Four cases of echinococci in the female pelvis / by W.A. Freund and James R. Chadwick.

  • Freund, W. A. (Wilhelm Alexander), 1833-1918.
Date:
1875
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Four cases of echinococci in the female pelvis / by W.A. Freund and James R. Chadwick. 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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    9 vesicles into the internal organs, or their discharge through the vagina (Ilislop) or into the peritoneal cavity (Wilton).” Edition of 1861, III., p. 500. What inferences are to be drawn from a comparison of these two paragraphs ? Have we not a right to conclude, from the entire absence of details in the earlier and the complete omis- sion of this “ fully authenticated ” case in the last edition, that Rokitansky has become dissatisfied with the scientific accuracy of his old observation, and virtually retracts his former state- ment. Tu ruing now to Ilislop’s1 cases, they are related briefly as follows: The first was that of a girl, 17 years of age, who had been ill for six months; her catamenia, till then regular, had ceased ; in their place she had had an occasional discharge of an offensive bloody fluid. As her condition aroused suspicions of pregnancy, she was examined. The hymen was found intact, the os uteri somewhat patulous, and within the womb a mass, that felt soft to the touch. As all signs of pregnancy were wanting, an ineffectual attempt was made to expel the mass from the uterus by means of ergot. A catheter was finally in- troduced into the organ, causing the expulsion of a large quantity of bloody serum and purulent masses of very offensive odor. Pains set in during the night, and after repeated doses of ergot the woman gave birth to a filamentous mass filled with numerous large hydatids. She made a perfect recovery, married subse- quently, and had children. A second, quite similar case, was that of a woman 26 years old, the mother of several children. She suffered for some time from constant bloody discharges and pain in the back and thighs. She would not admit the possibility of pregnancy. As various styptics failed to arrest the hemorrhages, and her con- dition did not improve, the os uteri, which was fully closed, was dilated by means of a sponge-tent, a hand inserted, and a soft mass severed from its attachment to the uterine mucous membrane. The administration of an infusion of ergot, gallic acid, and a good diet, soon restored the patient to health. The mass expelled was likewise filamentous and contained many hydatids. 1 P. B. Hislop, Details of Three Cases of Hydatids of the Uterus, with Remarks, Monthly Journal of Medicine, April, p. 326.