Retro-pharyngeal sarcoma / by F.I. Knight.

  • Knight, Frederick I. (Frederick Irving), 1841-1909.
Date:
1878 [i.e. 1879]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Retro-pharyngeal sarcoma / by F.I. Knight. 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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    four yeavs of age, whose voice had been modified for four- teen years. He had had dyspnoea for six months, with suffoca- tive attacks in his sleep. There is no mention of dj-sphagia. On examination a tumor as large as a goose egg, with somewhat uneven surface, was found to extend from the level of the epiglot- tis up behind the soft palate, which it pushed forward on the left side. The mucous membrane covering it was livid. The tonsil was seen in the middle of the tumor. The external carotid, hav- ing been seen to be dilated, was tied previous to the operation on the growth, in order to diminish hemorrhage. An incision was made in the soft palate and mucous membrane covering the tu- mor, which was then peeled out with the .fingers and scalpel. It was so large that, notwithstanding the patient's front teeth were missing, it was with difficulty brought out of the mouth. It was pronounced a sarcoma in a firm connective tissue capsule. There was severe pharyngeal inflammation for a few daj's, after which the patient was declared cured. The second case was that of a man aged seventy, who had felt a small bunch in his throat a year before admission to the hospi- tal. On admission deglutition was very difficult. On examina- tion a tumor was found coming from the left, which filled the pharynx. On swallowing, the food passed through a narrow ul- cerated slit. The operation was the same as in the preceding case. The carotid, however, was not ligated. As the iilccration jH'evented the preservation of the mucous membrane intact, a crucial incision was made in it. Severe imflainmation followed for a few days. The patient was discharged cured. The growth was stated to be morphologically like that of the preceding case, but with a great preponderance of unripe cell elements. The third case reported by Busch is that of a man whose age is not stated, who had a growth of the size of a hen's egg, appar- ently similar to the preceditig, arising from the right side of the phar3'nx. It did not cause him suflficient annoyance to induce him to consent to an operation. Eoser^ reports a case which occurred in his practice in 1826. The patient's symptoms were dj'sphagia of si.x months' duration, extreme at time of examination, dangerous dyspnoea, nausea and vomiting, and hoarseness. On ordinary inspection of the fauces nothing could be seen, / 1. Medicinisches Correspondenz-blatt des Wiirtemhergischen Aerzlit- •^hen Vereins. M. 29, S. 161, ISlO. \