Diseases of the liver, gall-bladder and bile-ducts.

  • Rolleston, Humphry Davy, Sir, 1862-1944.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Diseases of the liver, gall-bladder and bile-ducts. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

    600/856 (page 568)
    S68 greatly improves the patient's condition for a time. The operation must be performed early ; if « black jaundice has already developed, the patient is m a very unfavourable state for this procedure. JAUNDICE IN THE NEWLY BORN Jaundice occurring within a few days or weeks of birth has such special bearings that it requires separate consideration. The term icterus neonatorum has been specially employed for the simple jaundice so commonly seen within a few days of birth. Various forms of jaundice may attack newly born infants. As many as nine varieties have been tabulated by Skormin; (i) Benign jaundice; (ii) septic, due to umbilica] infection; (iii) infective jaundice; (fv) Winckel's disease ; (v) catarrhal jaundice; (vi) toxic jaundice, due to drugs, such as carbolic acid, resorcin; (vii) jaundice following haemorrhages into the skin ; (viii) jaundice of acute yellow atrophy ; (ix) various forms of obstructive jaundice. Some of the forms are extremely rare; thus, Skormin ^ could only refer to seven examples of acute yellow atrophy in infants. From a practical point of view jaundice in infants may be conveniently divided into two main groups : (i) Those which are mild and tend to recover; (ii) the severe forms in which the prognosis is grave. The Mild Forms of Jaundice in the Newly Born are: (a) Idiopathic, simple, or physiological jaundice. (J) The mild infective or catarrhal. {a) Idiopathic, Simple, op Physiological Jaundice.—Etiology.—It is commoner among the poor, and is known under the name of the yellow gum. It is thought to be more frequent in premature and feeble infants with deficient resistance, and has been said to be commoner in males than in females (J. L. Steven), but this is doubtful. It has been suggested that if the cord is ligatured late, so that the infant obtains a maximum of placental blood, icterus, presumably depending on increased haemolysis, is more likely to result. Bauzon,2 however, from a consideration of 240 cases, concluded that, far from favouring the occurrence of jaundice, delayed ligation of the umbilical cord improved the resistance of the infant and thus tended to prevent icterus. There is no proof that delayed birth or abnormal presentations, such as a breech, are important factors. Jaundice so soon after birth has naturally been thought to depend on events special to birth and the first few days of independent existence. 1 Skormin. Jahrb. f. Kinderh., 1902, Ivi, 200.