Anomalies and Curiosities of MedicineGould, George M. (George Milbrey)
Science
Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine
Gould, George M. (George Milbrey)
Abnormalities, Human; Medicine -- Anecdotes
Ward reports the successful removal of a dermoid cyst weighing 30
pounds from a woman of thirty-two, the mother of two children aged ten
and twelve, respectively. The report is briefly as follows: "The
patient has always been in good health until within the last year,
during which time she has lost flesh and strength quite rapidly, and
when brought to my hospital by her physician, Dr. James of
Williamsburg, Kansas, was quite weak, although able to walk about the
house. A tumor had been growing for a number of years, but its growth
was so gradual that the patient had not considered her condition
critical until quite recently. The tumor was diagnosed to be cystoma of
the left ovary. Upon opening the sac with the trocar we were confronted
by complications entirely unlooked for, and its use had to be abandoned
entirely because the thick contents of the cyst would not flow freely,
and the presence of sebaceous matter blocked the instrument. As much of
the fluid as possible was removed, and the abdominal incision was
enlarged to allow of the removal of the large tumor. An ovarian
hematoma the size of a large orange was removed from the right side. We
washed the intestines quite as one would wash linen, since some of the
contents of the cyst had escaped into the abdominal cavity. The abdomen
was closed without drainage, and the patient placed in bed without
experiencing the least shock. Her recovery was rapid and uneventful.
She returned to her home in four weeks after the operation.
"The unusual feature in this case was the nature of the contents of the
sac. There was a large quantity of long straight hair growing from the
cyst wall and an equal amount of loose hair in short pieces floating
through the tumor-contents, a portion of which formed nuclei for what
were called 'moth-balls,' of which there were about 1 1/2 gallons.
These balls, or marbles, varied from the size of moth-balls, as
manufactured and sold by druggists, to that of small walnuts. They
seemed to be composed of sebaceous matter, and were evidently formed
around the short hairs by the motion of the fluid produced by walking
or riding. There was some tissue resembling true skin attached to the
inner wall of the sac."
There are several cases of multiple dermoid cysts on record, and they
may occur all over the body. Jamieson reports a case in which there
were 250, and in Maclaren's case there were 132. According to Crocker,
Hebra and Rayer also each had a case. In a case of Sangster, reported
by Politzer, although most of the dermoids, as usual, were like
fibroma-nodules and therefore the color of normal skin, those over the
mastoid processes and clavicle were lemon-yellow, and were generally
thought to be xanthoma until they were excised, and Politzer found they
were typical dermoid cysts with the usual contents of degenerated
epithelium and hair.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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