Ectopia cordis, or cardiac displacement : an address read before the Suffolk District Medical Society, Boston, Dec. 30, 1854 / by Buckminster Brown.

  • Brown, Buckminster, 1819-1891.
Date:
1855
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Ectopia cordis, or cardiac displacement : an address read before the Suffolk District Medical Society, Boston, Dec. 30, 1854 / by Buckminster Brown. 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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    has been above described, is related by Dr. Kennedy, of Dublin. “ A respectable middle-aged woman presented herself at the Dublin General Dispensary, complaining of dyspncea and distressing pal- pitations. On examination with the stethoscope, ii was discovered, that the heart was pulsating at the right side, and no disease could! be detected in any of the thoracic viscera to account for the dis- placement., in addition to which the woman positively avowed that* she had felt her heart beating in the same place as long as shcl could remember ! The physician to whom we are indebted fonl these particulars, seemed to entertain but little doubt that the displace ment in this case was congenital.” A displacement has been de scribed by Parmel in which the heart w*as situated in the abdomen occupying the place of the stomach. The patient was a girl, 1 years of age. Another is related still more extraordinary, in which it was found in the place of the left kidney in a man who lived la mature years, and at last died of renal disease. Three cases arc likewise detailed in which the heart was situated in the neck. Iq most of these cases the arrangement has been such as to afford th vessels fair play. But in those where the displacement is non-con genital, there is necessarily more or less disturbance of the heart’ action before it can accommodate itself to its new position. Ad to this the increased obstruction from pressure, and we find per haps a sufficient explanation of the phenomena observed, withou diagnosticating severe valvular disease. Where the displacemen is considerable, the consequences, independent of disease, must ba most serious and detrimental; but even to these, the powers of na ture are undoubtedly in time capable of adapting themselves. Treatment.—The treatment recommended in this case was simpl hygienic, and the use of gentle gymnastic exercises. In othe words, very accurate attention to the state of the general health, t< diet, atmospheric influence, and avoidance of mental labor ; co bined with active exertion of those muscles whose function it to expand the chest, and thus by a gradual increase of the the racic cavity relieve the enclosed viscera, and permit, if possible, th return of the displaced organ to its normal position. Before concluding this paper, I should be doing injustice to m own feejings, as well as to yours, if I did not allude to the gre loss which we have experienced since last we met together. O who has often at our meetings enlightened us by his practic knowledge and scientific research, whom we all highly respect as a valued professional brother, and to whom some among bound by the closer tie of personal intimacy and estee were has passed away. This is not the time to speak his eulogy. Th has been done by others, and a series of resolutions bearing tes mony to our regard for Dr. Parkman, have been placed upon r cord. But a passing tribute to his memory is appropriate both the time and the occasion.