On a hitherto undescribed malformation of the naso-pharynx / by John N. Mackenzie.

  • Mackenzie, John Noland, 1853-1925.
Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On a hitherto undescribed malformation of the naso-pharynx / by John N. Mackenzie. 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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    TION OF THE NASO-PHARYNX * ^ ~ «£. -- ——? ' By JOHN N. MACKENZIE, M.D., OF BALTIMORE. THAT malformations of the naso-pharynx are of rare occurrence is the inference which follows from their cursory mention in works on teratology, and the infrequency with which isolated cases are encountered in periodical medi- cal literature. If we consider, however, the complex process involved in the embryological evolution of this region ; if we reflect that many of its deformities, indirectly removed from sight, may be compatible with the perfect comfort of their possessor, and therefore come only accidentally under medical observation ; and if we bear in mind the notable in- frequency with which the naso-pharyngeal cavity is examined after death, it is quite possible that departures from its nor- mal structure may be more common than is generally sup- posed. In that wonderful book,* 1 of which it has been said, that it is as full of variety as nature herself, Pliny the Elder tells us that children born in the seventh month frequently have the ear and nose imperforate. Whether the observation of the great natural historian be correct or not, it is quite certain that occlusion of the posterior nares is the most common of congenital naso-pharyngeal anomalies. The occlusion may affect one or both nostrils;2 maybe membranous or * Read Feb. 16, 1883, at the Clinical Society of Maryland. 1 “ Nat. Hist.,” lib. xi, cap. 59. 3 Vicq d’ Azyr (M/m. de la soc. de m/d.y 1776. p. 315 ; Otto, “ Handb. d. path. Anat.,” Breslau, 1814, S. 201). Roederer (quoted by Meckel, “ Handb. d. path. Anat.,” Leipzig, 1812, i, S. 406). Plancus (M/m. de Berlin, 1761, p. 73). Otto (op. cit.). Cohen (“Dis. of Throat,” etc., 1879, P* 305). Luschka (“ Der Reprinted from the Archives of Laryngology, Vol. iv, No. 3, July, 1883.