Hypertrophies and degenerations of cicatrices and cicatricial tissue / by John Collins Warren.

  • Warren, John Collins, 1842-1927.
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Hypertrophies and degenerations of cicatrices and cicatricial tissue / by John Collins Warren. 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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    HYPERTROPHIES AND DEGENERATIONS OF CICA- TRICES AND CICATRICIAL TISSUE.1 By JOHN COLLINS WARREN, M.D., OF BOSTON. PROFESSOR OF SURGERY IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY; SURGEON TO THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL. THE material by means of which a defect in the integuments is repaired is known as a cicatrix, and consists of a new formation of connective tissue covered by epidermis. In tracing the evolution of this new tissue we find that it is formed from the fixed cells of the connective tissue and from the cells found in the walls of the small bloodvessels. These cells, when in a state of reproductive activity, are known as fibroblasts, and it is from them that the new tissue is formed which firmly holds the edges of the wound in apposition. The process does not, however, cease with the closure of the wound, for if we watch the cicatrix during the next few weeks we find that the line of union has, in many cases, become much more marked, and that it is the seat of a distinct growth of tissue by means of which it is raised above the level of the surrounding skin. There is an increase in the vascularity of the part, and the bright red color which results gives it an unusual prominence,' which threatens, when the scar is situated in exposed regions, to become the cause of an unsightly deformity. The new forma- tion appears, however, to be merely a provisional one: gradually the swelling diminishes, the new tissue shrinks back to the level of the surrounding integument, and the bright color fades away. If we examine a wound at the end of the first week of the healing process we find remarkably little change in the tissues.