On that peculiar deformity of the pelvis originally described by Professor Fr. Ch. Nægelè of Heidelberg as the "pelvis obliqué ovata" / by Edward B. Sinclair.

  • Sinclair, Edward B. (Edward Burrowes), Sir, 1824-1882.
Date:
1855
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On that peculiar deformity of the pelvis originally described by Professor Fr. Ch. Nægelè of Heidelberg as the "pelvis obliqué ovata" / by Edward B. Sinclair. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    pelves taken, both affected with this species of deformity, only that the malformation existed on different sides, and if an ac¬ curate division was made with a saw, so that the section should pass through the mesial line ofJthe sacrum, as well as the centre of the pubic symphysis in each ; and that then, the two apparently properly formed sides were brought together at the cut surfaces of the semi-sacrum, it wTould be found that the pubes were distant from each other at least three-quarters of an inch.” Besides, he tells us, “ if a line be drawn (so as to retain any curves in which it may be bent) from the promontory of the sa¬ crum along the linea innominatum of the iliac bone, and the linea pectinea of the pubic, to the symphysis pubis of the apparently normal side, this line will be found, behind, less, and, before, more curved, than in a pelvis of healthy or natural formation.” Hence, Naegele assumes, it follows that the pelvis formed as above described is contracted obliquely, “ that is, in the di¬ rection which crosses the line, which from the point of an¬ chylosis extends itself to the cotyloid cavity of the opposite side, whilst that last diameter is not diminished, but on the contrary (and especially when the malformation is consider¬ able) it is more lengthened than in the natural pelvis, so that the plane of the brim presents an oval placed obliquely.” The pelvis of the woman wdiose case I have just narrated in every respect answers to this description; it even illustrates, in a remarkable manner, the observation of Naegele, “ that all these pelves (apart from the differences which result from the degree of deformity, or from the side or seat of anchylosis) present, upon the relations of all their essential characteristics, a resemblance as perfect as that which exists between two eggs”a. The dimensions of the pelvis in my case are as follows:— The antero-posterior diameter, that is, from the centre of the pu¬ bic articulation to the central point of the sacro-vertebral angle is 4 inches; but this diameter is not in this pelvis directly antero¬ posterior, cutting, as it does, the transverse diameter of the brim not at a right angle, but making an angle with it, in the direction of the flattened side, greater than a right angle; the real antero-pos¬ terior diameter, that is, from the central point of the sacro-verte¬ bral angle to the point exactly opposite it, is much less in extent, being but 3 inches; whereas, the transverse diameter is only 3-J From the left ilio-pubic eminence to the right sacro-iliac syn. a Des Principaux Vices de Conformation du Bassin, &c. Traduit de L’Allemand, &c., par A. C. Danyau. pp. 12, 13.