Psoriasis--verruca--epithelioma : a sequence / by James C. White.

  • White, James C. (James Clarke), 1833-1916.
Date:
[1885]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Psoriasis--verruca--epithelioma : a sequence / by James C. White. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    was the only thing that could be done, except to let the patient die with¬ out making an attempt to save his life. On the following; mbrning; ether was administered, and Dr. Marsh made a faithful attempt to effect the reduction of the hernia, but did not succeed. He then requested Dr. Calvin Terri berry and myself to try, but we both declined, as we felt that any further manipulation would be detrimental; and, moreover, we both had perfect confidence in Dr. Marsh’s skill, and believed tl at, if it were possible to reduce the hernia by taxis, he would have succeeded in doing so. Herniotomy being the only alternative, Dr. Ma:*sh proceeded to operate. The doctor is a faithful disciple of Mr. Lister, and the de¬ tails of the antiseptic system, including the use of the spray, were carried out to the letter. In order to divide the stricture it became necessary to open the sac. The intestine was deeply congested, but the color im¬ proved after division of the constriction ; it was, therefore, returned to the abdominal cavity. Considering the age of the patient, convalescence from the operation was rapid. The wound healed kindly, the reparative process being apparently unaffected by the existence *of the facial ery¬ sipelas. I now frequently meet the patient on the street, and he looks as if he might live ten years longer. This case is interesting, as demonstrating the fact that a patient suffer¬ ing from severe erysipelas of the face may undergo a serious surgical ope¬ ration without developing erysipelas in the operation wound. Not having had the leisure to look up the literature of the subject, I am unable to state whether or not any similar case has ever been reported. To what extent the employment of rigid antiseptic measures contributed to the good result, it is of course impossible to say ; but, in view of the risks of such an operation under such unfavorable circumstances, the surgeon who would fail to protect his patient by all the safeguards known to science would be lacking in a proper sense of his own responsibility. Article XIV. Psoriasis—Verruca—Epithelioma; a Sequence.1 By James C. White, M.D., Professor of Dermatology in Harvard University. It is my purpose in this paper to present brief notes of two remarkable cases of disease—cases extraordinary, not for the rarity of the patho¬ logical processes they represent, but for the very unusual sequence of tis¬ sue-change exhibited in their course. 1 Read before the Boston Society for Medical Improvement, November 24, 1884.