Urinary analysis and diagnosis by microscopical and chemical examination / by Louis Heitzmann.

Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Urinary analysis and diagnosis by microscopical and chemical examination / by Louis Heitzmann. 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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    ual vesiculitis, vaginitis, cervicitis, and parametritis, as well as perimetritis, may all cause it. Again, inflammations of the blad- der may be produced by an inflammation of the kidney, pelvis, and ureter, the process gradually extending downward. Indeed, it is rare that a secondary cystitis, though mild in character, does not accompany a nephritis or pyelo-nephritis, even in acute cases. In chronic cases, such an accompanying inflammation is always present. That other affections of the bladder, such as tumors oi’ calculi in the bladder, will soon cause an inflammation, is evident. In many other diseases, such as the different infectious and con- tagious diseases, it may occur at any time. Retention of the urine must be looked upon as an important cause. In many cases, but not in all, micro-organisms in varying numbers will be present. In the mild acute cases, they may be absent entirely, or be present in small numbers only, while in the more pronounced cases they are always numerous. As a rule, both cocci and bacilli are found, though one or the other may predominate or even exist alone. The varieties of the micro- organisms which may be present in the bladder can not always be determined, since a number will undoubtedly be of secondary origin. Among the cocci, the different staphylococci—staphylo- coccus pyogenes aureus, albus, and citreus—as well as the strep- tococci pyogenes are common. The micrococcus urem is often found in large numbers, and a variety of sarcina, called sarcina urinae, somewhat smaller than the usual form, is not rarely seen. Among the bacilli, the bacterium coli commune, the bacillus ureae, and the urobacillus liquefaciens septicus, occur. In some cases leptothrix threads are abundant. It has been claimed that the bacterium coli commune is more frequently found in cystitis than any other one bacillus, though the number of bacilli described is quite large. In the cases of so-called bacteriuria, bacteria of various forms may be present in enormous numbers in the bladder, and their origin can not always be determined. It is certain that bacteria alone will not cause cystitis, but when an irritation of some kind exists, thej^ can set up a severe inflammation. The reaction of the urine does not necessarily need to be alkaline when micro- organisms have developed ; but on the contrary, some, as the bacterium coli commune, are frequently found with an acid reaction.