Observations on aneurism of the abdominal aorta / by Alexander Monro.

  • Monro, Alexander, 1773-1859.
Date:
1827
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on aneurism of the abdominal aorta / by Alexander Monro. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/34 (page 19)
    of anatomy with much attention. In a paper on aneurism, which was published in vol. 3d of the Literary and Physical Essays of this place, the following description has been given of the dissection of an aneurismal sac, in a letter from my grand¬ father to his son Dr D. Monro. ce The aneurismal sacs you sent me to Edinburgh were dissected by your brother in my presence. The appearances were the following :—The external loose cellular, and the cellulo-membranous, coats being dissected away carefully, the circular fibrous, commonly called muscular, coat, was evidently seen continued on all the three small sacs in every part of them, but was thicker there than in the sound part of the artery ; and, in the most enlarged part of the sacs, an extraneous substance, resembling a soft steatomatous matter, was intermixed with the muscular fibres. The cellular sub¬ stance lining the inside of the muscular coat was considera¬ bly thicker than natural, and had much the same appearance of an extraneous substance filling its cells. The internal mem¬ brane of the artery adhered so firmly to these cells, that it could not be separated, but seemed thicker than in a sound state. Though the circular fibres could be observed at the sides of the incision made into the fore part of the sac of the left ham, as represented in your figure; yet, as the dissection was continued backwards towards the most distended part, these muscular fibres became less observable, and could not be traced. Whether this apparent defect of them here was owing to a much greater pro¬ portion of the extraneous substance above mentioned, or to their having been destroyed by the great distention, is difficult to de¬ termine. The internal cellular coat of this sac was considerably thicker than in the smaller ones, but of the same texture. The most internal membrane was in a thickened adhering state. In the part of the great sac of the right ham which came to Edin¬ burgh, no circular fibres could be seen, and the structure was otherwise much the same as that now described of the back part of the sac in the left ham.-” Professor Scarpa, one of the most justly celebrated anato¬ mists in Europe, has also given a very distinct and beautiful representation of the proper fibrous or muscular coat, as he calls B