Anomalies and Curiosities of MedicineGould, George M. (George Milbrey)
Science
Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine
Gould, George M. (George Milbrey)
Abnormalities, Human; Medicine -- Anecdotes
Discharge of the fetal bones or even the whole of an extrauterine fetus
by the rectum is not uncommon. There are two early cases mentioned in
which the bones of a fetus were discharged at stool, causing intense
pain. Armstrong describes an anomalous case of pregnancy in a
syphilitic patient who discharged fetal bones by the rectum. Bubendorf
reports the spontaneous elimination of a fetal skeleton by the rectum
after five years of retention, with recovery of the patient. Butcher
speaks of delivery through the rectum at the fourth month, with
recovery. Depaul mentions a similar expulsion after a pregnancy of
about two months and a half. Jackson reports the dissection of an
extrauterine sac which communicated freely with the large intestine.
Peck has an example of spontaneous delivery of an extrauterine fetus by
the rectum, with recovery of the mother. Skippon, in the early part of
the last century, reports the discharge of the bones of a fetus through
an "imposthume" in the groin. Other cases of anal discharge of the
product of extrauterine conception are recorded by Winthrop, Woodbury,
Tuttle, Atkinson, Browne, Weinlechner, Gibson, Littre, Magruder,
Gilland, and many others. De Brun du Bois-Noir speaks of the expulsion
of extrauterine remains by the anus after seven years, and Heyerdahl
after thirteen years. Benham mentions the discharge of a fetus by the
rectum; there was a stricture of the rectum associated with syphilitic
patches, necessitating the performance of colotomy.
Bartholinus and Rosseus speak of fetal bones being discharged from the
urinary passages. Ebersbach, in the Ephemerides of 1717, describes a
necropsy in which a human fetus was found contained in the bladder. In
1878 White reported an instance of the discharge of fetal remains
through the bladder.
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