Studies on Epidemic Influenza: Comprising Clinical and Laboratory InvestigationsUniversity of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine
History
Studies on Epidemic Influenza: Comprising Clinical and Laboratory Investigations
University of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine
Influenza; Influenza Epidemic, 1918-1919
In two cases we observed very interesting lesions in the _bladder_.
These two individuals during life had been excreting markedly
blood-stained urine for some days preceding death. In the one case the
hemorrhage was so marked that on standing, about one-tenth of the urine
was composed of sedimented red blood cells. It was assumed that the
hemorrhage was of kidney origin until the autopsy revealed a simple
cloudy swelling of the kidney associated with a hemorrhagic state of the
submucosa of the bladder. In both cases the posterior wall of the
bladder was heavily infiltrated with blood so that the mucosa was raised
from the surface and the prominent folds showed a superficial erosion
with small points of greenish necrosis. This bladder hemorrhage was
concomitant with hemorrhagic foci elsewhere in the body, pericardium,
pleura, stomach and intestine. Alone in the bladder however, the
hemorrhage formed a distinct mass and allowed a considerable escape from
the lesions on the surface. These areas of hemorrhage were not infected
and showed no local inflammatory reaction. They also appeared to be
toxic in origin and resembled the hemorrhages occurring in the muscles
of the abdomen.
Changes in the _adrenal_ gland were noted in 14 instances. In all of
these there was the picture of what is commonly known as cloudy swelling
of the cortex and, in addition to this, in three cases small petechial
hemorrhages were observed. The so-called cloudy swelling of the adrenal
consists largely in a loss of the bright golden appearance of the
cortical tissues accompanied by soft œdematous swelling. The tissues
change color to a brown or clay color, and it is not uncommon to observe
that the inner zone of pigmentation is more diffuse. There is no sharp
demarcation between the layers of the cortex. With this alteration in
the outer structure of the adrenal, the medulla not uncommonly appears
smaller. This change is more apparent than real, and we have not been
able to observe any definite lesion in the nervous portion. At times we
believed that the inner tissue appeared more cellular, but it was not
possible to determine any specific alteration in the cells.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account