatal icterus, given by some EngUsh writers, is, happily, not justi-
fied. There are some undoubted cases of cure, and they are, indeed, more
frequent than would at first be supposed, considering the custom of looking
upon icterus gravis as a sentence of death. In truth, it may well be
asked why this so-called essential icterus gravis, or yellow fever nostras,
should not be cured hke other infectious cases ; therefore I do not see why
this should be a reason for making a special variety, and for grouping the
recoveries under the name of icterus pseudo-gravis. Recovery is sometimes
announced by a crisis of polyuria, increase of urea, abundant diaphoresis,
and profuse diarrhoea. The urinary toxicity, which is very much lowered
during the disease, exceeds its normal coefficient at the moment of the crisis.
The condition of the kidneys is of great importance in the prognosis ; the
danger is less when the secretion of urine is free. Parotiditis (suppurative
inflammation) has several times coincided with recovery.
Diagnosis. — It is very difficult to make a diagnosis at the commencement
of the disease ; later, when the principal symptoms have appeared, icterus
gravis somewhat resembles other diseases accompanied by icterus, such as
ulcerative endocarditis, purulent infection, poisoning by phosphorus, and
yellow fever. Icterus is very rare in infective endocarditis ; haemorrhage is
absent, and auscultation of the heart reveals the murmurs of endocarditis.
Purulent infection originates from a wound or injury, and is characterized
by repeated rigors, by violent attacks of fever, and by pain in the hepatic
region, due to pysemic abscesses in the hver. Poisoning by phosphorus
resembles icterus gravis so closely that, in the absence of any history or of
traces of the poison in the vomit, it would often be very difficult to make
a diagnosis. We shall see later the complete analogy existing between
vomito negro and icterus gravis, wliich has sometimes been called yellow
fever nostras.
Another difficulty presents itself : for some few days a patient has icterus
supposed to be catarrhal. Fever is present, repeated epistaxis occurs,
and purpura appears. How are we to know whether these symptoms are
due to benign or grave icterus ? The analysis of the urine, the discovery
of albumin, and the cjuantity of urea give insufficient information. Diag-
nosis and prognosis often remain in doubt, and it is a case of saying, with
Trousseau : " In icterus, as in pleurisy, we never know how it may end."
etiology. — The so-called primary icterus gravis is far less common than
secondary icterus gravis. It sometimes appears suddenly in an apparently
healthy subject ; at other times it develops tlirough predisposing causes,
such as pregnancy, alcoholism, excesses in eating, or gastro-intestinal auto-
infection. A person, although, at the time being, in good health, has pre-
viously suffered from hepatic coUc, symptoms of biliary lithiasis, or jaundice,
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 1019
and the affected liver has not quite lost all traces of the disease. Another
individual, though, for the time being, in good health, has some hereditary
predisposition, and, by a combination of circumstances which make patho-
logical heredity a very complex question, an organ, such as the brain, the
kidneys, the heart, or the liver, is less resistant to the repeated attacks on
life. Under the influence of conditions with which we are still imperfectly
acquainted, icterus gra\ns has been epidemic, but it must be stated that the
epidemic remains limited. The focus does not extend beyond a bar-
racks, prison, or ship. It is not rare to see relatively benign cases which
resemble catarrhal icteras during the same epidemic by the side of serious
cases. Kelsch is of the opinion that the infective agent is of telluric origin.
Secondary Icterus Gravis. — This form supervenes during the course of
some disease (typhoid fever, cholera, or pneumonia), which has placed the
liver in a condition of receptivity. Pregnancy has this effect, because it
renders the Hver hable to infection by steatosis of the hepatic cell. Any
disease of the liver may be complicated by the hsemorrhagic and nervous
troubles of icterus gravis. I quote as such : alcoholic, biliary, cardiac, and
tubercular cirrhosis ; cholelithiasis ; cancer ; permanent obstruction of the
biliary canals ; hydatid cysts ; and hepatic syphihs. In these various lesions
the door is opened to the secondary infections and toxines, the affected liver
cells being no longer in a state of defence. Some of these cases refer to
patients already suffering from icterus, and in them the disease takes the
name of aggravated icterus, which is often " only the last act in the morbid
process."
