Fibrinous or membranous rhinitis and its relation to diphtheria / by H. Lambert Lack ; (communicated by Allan Macfadyen).

  • Lack, Harry Lambert, 1867-1943.
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Fibrinous or membranous rhinitis and its relation to diphtheria / by H. Lambert Lack ; (communicated by Allan Macfadyen). 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.

    11/42
    wards it remained normal tliroughout the affection^ wliicli lasted five weeks. There was no general disturbance of any kind and no sequelm. This is the more remarkable because of the extent of the local affection^ and because the patient was suffering from severe diabetes. The urine contained 2500—3000 grains of sugar per diem^ albumen, and occasionally acetone. The boy weighed only 5 st. 4 lbs., and was steadily losing ground. Even thoroughly competent observers may overlook these cases. A case I have quite recently seen was for eight weeks an in-patient in the surgical ward of a chil- dren's hospital, and was considered to have only a bad cold. I was not asked to see him until fourteen weeks from the commencement of the trouble. In another childrens hospital also I have recently been informed of a case which those of the staff who saw it pronounced not to be diphtheria, whatever else it might be. 10. Progress.—The disease runs a subacute, occasionally almost a chronic course, the duration varying- from three to twelve weeks, the average being about five weeks. 11. Prognosis and sequelse.—Some of the children during the course of the disease became rather pulled down and looked pale and languid, but the large majority remained throughout in their usual hfealth. They were kept under observation two to three month.s, and in none were any paralytic phenomena observed, such as loss of knee-jerk, pare.sis of palate, &c., although these were regularly sought for. In every case complete recovery took place, but in two instances there were observed some adhesions between the inferior turbinate and the septum, 12. With regard to the causation of the disease, apart from infection, which will be discussed later, I have been unable to make out anything definite. Two of my cases followed severe blows on the nose—a fact to which 1 should attach slight importance, although Pluder and others have recorded similar cases, regarding the blow as a predis- po.sing cause. Dr. MacDonald considers previous attacks