The Surgery of the Skull and BrainRawling, Louis Bathe
Science
The Surgery of the Skull and Brain
Rawling, Louis Bathe
Brain -- Surgery; Skull -- Surgery
Whether dependent on injury or not, the _symptoms_ associated with
sarcoma of the skull vary according to whether the tumour is extrinsic
or intrinsic--whether, for instance, the growth develops in the inward
direction and presses on the brain, or grows from the pericranium and is
directed externally. _Intrinsic_ tumours, with the exception of some
local pain, œdema of tissues, and dilatation of superficial veins, give
rise to symptoms closely resembling those observed in intracranial
tumour formation. When _extrinsic_, the tumour varies in size, but is
necessarily attached to the bone, the base being the widest part of the
tumour. In the earlier stages the overlying skin, with the exception of
a few dilated vessels, is more or less normal. Later on, the integument
becomes adherent to the tumour, then red and inflamed, and finally
ulcerated, the growth now fungating to the surface. The tumour itself is
of variable consistency, first hard, then softer, and lastly
semi-fluctuating.
Pain, though not very severe, is more or less constant--of a dull,
aching character. The extrinsic tumours may, however, give rise to acute
neuralgic pain in the event of implication of cutaneous nerves; whilst
the intrinsic, in the later stages of the disease, lead to the more
severe types of headache observed in intracranial tumour formation.
Secondary nodules appear in other parts of the scalp--all appertaining,
in their clinical characteristics, to the primary growth; the cervical
glands become infected, and death results from repeated hæmorrhages,
pulmonary complications, &c., usually within one to two years from the
date of primary development.
=Treatment.= The removal of an extrinsic tumour should only be carried
out when the tumour is small and non-adherent to the tissues of the
scalp. With respect to the intrinsic variety greater circumspection is
required. The presence of cerebral symptoms and the inward extension of
the growth--verified by symptoms and by X-ray investigation--may be
regarded as implying that the conditions are beyond the reach of
surgery. In both varieties of tumour, extensive glandular implication
acts as a contra-indication to operation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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