Observations on certain dropsical affections which are successfully treated by blood-letting / by J. Abercrombie.

Date:
[1818]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on certain dropsical affections which are successfully treated by blood-letting / by J. Abercrombie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    return of dyspnoea. On the following day the swelling was con- siderably diminished. He then took some diuretics, with occa- sional purgatives ; the remainder of the anasarca subsided gra- dually, and was gone in eight or ten days. In regard to these cases, I have only to add one important circumstance. The persons who were the subjects of cases 1st, 2d, 3d, and 5th, have continued free from the slightest return of the disorder to this time, (27th February 1818.) lam not ac- quainted with the subsequent history of case 4th, ^ Let these examples be now compared with the following cases: A. woman, aged 20, was affected with frequent srnall pulse, cough, and thirst; there was anasarca of the legs, which increased rapidly, and affected the hands, the f ms, and the face. She complained of a sense of heat in the left side ot the thorax, tightness of the praecordia, and difficulty of breathing, which increased rapidly, and she died in a few days. On dissection, the lungs were found hardened, and appeared as if they had been affected with inflammation. There was copious effusion in the thorax, and a little in the abdomen. The spleen was larger than natural. * II.-A woman, aged 26, was seized, after perturbatioii of mind, with swelling of the whole body ; difficult and laborious breathino-; great sense of weight in the thorax; and great thi^ . The difffcult breathing increased rapidly, and was fatal. O dissection; the lungs were found hard and red, and covered with various black spots. There was much water in the a little in the abdomen. The liver was much enlarged, and the ovaria were indurated. III._A woman, aged 25, who was convalescent from fcvej and who was also affected with itch, was suddenly attached with universal dropsy. It was to such a degree m her face, that her features could not be recognised. Here weak ; her breathing was quick and oPP^’^^^d , davs the difficulty amounted to orthopnoea. 1 e dkease dLppea^ She took purgatives and diuretics wi* fp^Torarv relief; but the symptoms returned, and she di^ [holt a fortnight after the first appearance of the anasarca. • Morgagni de Causii et Sedibus Morborum. Ep. xvi. § 2. -J- Morgagni, (ibid.) § 4.