The symptomatic picture of secondary icterus gravis is almost the same
as that of the primary form ; it is, however, less marked, and the course is
less rapid, because the destruction of the hepatic cells is from the first not
so general as in essential ictenis gravis.
The course and gravity of the trouble depend much on the previous con-
dition of the patient. Sometimes the complications of aggravated icterus
hasten the end fairly quickly ; at other times they follow one another slowly
in a snliacuto form, and thoy may recover.
Icterus and the Puerperal State. — As I have already remarked, icterus
due to gall-stones is not, as a rule, serious in a pregnant woman ; such is not
the case in the other varieties comprised under the term of "infective icterus."
Whatever theory is put forward to explain the changes in the hepatic cell
matters little ; as soon as the cell participates in the toxi-infectious process,
it undergoes an adulteration which, under other conditions, might not
have serious consequences, but which in the gravid condition is always to
be feared. When icterus appears in pregnancy, it is always of serious
import (I am speaking of icterus occurring apart from hepatic colic), because
it indicates a hepatic lesion that may lead to insuificiency. Hepatic
1020 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
insufficiency is sometimes accompanied by albuminuria and renal insuffi-
ciency, the epithelium of the kidneys being directly affected by the toxi-
infective agent, or suffering injury from the elimination of poisonous bile.
Le Masson has collected thirty-nine cases of icterus during pregnancy
and thirteen cases of icterus after confinement. The thirty-nine cases show
thirteen recoveries and twenty-six deaths. The thirteen cases occurring
after accouchement show three recoveries and ten deaths. These figures
indicate the gravity of puerperal icterus.
The icterus of pregnancy appears chiefly after the third month, and it
is generally impossible to find any factors other than the gravid condition.
The icterus is sometimes preceded by nausea, vomiting, gastralgia, and coUc ;
in other cases it appears without any previous manifestation. The jaundice
may be slight or intense, from a subicteric tint to deep and general icterus.
The urine contains bile pigment and urobilin in unequal proportions ;
albumin is often found. The faeces are clay-coloured. The fever is slight
or severe. The liver tends to be enlarged, and is sometimes painful. The
other symptoms include anorexia, headache, diarrhoea, or constipation,
and are extremely variable. After a duration of a fortnight to a month,
the symptoms improve, the icterus disappears, the pregnancy follows its
course, and the patient recovers, without further disturbance. This is the
benign form.
In other cases, if the hepatic lesion is more severe or more prolonged,
the situation becomes serious, and the disease ends in miscarriage, premature
confinement, or even in the death of the mother. Finally, in some cases
the disease assumes the characters of icterus gravis, with haemorrhages,
epistaxis, purpura, ecchymotic patches, violent headache, delirium, restless-
ness, dyspnoea, and tendency to coma. " In these grave forms, miscarriage,
premature confinement, or even accouchement at term, generally occurs
whilst the syndrome is at its height, from two to five days after the onset of
icterus, and very often on the second day ; but there is occasion to insist
on their suddenness. Physicians sometimes discuss the question of inter-
vention when the woman is about to be confined, as if, after such a ter-
mination, it were permissible to hope for recovery ! The relative calm and
feeling of well-being might lead us to form a favourable prognosis. This
calm is, however, deceptive, and the amelioration is of short duration ; the
symptoms have only lulled, to reappear some hours later, when they cause
death with terrible rapidity " (Le Masson).
Icterus appearing after the confinement is much more often grave than
benign, since in thirteen cases it was followed in ten by death. It is,
furthermore, almost always associated with puerperal infection. Puerperal
icterus is sometimes epidemic. The following summary of seven epidemics
is taken from Le Masson's monograph :
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 1021
Epidemic of Liideuscheid in 1879 ; epidemic of Roubaix, desciibcd by Carpentier ;
epidemic of Saint -Pierre de la Martinique in 1858, described by Rouillc and by Saint-
Vel (" out of tliirty women attacked by icterus, twenty succumbed to coma after mis-
carriage, or premature confinement ") ; epidemic of Limoges, described by Bardinet
in 1860 ; epidemic of the Matemite and of the Hopital des CUniques in 1870-1872,
described by Hervieux, Depaul, and Meunier ; epidemic of Saint-Paul in 1873, described
by Smith ; epidemic, of Neusenstamm in 1876, described by Vinay.
