A contribution to the study of some forms of albuminuria (nephritis) associated with kidney tension and their treatment / by Reginald Harrison.

  • Harrison, Reginald, 1837-1908.
Date:
1903
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: A contribution to the study of some forms of albuminuria (nephritis) associated with kidney tension and their treatment / by Reginald Harrison. 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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    able discharge of blood and urine, which continued for a fortnight or so, a drainage-tube being retained in the wound ; on the withdrawal of the latter healing followed, and the urine became quite normal. I heard some time afterwards that the patient remained in excellent health and was able to resume his ordinary occupation. The only other case I shall refer to is one that came under my observation in 1893. It was that of a woman, aged 44 years, who had suffered from slight haematuria at times for a year previously ; occasionally the urine was albuminous. Shortly after I saw her she had a severe attack of influenza, which was followed by an aggravation of her renal symptoms. She complained of pain on pres- sure over the left kidney, and the albumin not only increased in quantity but was constantly present in the urine. As she believed she had passed a small calculus some months previously, I thought it a proper case for exploration, and this was accordingly made. The late Mr. Durham saw the patient in consultation with me. The left kidney was found to be swollen and very tense. It was opened and explored with the finger, but no cal- culus could be discovered. There was a free drain of urine with some blood which continued for about a fort- night, when the wound closed. The patient is now quite well and the urine normal. Looking at the three cases I have briefly related, I believe that the first was scarlatinal nephritis, the second nephritis from exposure to cold and damp, and the last subacute nephritis following most probably upon influenza. Amongst other features each case was characterised by the presence of albumin in the urine, which I am inclined to attribute to inflammation or its immediate effects. We do not, I think, sufficiently recognise the intense degree of vascular and tubular infarction that attends some grades of nephritis. Some years ago I saw a girl, aged 7 years, who was suffering from scarlet fever of a malignant type. Almost complete suppression of urine was the leading feature in the case, and death took place in four days from the commencement of the illness. At the necropsy the kidneys were found to be so highly congested that I was not surprised at their being unable to excrete. I remember the passing impression arising in my mind that an incision into them appeared to be the only means that might have been effectual in restoring their function. In a recent paper