Case of fibro-sarcoma or 'desmoid growth' of the abdominal wall / by Alban Doran.

  • Doran, Alban H. G. (Alban Henry Griffiths), 1849-1927.
Date:
[1891]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Case of fibro-sarcoma or 'desmoid growth' of the abdominal wall / by Alban Doran. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    dressed with iodoform gauze, did not suppurate; the tube was withdrawn by degrees. On the third day the catamenia appeared, for the first time since delivery. On the fourth I removed three of the deep sutures; on the fifth I cut away the remainder. An abdominal belt was supplied, and the patient was discharged in good health on August 1st. The period ceased again after October 22nd. I saw the patient on January 23rd, 1891; she was pregnant, and the uterus rose to about 2| inches above the pubes. The cicatrix of the operation was quite healthy, and there was no sign of any recurrence of the growth at the side of the attachment of the conjoined tendon or elsewhere ; nor was there any hernial protrusion. The tumour weighed ounces, and measured, after removal, 4 inches in length, 2| from above downwards, and 1^ in thickness antero-posteriorly. On section, its cut surface appeared pale yellow and very fibrous, although not markedly tough; it became convex. Mr. Targett kindly made some microscopical prepara- tions of the tumour for me, at the laboratory of the Royal College of Surgeons. He reported : “ The tumour is what the old writers called ‘fibro-cellular.’ It is composed of young, rather loose fibrous tissue, in parts indistinguishable from sarcoma, in others denser and much less cellular. I suppose that it may be con- sidered the first stage of the ‘ recurrent fibroid,’ and indicate a guarded prognosis.” The tumour and the sections are subjected, this evening, to the inspection of the Society. This new growth was an example of Sanger’s “desmoid tumour of the abdominal wall.” Much has been written on the subject by Guerrier,* Sanger,+ and Livius Furst.J According to Sanger, the tumour is not very common ; considering how much operating is done in the region of the abdomen, we do not find that the most industrious observers succeed in collecting cases by the hundred. It is certain that, compared to uterine myomata and ovarian cystoma, the desmoid tumour of the abdominal wall is relatively rare. Fiirst (loc. cit.) declares that all cases should be recorded; * * Contribution it l’etucle des fibromes du tronc en rapport avec la paroi abdominale ant4rieure,’ These de Paris, 1883. t “ Ueber desmoide Geschwiilste der Bauchwand und deren Operation mit Eesection des Peritoneum parietale,” ‘ Archiv f. Gynak.,’ vol. xxiv, 1884. I “ Zur Casuistik der Bauchdocken Tumoren,” ‘ Zeitsehrift f. Gcburtshiilfe und Gynak.,’ vol. xiv, 1888.