In 1867 Hervieux tried to explain these troubles " by the presence of a
special morbid ferment or toxic principle." We now speak of toxi-infection,
the cause of which it is often possible to find. In short, no matter what
pathogenesis is invoked to explain the icterus of pregnancy (leaving aside
icterus due to gall-stones) it is none the less true that in the pregnant woman
the Uver cell no longer has the same antitoxic properties, so that toxi-infec-
tions readily bring about decay. The gravity of this condition, of which the
icterus is one of the signs, must lead us to reserve our prognosis.
We must obviously divide icterus occurring in pregnant women into
two great classes. If it Is associated with cholelithiasis or occurs with hepatic
colic, the prognosis is almost always good, because the liver cell is not
affected. If the pregnant woman has neither hepatic colic nor gall-stones,
or if the icterus supervenes as a toxi-infection of the liver, with or without
participation of the kidney, the situation may become perilous.
Treatment. — Saline purgatives and diuretics must be administered at
the commencement of icterus gravis. Milk diet is absolutely indicated. I
have several times noted the utility of large and repeated infections of
artificial serum ; two of my patients recovered. Intestinal antisepsis has
been recommended. The haemorrhages, vomiting, and nervous troubles
demand symptomatic treatment. Most of these troubles unfortunately
resist the best-directed measures.
XXVII. CATARRHAL ICTERUS— PROLONGED CATARRHAL
ICTERUS.
Pathogenesis. — Under Icterus Gravis we saw that there was a scale of
gravity in its various forms, and so, too, benign icterus has a scale of be-
nignity. Some are infectious, others are not, and those which are infectious
are not in the same class.
Emotional icterus, for example, is not of infective origin. It does
occur, as in the case quoted by Potain, of a man about to be shot ; in Rendu's
case, of a young girl excited by catheterLsm ; and in ChaufEard's case, of a man
seized with a violent fit of temper. Emotional icterus, which may appear in
less than an hour, Ls proljably due to an excess of biliary secretion and to
its absorption.
Under Angiocholitis I quoted several varieties of benign icterus, such as
1022 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
syphiKtic icterus of the secondary period, icterus from pigmentary hyper-
cliolia in the newly-born, and icterus associated with angiocholitis of biliary
origin. These various kinds of icterus, which are generally benign, have
already been described. I shall now especially deal with the condition
described as catarrhal icterus.
Primary catarrh of the biliary passages, still called simple catarrhal
icterus, because the icterus is the most apparent symptom, may invade the
intrahepatic and also the extrahepatic bile-ducts. If the catarrh attacks the
intrahepatic canals alone, icterus appears, because the bile is absorbed in
situ, from the obhterated canals ; but the stools are not colourless, because suffi-
cient bile continues to pass into the intestine. On the contrary, if the catarrh
attacks the common bile-duct, so that it is obstructed by the inflammatory
products, obstructive icterus occurs, and is associated with more or less
complete decoloration of the faeces. This last form is the type of so-called
catarrhal icterus.
In the very rare cases where a patient with catarrhal icterus has suc-
cumbed to an intercurrent disease, inflammation of the conmion duct has
been found post mortem ; the inflammation may be limited to the intestinal
portion and to the duodenal orifice of the duct (Virchow). The walls of this
portion of the common duct, the connective tissues around it, and Vater's
ampulla, show oedematous swelling, which constricts or blocks the orifice.
" It will readily be understood that this oedematous swelhng may obstruct
the flow of the bile and produce icterus, when we remember that coryza
prevents nasal respiration in consequence of the swelling of the mucosa."
Moreover, the common duct at this level is blocked by a mass of epithehal
cells, forming a kind of plug, which, unstained by the bile, completes the
obstruction of the duct and opposes the passage of the bile into the intestine
(Vulpian).
In a post-mortem examination performed by Miiller the common duct
was obstructed, the mucosa being swollen and covered with petechise ;
catarrhal obstruction of Wirsung's canal was also present.
