Outlines of the diseases of women / by John Phillips.

  • Phillips, John.
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Outlines of the diseases of women / by John Phillips. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    178/332 (page 158)
    CHAPTER XIII. AFFECTIONS OF THE UTERUS—{continued), VI. Uterine Fibromata. A fibro-myoma may be described as a localised hypertrophy of uterine, with a varying amount of connective, tissue. As this latter is most commonly in excess the term fibroid has come into general use. It is, however, an incorrect one although con- venient. (i) etiology.—Much uncertainty exists as to the origin of these growths. Statistics, however, prove that the African races are peculiarly liable to them. They chiefly occur during the period of menstrual activity and usually between the ages of thirty and forty years. None have been known to arise before the onset of puberty, or after the appearance of the menopause. Married women are much more prone to develop the disease than single women. (ii) Structure.—A fibro-myoma consists of plain muscular fibre and connective tissue. Should the former be in excess, which is rare, we have a true myoma; if the fibrous tissue predominates, which is the rule, we have a fibro-myoma. There appear to be two varieties—(a) the hard, (b) the soft. (a) In the hard there is an excess of fibrous tissue with a certain proportion of hypertrophied unstriped muscular fibre. This gives it a distinctive hardening as compared with the uterine wall. When cut into, the surface presents a glistening greyish-white colour with several bundles of fibres arranged concentrically and cut across, like the wires in a submarine cable. A kind of capsule to the growth is formed by a layer of loose connective tissue in which the nutrient blood-vessels ramify. None, however, penetrate into the substance of the tumour: this is an important anatomical fact, for it explains the easy control of haemorrhage by ligature of the vessels of the capsule, and the ease with which enucleation can be performed in certain cases.