Shell-shock and other neuropsychiatric problems : $b Presented in five hundred and eighty-nine case histories from the war literature, 1914-1918Southard, Elmer Ernest
History
Shell-shock and other neuropsychiatric problems : $b Presented in five hundred and eighty-nine case histories from the war literature, 1914-1918
Southard, Elmer Ernest
War neuroses; World War, 1914-1918 -- Medical care; World War, 1914-1918 -- Psychological aspects
The chances are that the excitement and the strain had more to do with
the diabetes mellitus than the shell explosion.
Dercum’s disease.
=Case 141.= (HOLLANDE and MARCHAND, March, 1917.)
An adjutant in a chasseur battalion was buried by a shell explosion,
which killed his lieutenant beside him, January 5, 1915, at
Hartmannsweilerkopf. Hematuria followed; ten days later, fever with
anorexia, and the appearance of two or three lipomata on the anterior
surface of the thighs. Remaining at his post, the adjutant took part
in an attack, March 5; was evacuated on the 8th; “lipomatosis with
febrile reactions.” He spent eight days at Bussang, and thence went to
the hospital at Pont-de-Claix. Here marked albuminuria was noted; the
lipomata increased in volume; others appeared in the arms. The patient
was transferred to the Des-Genettes, where the diagnosis nephritis
was added to the previous diagnosis, and a milk diet was prescribed.
Convalescence of five months was proposed. The lipomata increased in
volume and in number. The patient was then hospitalized at Avenue
Berthelot, placed in the auxiliaries, and stationed eight months at his
dépôt.
When he was observed by Hollande and Marchand, four nut-sized tumors
were found on the anterior surface of the left thigh; two smaller
tumors: one of them painful to pressure, lay on the inner aspect,
another the size of a small egg lay in the right thigh, and there
were two others on the internal aspect and two on the external aspect
of the thigh. A nut-sized tumor was found on the inner border of the
right forearm, and below it another lenticular tumor. A nut-sized
tumor was found on the left forearm below the elbow on the internal
border. Small tumors were found on the buttocks. There were no tumors
below the knees, in the upper arms, or on the thorax. There were 14
tumors in all. The smaller the tumor the more sensitive, and there
was more pain when the tumor had just appeared and during the first
days of its growth. There was no spontaneous pain; pain only upon a
blow or pressure. Diminished knee-jerks, especially the right; no
other neurological disorder, although the patient complained of often
having something before his eyes. There was a marked diminution in
the memory. Heart was in the 5th space on the nipple line, pulse 110;
Wassermann reaction negative; red blood cells, 3,520,000, white cells,
6500; albuminuria, hematuria, leucocytes, and urethral cells in the
urine. The temperature had now become normal. The lateral lobes of
the thyroid were slightly larger than normal, but not painful. Sella
turcica was unchanged upon X-ray. Exploratory puncture of a tumor
showed much free fat, without fatty acid crystals and with some fat
cells. The cells could not be cultivated in test tube. The authors
believe it doubtful whether this instance of Dercum’s disease is
related with the shell explosion.
Hyperthyroidism.
=Case 142.= (TOMBLESON, September, 1917.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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