The affected parts of the common duct preserve their normal dimensions
(about 6 millimetres in diameter), and are not impregnated with bile, whilst
the biliary passages above the obstacle are dilated. This obstacle to the
flow of the bile causes icterus by retention, the constant and prominent
symptom of catarrh of the biliary passages. Such is, in general terms, the
chief lesion in catarrhal icterus. How is this lesion produced ? According to
an old theory, angiochohtis of the common duct was said to be associated
with gastro-intestinal catarrh, and, in consequence, connected with the causes
of this catarrh (high living, chill). Some individuals, it is true, suffer from
gastro-intestinal troubles and icterus, following on orgies, acute alcoholism
(and we know the influence of alcohol on the liver), or drunkenness, whence
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 1023
the old name of icterus a crapula. This theory only takes account of a local
process ; it is founded on the spread of the catarrh from the duodenum to the
common duct, with obliteration of the lumen.
Other theories are opposed to, or associated mth, this theory of the
disease. Catarrhal icterus is considered to be an infectious disease, due to
internal or external infection. That catarrhal icterus is frequently a general
disease, or a variety of bilious fever chiefly limited to the biliary canaLs,
follows from the careful study of cases. It will thus be perceived, as
Chauffard points out, that the disease commences wth pre-icteric symptoms
of fever, lassitude, anorexia, vomiting, epistaxis, insomnia, albuminuria, labial
herpes, and sometimes with foetid bilious diarrhoea, indicating hypersecretion
of the hver. The icterus appears three or four days after this period of
invasion, and is soon followed by decoloration of the faeces. " The secre-
tion of the urine and the excretion of the urea run a parallel course." In
the first phase the urine is scanty, bilious, and poor in urea ; in the second
phase at the moment of the crisis the urine is abundant and rich in urea.
In this form catarrhal icterus has the aspect of a general disease, and takes
this aspect from its mode of appearance. Catarrhal icterus, as a matter of
fact, is often, like certain fevers, a disease of certain seasons, whence the old
name of vernal or autumnal ifcterus. It is epidemic, and attacks two,
three, or more persons in the same house or in the same locality. These cases
have been frequently noticed in the army.
Through these considerations, certain forms of catarrhal icterus are
classed with general infective diseases, and side by side with icterus gravis,
of which they are sometimes an attenuated form. The discord, however,
arises when it becomes a question of stating the cause of the infection.
Chauffard is of the opinion that catarrhal icterus has its origin in the
putrid poisons formed in the intestine. These poisons, or ptomaines,
normally absorbed m situ in order to be eliminated by the liver, may, under
certain conditions, increase their noxious properties and cause auto-infec-
tion, according to the expression of Jaccoud. Kelsch does not consider the
ptomaines as the cause of the evil. " Is chemistry going to take us back
to the humoral theories which time and experiments seemed to have killed,
and which, besides, are so little encouraging to ])rophylaxis ?" The infec-
tive agent is said to be exterior. " The ground appears to us to be the
generating focus par excellence of this agent. The shmy bottom of ditches
or of ponds seems to be the most favourable medium for the preservation
and the multiplication of this agent." All these views are acceptable — a
proof that infective icterus may result from multiple causes, and show
slightly different aspects.
Symptoms. — In some cases the disease cominenccs with gastro-diiodcnal
catarrh. The patient suffers for three or four days from loss ot appetite,
1024 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
nausea, vomiting, constipation, furred tongue, pain in tlie epigastrium,
prostration, headache, and fever. At this moment icterus appears. The
yellowish tint first affects the conjunctivae, forehead, and neck. Within a
day or two the faeces become clay-coloured, and the icteric tint grows deeper
and extends over the whole body. The urine, ricli in bile pigment, takes on
a saffron colour, and on the addition of nitric acid the characteristic greenish
tint appears. In other cases the gastro-intestinal catarrh attracts less
attention, and the disease from the first presents symptoms more like those
of general disease. Lassitude, aching of the muscles, prostration, epistaxis,
fever, bilious diarrhoea, scanty and albuminous urine, are the symptoms of
the period of invasion, and recall the commencement of typhoid fever.
Even when the icterus appears we are far from being assured as to the prog-
nosis ; we wonder whether we are not face to face with a case of icterus
gravis, and we recall the phrase of Trousseau : " In icterus, as in pleurisy,
we never know how it may end."
Finally, in some patients icterus is, from the first, the chief symptom of
the disease ; the urine contains bile and the faeces are colourless, but the
patient has neither fever nor distaste for food. Catarrhal icterus may,
therefore, present itself in various forms.
