Two cases of epibulbar carcinoma, from the surgical clinic in Bonn / by C. Heyder ; translated by J.H. Shorter.

  • Heyder, C.
Date:
1888?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Two cases of epibulbar carcinoma, from the surgical clinic in Bonn / by C. Heyder ; translated by J.H. Shorter. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    clinic, on July 14, 1884, for the extirpation of a large tumor, which sprung from the globe of the right eye. The patient made the following statement as to previous af¬ fections : Sight had begun to weaken in both eyes at the age of ten. Twenty-five years ago the patient was ill with variola, which raged in her native village at that time. She still retains marks of the disease quite distinctly. Whether the eyes were affected by the variola could not be ascertained from the history. In 1863 she was treated at the ophthalmic clinic for granular con¬ junctivitis of both eyes. When she came under observation in 1884, it was found that the function of the remaining eye, the left, was considerably reduced through pannus and keratoconus. In the spring of 1879, so she stated, the right half of the face, especially in region of the eye, was attacked with erysipelas. In May, 1883, the patient first noticed a small elevation on the right eyeball. The exact spot occupied, whether the sclero-corneal margin or only the corneal region, could not be ascertained. The patient, however, claimed that for a long while before there had been a white spot at the point first attacked, which was caused by one of the eye diseases. Whether this spot had been a scar, the result of one of the eye affections, we cannot at present decide. This tumor soon increased to the size of a pin-head ; by Sep¬ tember it was* about as large as a walnut, and from that time it grew more and more rapidly. At the same time the tumor became the seat of severe, spontaneous pain, which greatly increased on touch. The patient also states that the tumor now commenced to bleed at the slightest provocation, and a considerable quantity of purulent fluid was discharged from its surface. When the woman was admitted to the clinic, the region of the right eye was found to be occupied by a nodular tumor the size of a hen’s egg, which on all sides overhung the orbital margin. Of a general globular shape, it presented a'many-fissured surface, on which here and there could be recognized traces of recent hemor¬ rhages. The tumor protruded from the orbit like a large mush¬ room. The eyelids could not be recognized either from in front or from the side ; in order to bring them into view it was neces¬ sary to draw forward the upper and lower borders of the tumor. Then it was seen that unfolded they rested upon the convex sur¬ face of the tumor. No part of the globe could be made visible, as it was completely covered by the mass ; but its existence could