On the causes and treatment of abortion and sterility : being the result of an extended practical inquiry into the physiological and morbid conditions of the uterus, with reference especially to leucorrhoeal affections and the diseases of menstruation / by James Whitehead.

  • Whitehead, James, 1812-1885.
Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the causes and treatment of abortion and sterility : being the result of an extended practical inquiry into the physiological and morbid conditions of the uterus, with reference especially to leucorrhoeal affections and the diseases of menstruation / by James Whitehead. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    The first change operated upon the uterus after gonorrheal inocu- lation, consists in superficial inflammation of one or both labia at their most depending part, or at the boundary of the os and com- mencement of the internal cervix. The inflammation seems to affect principally the small mucous follicles with which the surface is closely studded—(probably not the Nabothean bodies already noticed.) A small red patch is first perceived; sometimes there are two or three isolated spots which extend and soon run together, forming one patch, of variable size in different cases and in different stages of the complaint, and generally of irregular shape. On removing the thick secretion with which this is covered, the surface appears to consist of minute granules, equally dispersed over every part of it; the abrasion is bounded by a margin not very distinctly defined, running imperceptibly into the erysipelatous redness which surrounds the sore ; this extends to some distance upon the cervix, the whole of which is more or less tumid, but not painful to the touch. In persons possessing the sanguine or bilious temperament, and of plethoric habit of body, the symptoms are often violent; the excoriation extending rapidly, on the one hand upon the cervix in an outward direction, and on the other towards its lining mem- brane ; the part upon which the erosion appears, first assumes the form of an angry, irritable ulcer, throwing off* a large quantity of pus, and there is great tendency to inflammatory fever. If the infection be contracted during pregnancy, the process of utero-ges- tation is often endangered during the acute stage of the complaint, especially in those of a nervous and irritable frame, in whom hys- terical symptoms are readily developed. The inflammatory action in gonorrhoea, is extremely liable to extend w7ithin the uterus, and is probably a frequent cause of chronic endo-uteritis—one of the most serious and troublesome conditions of which the womb is susceptible. After the acute symptoms have subsided, the local disturbance be- comes less diffuse; the erosion assumes the character of a simple granulating sore, situated upon an inflamed, indurated crust, and having a defined margin, which is manifestly elevated above the general surface. In this state the disease may continue for many years; rendering the whole of each succeeding pregnancy a period of suffering and misery, in many instances occasioning abortion at different stages of the process; sometimes it effectually prevents the accomplishment of impregnation, and it is not an uncommon cause of dysmenorrhcea. The symptoms are always aggravated during