Digital examination and treatment of certain morbid conditions of the nasal chamber ; Age and sex in diseases of the upper respiratory tract / by Harrison Allen.

  • Allen, Harrison, 1841-1897.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Digital examination and treatment of certain morbid conditions of the nasal chamber ; Age and sex in diseases of the upper respiratory tract / by Harrison Allen. 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 following conditions are those for which I have successfully- interfered : (1) The form which is due to a constitutional condition. (2) The form which is associated with periodic reflex phenomena. (3) The form which is dependent upon sclerosis (with or without atrophy or necrosis) of the anterior end of the middle turbinal. (4) The form associated with hyperplasia of the anterior end of the middle turbinal. (5) The form associated with thin, highly arched, inferior tur- binals which project far into the lumen of the nasal chamber. I.—The Form which is Due to a Constitutional Condition. Case I.—E.W., a retired merchant, aged fifty-nine years, reported January 25, 1887. He had been a very free liver for many years. For four years he complained of a nasal discharge which was anterior only. There was excessive pharyngeal irritability, and a yellowish brown fur persistently covered the base of the tongue. The chief source of distress was a morbid sensation of the pharynx which he described as “dryness and tickling.’’ The basi-lingual veins were exceptionally large. Both sides of the epiglottis touched the walls of the pharynx. The constitutional condition was not favorable ; one brother having died of phthisis and one of the .sequelae of epi- lepsy. The patient suffered from atonic d5'-spepsia, which most probably had resulted from prolonged libations and high living. He complained of frontal and occipital headache which appeared to be confined, for the most part, to the early part of the day. Both nasal passages were very narrow. The anterior ends of the inferior turbinated bones were the seat of chronic infiltrations. The septum was slightly deflected to the left and was sinuate. Beyond this nothing was seen. The treatment in this case was initiated by local depletions of the septum, and the applications of a weak solution of the liquid ferri perchloride to the pharynx. The patient was seen twice a week, and at the end of a month the sensation in the pharynx of ■dryness and tickling had diminished, but the discharge from the nostrils remained about the same. It is evident that an unfavorable constitutional condition need not prevent recourse to operative procedure. I now suggested that the chamber be examined while the patient was under the influence of ether. On February 25 the patient submitted to the manipulation. By March i, the fourth day after the operation, the patient reported that the pain over the brow and the bridge of the nose was gone. By March 15 the sensation of dryness and tickling had entirely disappeared, and there was scarcely any discharge from the nose. In a word, the patient was relieved from all his distress, and remained so until October 6, when he reported. Having spent the summer in Europe, he contracted a cold in Germany on September 24, and had rheumatic pain in the left foot since that date. The patient remained under observation o.t long intervals until March 12, 1888. During all this time the