The clay-coloured stools are caused, on the one hand, by the absence of
bile pigments, and, on the other, by the accumulation of fat in the intestine
(steatorrhoea). As in the absence of bile the fat is no Jonger emulsified and
does not pass into the lacteals, the faeces take on their putty-hke appearance.
As obhteration of the pancreatic duct accompanies that of the common duct,
it has been maintained that the steatorrhoea is due to the absence of the
pancreatic juice. MiiUer does not hold this view ; he admits that the pan-
creatic juice alters the quahty but not the quantity of the fat in the faeces,
and it seems impossible to take sides for or against the bile or the pancreatic
juice.
The liver is often enlarged, the hypertrophy being considerable if the
disease is of long duration.
Prolonged Catarrhal Icterus. — In catarrhal icterus the common duct
generally becomes permeable in the second or tliird week. The appearance
of bile in the intestine indicates recovery ; the faeces regain their colour ; the
urine increases in quantity, and gradually loses its bile pigment. There is
often a crisis of pol}n.iria and azoturia (Chauffard) ; the toxicity, previously
normal, rises suddenly (Roger), but the coloration of the skin lasts for two
or three weeks, until the renewal of the epidermis. The pulse is slow during
the entire disease.
Such is the usual course of catarrhal icterus, but numerous exceptions
occur. In several cases I have seen an attack of catarrhal icterus last more than
two months, and I have, therefore, called this variety prolonged catarrhal
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 1025
icterus ; * it must be recognized in order to avoid mistakes in diagnosis. Wt en
we see prolonged catarrhal icterus and an enlarged liver in an elderly man,
we are always tempted to think of cancer. We find analogous cases in the
writings of various authors. According to Niemeyer, the " disease may
drag on for weeks and months. The icterus becomes intense, the patient
grows very thin, and the hver shows e^'ident sweUing." According to
Frerichs, catarrhal icterus may last two or three months. Amongst the
cases which I have seen, two occurred simultaneously in two members of the
same family, and I attributed them to the ingestion of high game. The
disease was marked by successive outbursts : the icterus, decoloration of
the fseces, and yellow colour of the urine improved, and reappeared on several
occasions, and the Hver became very much enlarged. In one patient the
disease lasted two months, and in the other three months, with epistaxis,
while the hver remained enlarged for a long time, and only became normal
after a season at Vichy. I saw at the Necker Hospital a case of prolonged
catarrhal icterus lasting for seven weeks. These cases of relapsing catarrhal
icterus have been designated by the name of Weil's disease.
Diagnosis. — The diagnosis of catarrhal icterus is easy if the disease
announces itself with symptoms of, simple gastro-intestinal catarrh, followed
by icterus and clay-coloured stooLs. If, however, the general symptoms
are severe from the first, loss of strength, epistaxis, albuminuria, and fever
being the symptoms of invasion in the midst of which icterus appears, we
naturally think of the possibility of typhoid fever or of icterus gravis. The
diagnosis and the prognosis must, for the time being, be reserved.
Cholelithiasis also provokes obstruction of the common duct, accom-
panied by symptoms of icterus, bihous urine, and colourless faces, greatly
resembling those of catarrhal icterus. But the patient with chole-
lithiasis in most cases suddenly feels the more or less sharp pain of hepatic
colic, with bilious vomiting, vertigo, and rigors that so often accompany
the passage of the calculi. On the other hand, he has not, as a rule, the
symptoms which in catarrhal icterus form the pre-icteric phase.
Syphilis, in its secondary stage, sometimes causes catarrhal icterus ;
the patliogeuic diagnosis has been given under SyphiUs of the Liver.
When catarrhal icterus is prolonged and the hver is enlarged, the diagnosis
is especially difficult. We must diflferentiate it from hypertrojjhic- biliary
cirrhosis, cancer of the liver, and cancer of the head of the pancreas, com-
pressing the common duct. Hypertrophic biliary cirrhosis and prolonged
catarrhal icterus have, as common symptonis, persistent icterus and an
enlargement of the liver, but the decoloration of the fasces seen in catarrhal
icterus is not met with in hypertrophic biliary cirrhosis; at least, if it is
* Dieulafoy, " De I'ictcro Catarrhal Prolong6" {Semaine Mcdiealc, July 11,
1888).
65
1026 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
observed, it is not so marked or so persistent as in catarrhal icterus.
Furthermore, the spleen is not hypertrophied in the case of catarrhal icterus.
