Contributions to the anatomy and pathology of the thymus gland / by A. Jacobi.

  • Jacobi, A. (Abraham), 1830-1919.
Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Contributions to the anatomy and pathology of the thymus gland / by A. Jacobi. 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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    the impression of a conglomerate of enlarged and degenerated lymph bodies. One of two cases described by Rosenberg (Inaug. Dissert., Gottin- gen, 1884) was that of a boy of five years, who died with a lymph- adenoma filling the whole mediastinum. It was closely adherent to the sternum, extended into the right pleural cavity, and was strongly adherent to the lower anterior part of the right upper lobe. It was assumed to be thymic, because no trace of the thymus could be found. Besides, it was homogeneous in its structure and not nodulated like a conglomerate of lymphomata, and was located in front of the pericar- dium, behind the sternum. S. Bollag reports [Inaug. Diss., Brugg, 1887) a lymphosarcoma of the thymus, observed in a boy of fourteen years who died in the Uni- versity hospital of Zurich in 1883. It was located in the mediastinum, originated in the thymus, and resulted in secondary sarcomatous degeneration of the lymph bodies and the parietal pericardium. Moreover, there were hemorrhagic pericarditis, compression of the trachea and of the vena cava superior. There were, in consequence, extensive oedema, bilateral hydrothorax, compression of the lower parts of the lungs, protrusion of the sternum, and dislocation of the liver. Jules Simon has collected, in his inaugural thesis, a few cases of enlarged thymus implicating leucocythcemia. One such case has been detailed by Augustin Fabre (“Fragments de clinique med.,” Paris, 1881). The leucocythmmia was both splenic and lymphatic. There were pleurisy of the left side, oedema of the left upper extremity, con- siderable dilatation of the veins of the thoracic wall and of the left shoulder. The only symptom perceptible during life was extensive dulness over the manubrium sterni. The latter was the only symptom distinguishable in the single case of the kind that has been observed by me. A child of two years had dyspnoea, dilated veins, oedema of the face and neck, and a high degree of anaemia. The tumor was taken for a mediastinal growth. The diagnosis of leucocythaemia was made, fortunately, before death, when the spleen was found greatly enlarged. The thymus was changed into a lymphosarcoma, and some of the mediastinal glands were altered in the same manner.