Pathological and practical observations on diseases of the abdomen : comprising those of the stomach, and other parts of the alimentary canal, œsophagus, cæcum, intestines, and peritoneum / by S.O. Habershon.

  • Habershon, S. O. (Samuel Osborne), 1825-1889.
Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Pathological and practical observations on diseases of the abdomen : comprising those of the stomach, and other parts of the alimentary canal, œsophagus, cæcum, intestines, and peritoneum / by S.O. Habershon. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    short time she sufFcred from dyspnoea, but the cough was slight; the expectoration was greenish and tenacious. There had been no cata- nienial discharge for eighteen months. She suffered from vomiting; the pulse, 120, was small and soft; the tongue was dry in the centi-e, but the tip and edges were clean and moist. The diarrhoea continued to the close, but it was partially checked by treatment; she sank a week after admission. Inspection was made twenty-four hours after death. The thoracic viscera were natural. The whole of the peritoneum was covered with colloid cancer, which extended from the diaphragm to the pelvis; no viscera, however, were involved except the ascending colon, and it was doubtful whether this was primary or secondary disease. On oi^ening the abdomen the omentum was seen spread over the surface of the intestine, and reached nearly to the pubes. The mesentery was con- verted into a solid mass of colloid, an inch in thickness, and of con- siderable density. It formed a tolerably uniform mass, except at the edges, where the disease existed in the form of distinct nodules; the omentum was slightly adherent. On raising the omentum adhesions existed with the ascending colon, and on opening this portion of the intestine the walls were found to be involved, and in part destroyed by the disease. The cajcum itself was free, but above it the walls of the colon were converted into a solid tumour for about five inches. In other parts the disease was confined to the peritoneum, but in the ascending colon it had penetrated the coats and had partially destroyed them; thus, on section, the muscular coat could be seen traversing the centre of the colloid growth. The mesentery and its glands and the lumbar glands were fi-ee from disease ; but the whole of the diaphrag- matic peritoneum was covered, so also the peritoneal surface of the bladder, liver, and spleen. The substance of the liver and spleen were healthy, so also the kidneys, uterus, and ovaries. The left iliac vein was distended with an ante-mortem clot. The microscope showed colloid structure in the peritoneal growth. This was a well-marked instance of colloid disease of tlie peri- toneum originating in similar disease of the colon. A glairy- discharge from the bowels was present, but I have not observed this symptom in other instances of colloid disease which have come under my notice. Pain in the region of the colon was the first indication of disease, and was followed by diarrhoea of a very persistent character, by vomiting, and gradual pros- tration. There was nothiug, however, during the course of the complaint to enable us to diagnose its precise character. The patient was only thirty-two years of age, but she had had five children. Loose Bodies are occasionally found in the peritoneal cavitj^, oval in form, and in size varying from that of a bean to that