Secondary cancer of the hver and prolonged catarrhal icterus may
present, as common symptoms, icterus and enlargement of the hver,
and even decoloration of the fasces, if the common duct is compressed
by the cancer (glands of the hilum) ; but the swelHng of the hver is
uniform in the case of catarrhal icterus, while it is accompanied by
nodules, and often by ascites, in secondary cancer. I am not speaking
here of massive cancer of the liver, because icterus is absent in this
variety.
The diagnosis between prolonged catarrhal icterus and cancer of the
head of the pancreas, compressing the common duct, is, in my opinion, a
most difficult problem. In both cases we find persistent icterus, enlarged
liver (bihary plethora), and decoloration of the faeces and stearrhoea.
Theoretically, it might be thought that the obstruction of the common duct
by cancer of the head of the pancreas would be gradual and much slower
than the obstruction of the duct in the case of catarrhal icterus ; practically
it is not always so, and, to quote examples, in three patients in my wards
the cancerous obstruction of the duct was almost immediate, and at an
advanced stage of the disease a copious flow of bile followed a long period
of retention. It might hkewise be supposed that the examination of the
fatty matter in the intestine might give useful information as to the absence
of the pancreatic juice, but we have abeady seen that, according to Miiller,
the diagnosis cannot be based on the study of stearrhoea ; and, again, the
pancreatic duct may be obhterated in both cases. Rapid loss of flesh and
sugar in the urine are not constant in pancreatic cancer ; diarrhoea and
cutaneous pigmentation are in favour of cancer. According to Salhi, salol,
which is a combination of sahcyUc acid and phenol, is decomposed in the
intestine into its two elements by the pancreatic juice. If, therefore, salol
is given to a patient whose pancreas is healthy, sahcyhc acid and phenol
vnR appear in the urine. If they are not found, the salol has not been de-
composed, because there is no pancreatic juice in the intestine. This pro-
cedure, supposing it were exact, would not be enough in the present case to
make the diagnosis positive, because Wirsung's duct may also be obhterated
in catarrhal icterus. It is only the course of the disease which will remove
the doubts and permit us to affirm the existence of prolonged catarrhal
icterus.
The diagnosis between prolonged catarrhal icterus and cancer of Vater's
ampulla presents for several weeks the greatest difficulties. The prognosis
of catarrhal icterus is generally benign, but yet in the presence of icterus,
even of the most simple kind, we must always make some reserves, because.
icterus gravis may commence hke benign infective icterus ; and we see in the
DISEASES OF THE LIVER 1027
same epidemic very benign cases of catarrhal icterus, terrible cases of icterus
gravis, and mixed or intermediate cases.
Treatment. — When angiochoHtis is associated with gastro-intestinal
catarrh, we should first prescribe a sahne purgative. The patient is dieted
and is given bitters, extract of quinine, sweetened with syrup of orange-peel
(Jaccoud), alkaline beverages, and Vichy water.
Some years ago Kriill employed a new method of treatment for catarrhal
icterus. He gave daily a cold enema of water at a temperature of 60° to
65° F. After a few enemata, the bile generally appeared in the intestine,
the duct became permeable, and recovery took place in a few days. I have
not obtained such good results. The ingestion of large doses of oil has
likewise been extolled, but few patients are wiUing to submit to this treat-
ment, the results of which, by the way, are open to discussion.
65—2
CHAPTER VIII
DISEASES OF THE PANCREAS
I. GENERAL SURVEY OF THE DISEASES OF THE PANCREAS.
The pancreas may be the seat of irritative, destructive, or neoplastic changes
that interfere with the normal functions of the gland. The resulting symp-
toms in some cases indicate the lesion. The physical signs here are of small
importance, as the pancreas is too deeply seated for palpation to be possible ;
only large tumours of pancreatic origin can be felt. Nevertheless, in certain
affections of the pancreas the epigastrium is very sensitive to pressure, and
acute pains of a neuralgic kind are sometimes felt. Miralhe, who has care-
fully studied these pains, attributes them to neuralgia of the coehac plexus,
which is in direct contact with the upper edge of the pancreas.
As physiologists have proved the importance of the pancreatic secretion
in intestinal digestion, it might reasonably be thought that changes in
the pancreas would induce characteristic digestive troubles. Nothing of
the kind is the case. The distaste for fatty and proteid substances,
the difficulty of digesting fats, and intestinal meteorism, are banal
symptoms.
