The morbid anatomy of the stomach, bowels and liver / [John Armstrong].

  • Armstrong, John, 1784-1829.
Date:
[1826]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The morbid anatomy of the stomach, bowels and liver / [John Armstrong]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    nausea or retching, a tenacious mucus is ejected, sometimes mixed with pus or blood. Ulceration of the (Esophagus occasionally proves fatal by excessive hemorrhage, and I have known the same event happen from Ulceration of the Stomach. But if the patient should not be thus suddenly carried off, great emaciation takes place, with fever of a hectic type, and a little before death, there is often feebleness, and even aberration of mind, as is seen in most instances where patients die from inanition. In regard to the spasmodic stricture of the (Esophagus, it generally comes on and goes off suddenly, so as fully to reveal its character, especially when seated below the pharynx. It is most common in enervated men of the nervous temperament, or in females who are subject to hysterical affections. In some dissections, I have found the Cardia reddened, thickened, and softened, appa- rently from Chronic Inflammation ; and, in tracing the history of the cases backward, it appeared that the patients had a sense of uneasiness and obstruction in that quarter during the passage of solids or liquids ; but then I have known similar symptoms take place, even with a described impediment to the transit of the food into the Stomach, and yet nothing of a morbid nature existed about the Cardia to account for the symptoms. The majority of such cases happened in females, who died of diseases having little or no connexion with the textures of the Stomach. It may be here noticed, that Stricture, or rather a limited narrowness, of the (Esophagus occasionally depends on original formation. In this congenital form, usually seated opposite to the larynx, there is constantly some difficulty or delay of swallowing, but not sufficient to prevent deglutition, and in other respects the patient enjoys good health. STRICTURE ABOUT THE CARDIA FROM FUNGUS OR SCIRRHUS. Unquestionably the cause of Stricture about the Cardia mostly arises either from Fungus or Scirrhus, and I know of no symptoms, by which the one can, with certainty, he distinguished from the other. But it should not be forgotten, that Scirrhus most frequently occurs after forty years of age, and that Fungus may attack at any period of life. Besides, as far as I have seen, the progress of Fungus is much more rapid, in general, than the progress of Scirrhus, which may be some guide in the diagnosis; but we cannot he certain, unless some of the Encephaloid matter should be ejected, during the softening and destruction of the Tumour. That, however, is not a very common occurrence; for, indeed, the patient often dies before the perfect destruction of