Observations on some of the most frequent and important diseases of the heart ; on aneurism of the thoracic aorta; on preternatural pulsation in the epigastric region: and on the unusual origin and distribution of some of the large arteries of the human body. Illustrated by cases / By Allan Burns.

  • Burns, Allan, 1781-1813.
Date:
1809
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on some of the most frequent and important diseases of the heart ; on aneurism of the thoracic aorta; on preternatural pulsation in the epigastric region: and on the unusual origin and distribution of some of the large arteries of the human body. Illustrated by cases / By Allan Burns. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    blood is pushed on towards the lungs, but here we must trace the consequences of the ductus arteriosus remaining open. In this case, the blood finds much less resistance to its pas- sage into the aorta, than it does to circulate along the ramifications of the pulmonary vessels; hence one cause why venous blood is inter- mixed with arterial, but not the only one, for an equal portion passes through the foramen ovale into the left auricle, and this for the ex- press purpose of continuing the equilibrium of distension. Now, from this short statement, it must be obvious, that sooner or later, an accu- mulation of blood highly venous must take place in the arterial system; and whenever this proceeds a certain length, we are prepared to understand why the body feels weak; why the pulse flutters, and the heart vibrates; why the vital functions are nearly arrested; and why the person expresses the greatest anxiety and oppression in the chest, referable in part to the presence of venous blood in the left side of the heart, but equally occasioned by the consent which obtains between this organ and the lungs. Such is the general explanation of the cause of the occurrence of a paroxysm. Let me next observe, that whateyer renders the circulation irregular, accelerates the accession of a fit, as then, from the increased frequency of the vas- cular contractions, blood comes to be more ra- pidly transmitted through the heart, and thus