Pancreatic vomiting is said to supervene several hours after meals, and
to consist of viscous and thready hquid. Pancreatic diarrhoea is said to be
characterized by drops of fat which has not undergone emulsion ; these httle
drops are whitish and soluble in ether (stearrhoea). Diabetes is an important
symptom of extensive changes in the pancreas. Removal or experimental
destruction of the whole pancreas causes severe glycosuria (Mering and
Minkowski). As a matter of fact, the pancreas pours into the blood an
internal secretion, which prevents glycaemia (glycol}i;ic ferment, Lepine).
The preservation of a small fragment of the pancreas suffices to prevent
glycosuria. Pancreatic diabetes (Lancereaux) has some special charactei--
istics — viz., sudden onset, acute course, loss of flesh, and rapid cachexia.
The termination by galloping consumption is frequent in pancreatic dia-
betes, but even in the absence of this comphcation, the disease is of short
duration, and the patient dies in five or six months from cachexia or diabetic
coma. Diabetes may also be due to syphihs of the pancreas.
1028
DISEASES OF THE PANCREAS 1029
II. CANCER OF THE PANCREAS.
Tlie pancreas may be invaded by cancer in a neighbouring organ. More
often it is a case of primary cancer of the head, body, or tail of the pancreas.
Cancer of the head of the pancreas is the most common form, and is also the
easiest to diagnose.
The relations between the common duct and the head of the pancreas
explain the obhteration of this canal by cancer. As I have discussed this
question in detail, I shall merely mention in this section cancer of the pan-
creas, which is not accompanied by icterus, the explanation being that the
neoplasm is in the body or the tail of the organ.
In such a case the s3miptomatology is very obscure : loss of flesh and
of appetite, distaste for fatty substances, and dyspeptic troubles. Obstruc-
tion or ascending infection of the excretory ducts of the pancreas may c^use
fibrosis and diabetes. When the growth involves the solar plexus, it causes
a bronze coloration of the skin. Cancer of the pancreas may invade the
prevertebral glands, the vena cava, the portal vein, and the superior mesen-
teric artery. When it obstructs the vena cava, it causes cyanotic cedema
of the subdiaphragmatic half of the body ; when it compresses the portal
vein, it causes ascites and collateral circulation. Thrombosis of the superior
mesenteric artery brings about intestinal infarcts, followed by bloody diar-
rhoea and fatal peritonitis.
The disease usually spreads to the liver. The cancerous nodules are
multiple, lenticular, and transparent, like grease-spots. Sometimes they
form large white nodules, softened in the centre, which Gilbert calls cocoa-
nut cancer.
The duration of cancer of the pancreas is short, and death generally
supervenes in five or six months ; I have, however, seen a patient in whom
the affection lasted twenty-one months.* In Section VII. we shall see that
hypertrophic pancreatitis may simulate cancer.
III. CYSTS OF THE PANCREAS.
I do not refer here to dilatation of the pancreatic canaliculi met with in
chronic pancreatitis and hthiasis, nor to cysts consequent on the encystment
of an intraglandular hsemorrhage. I shall only discuss the large cysts, which
may reveal themselves clinically. These cysts are sometimes multiple, and
constitute cystic disease of the pancreas. Sometimes (and, indeed, most
often) a large unilocular cyst develops, and exceeds in size the head of an
adult. It is formed of a fibrous wall, smooth externally, irregular and an-
fractuous internally, and filled witli a limpid and colourless fluid.
* Clinique Medicate de riluld-Dieu, 1897-1898, p. 212.
1030 TEXT-BOOK OF MEDICINE
As the cvst starts from the pancreatic region behind the stomach, it
can only grow by insinuating itself between the organs situated in front of it.
Sometimes it develops between the stomach and the Hver, pushing the
stomach downwards and coming in contact with the anterior abdominal
wall ; it is covered by the distended gastro-hepatic omentum. More com-
monly it pushes the stomach upwards and the transverse colon downwards,
lodging in the large omentum, which it doubles up as it grows. In some
rare cases, adhesions of the large omentum prevent the doubUng-up, and the
cyst can only grow by insinuating itself under the colon.
