Experiments on kiesteine : with remarks on its application to the diagnosis of pregnancy : an inaugural dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Medicine / by Elisha K. Kane ; published by the recommendation of the Medical Faculty of the University of Pennsylvania.

  • Kane, Elisha Kent, 1820-1857.
Date:
[1842]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Experiments on kiesteine : with remarks on its application to the diagnosis of pregnancy : an inaugural dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Medicine / by Elisha K. Kane ; published by the recommendation of the Medical Faculty of the University of Pennsylvania. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    The observation, too, that the urine becomes paler in the later stages of pregnancy has not been confirmed by my experience. The urine when deposited embraced a great range of colours; the different shades of yellow with more or less intermixture of red being the most common. The degree of its transparency also varied much. But towards the last month of ges- tation, the urine, with more or less uniformity, as will be seen by the tables, became much darker, assumed a reddish or salmon colour, and often di- minished in transparency. This change has been noticed by the ancient writers; and, although not invariable, seems to me deserving of more atten- tion. Having convinced myself, that the urine of healthy females undergoes during utero-gestation a change, which is indicated by a pellicle in many i-espects similar to that described by Nauche, and also that the urine of other states might in some rare cases require for its distinction a careful compar- ative scrutiny; I next sought to determine by observation, whether the kies- teinic pellicle occurred in other conditions. The well known fact that the elements of the milk have been found in the urine,—the opinion of some physiologists, that, separated from the blood and existing in the mammae, it may during gestation be reabsorbed and ex- creted by the kidneys,—and more immediately, the supposition of Dr. Bird, that the kiesteine was owing to its presence,—naturally led me to examine the urine during the various conditions of lactation. By resorting to the nursery wards of the hospital, at that time containing a large number of patients, and subsequenUy by examining all the delivered cases of the obstetrical wards, I was enabled to observe no less than ninety- four cases. These I have grouped in the table marked B. The results establish the fact, that the kiesteine is by no means peculiar to pregnancy; and they have at the same time an important bearing on cir- cumstances which contribute to the theory of the production of this pellicle. Of the ninety-four cases of females in a state of lactation, forty-two gave the usual urinary changes without any indication of the kiesteine; eight pre- sented a scum, but modified or imperfectly formed; while forty-four exhi- bited the perfect kiesteinic jjellicle, as well developed as in ordinary cases of pregnancy. The conditions, which appeared to exert an infliuence over its formation or its absence, may be the subject of a few remarks. Immediately after delivery, and during the lochial discharge, when the urine owing to its intermixture was more or less reddened, a scum formed of a semi-transparent horidike appearance, marked by arborescent figures of a sanguineous tinge. In the interval between the birth of the child and the free establishment and exit of the lacteal secretion,—of twenty-three cases in which I succeeded in preventing lochial admixture, fifteen gave a kiesteinic pellicle. After the more immediate sequelae of pregnancy and delivery had disap-