The cyst, on account of its situation, produces early troubles of com-
pression — viz., uncontrollable vomiting, acute paroxysmal pain in the epi-
gastrium, and intermittent intestinal obstruction. These troubles have
nothing characteristic, and it is only when the tumour is present that we
can make a diagnosis. When the cyst develops downwards (subcoHc type) it
may readily be taken for a cyst of the mesentery or of the ovary. In cysts
which grow upwards the special prominence formed by the cyst above the
umbihcus sometimes permits of a diagnosis. The tumour pulsates, because
the aortic pulsations are transmitted to it, but is not expansile. It is gener-
ally separated from the hver by a resonant zone. The only treatment is
surgical intervention. Puncture of the cyst gives deplorable results.
Laparotomy, on the contrary, cures the patient in most of the cases. In
many cases adhesions necessitate incision and marsupiaUzation.
IV. HAEMORRHAGE OF THE PANCREAS.
The rarity of haemorrhage is so great that we do not think of it. It
presents, however, a fairly constant symptomatology. In most cases the
patient is alcoholic or a sufferer from gall-stones. Without any appreciable
cause, he is seized with sharp epigastric pain and rigors, and he has an anxious
look. Examination at this moment would furnish no explanation for this
condition, except tenderness of the epigastrium on deep pressure. The
following day the condition becomes worse ; the facies is peritoneal, the
pulse is small and frequent, the belly is tender in the upper part, and nausea
or vomiting occurs. The extremities grow cold, the temperature falls,
the voice is lost, and the patient dies of collapse twenty-four to forty-eight
hours after the onset of symptoms.
At the post-mortem examination blackish blood is found behind the
omenta and around the pancreas, which is partially or entirely transformed
into a blackish diffluent mass, having the look of a clot of blood. There is
difficulty in recognizing the lobules pushed aside by the blood. In some
places the blood is brownish, as if digested, and this transformation seems,
indeed, to be the result of auto-digestion by the pancreas. This auto-
DISEASES OF THE PANCREAS 1031
digestion may go so far that the organ becomes apparently gangrenous.
Auto-digestion has also been noted when haemorrhage was the result of
epigastric traumatism. The haemorrhage is often associated with cyto-
steatonecrosis {vide Section VII.).
V. PANCREATITIS.
Most of the infectious diseases and of the intoxications may cause pan-
creatitis. The acinous structure of the pancreas is then destroyed ; the
epithehal cells are destroyed, and affected with cloudy swelling, necrosis,
and fatty degeneration ; bands of interlobular or intralobular fibrous tissue
break up the parenchyma. These lesions are found in typhoid fever,
pneumonia, dysentery, diphtheria, malaria, and, \vith some variants, in
poisoning by phosphorus, mercury, and alcohol. Changes in the pancreas
may also be found in diseases of the kidneys, the hver, the heart, and the
stomach. Infective and toxic pancreatitis have been reproduced experi-
mentally.
The lesioas of pancreatitis only acquire an interest when they are suffi-
ciently acute to cause suppuration, or deep enough to produce the entire
degeneration of the pancreas and fibrosis of the gland.
Suppurative Pancreatitis— Abscess of the Pancreas.— Abscesses of the
pancreas may be the result of infection through the blood, as in Macaigne's
case, where several pneumococcal abscesses developed in the pancreas after
bronchopneumonia. The condition is more frequently a local trouble due
to infection of intestinal origin, which spreads along the canahculi. This
infection is favoured by lesions of the excretory canals of the pancreas.
Suppurative pancreatitis is frequently seen as a complication of neoplasms
of the head of the pancreas and of pancreatic calculi. Pancreatitis is often
caused by perinopliritic abscess.
Sclerous Pancreatitis— Sclerosis of the Pancreas.— In certain cases of
pancreatic diabetes we find at the post-mortem examination that the
pancreas is atrophied and indurated.
VI. PANCREATIC CALCULI.
We may find in the excretory canals of the pancreas concretions of car-
bonate of lime, rounded like a pea or elongated like a grain of wheat. They
are often multiple. They induce secondary dilatation of the pancreatic
duct and the formation of small retention cysts. They are one of the prin-
cipal causes of suppuration in the pancreas and of ]Kincreatic fibro.sis. They
cau.se crises of epigastric pain (pancreatic c