Posts tagged 1912

Osteo-chondro-myxosarcoma before and after surgical intervention

Osteogenic tumors develop bone that displaces soft tissue. Osteo- means “bone”, and -genic means “to form”. In addition to the osteogenic behavior, this patient’s tumor has caused disordered cartilage (chondro-) and mucous membrane (myxo-) growth.

The case report states that it took “many” surgeries to completely remove the tumor and partially reconstruct the jaw, but that the patient lived a further 8 years after removal, and experienced no recurrence of the tumor in that time. While his vision suffered, as the left eye was unsalvagable, and his speech was impeded by both the incomplete jaw reconstruction and the excess skin remaining on the face, he was able to hold down a steady job and communicate. He was reported to be of “average-to-high” intelligence.

Tumors of the Jaws. Charles Locke Scudder, 1912.

Brown-throated sloth - Bradypus variegatus The brown-throated sloth is one of the three-toed sloths, and lives in the neotropical regions of South America. Though the species as a whole eats a wide variety of leaves, each individual sloth tends to specialize in one to three species, and preferentially eats from those particular trees.  As sloth babies begin to eat leaf particles from their mother’s fur as early as the fourth day of life, they tend to develop the same leaf preferences as her. That said, sloths aren’t so picky that they won’t eat any other leaves. You may like pizza a whole lot, but would you really JUST eat pizza your whole life? Sloths tend to slow their eating habits significantly when they’re allowed to eat only the species they appeared to be most preferential of initially. Brehm’s Tierleben: Allgemeine Kunde des Tierreichs. Prof. Otto zur Strassen, 1912.

Brown-throated sloth - Bradypus variegatus

The brown-throated sloth is one of the three-toed sloths, and lives in the neotropical regions of South America. Though the species as a whole eats a wide variety of leaves, each individual sloth tends to specialize in one to three species, and preferentially eats from those particular trees. 

As sloth babies begin to eat leaf particles from their mother’s fur as early as the fourth day of life, they tend to develop the same leaf preferences as her.

That said, sloths aren’t so picky that they won’t eat any other leaves. You may like pizza a whole lot, but would you really JUST eat pizza your whole life? Sloths tend to slow their eating habits significantly when they’re allowed to eat only the species they appeared to be most preferential of initially.

Brehm’s Tierleben: Allgemeine Kunde des Tierreichs. Prof. Otto zur Strassen, 1912.

Osteosarcoma of the upper jaw in 10-year-old boy Sarcomas are relatively rare tumors in humans, formed from mesenchymal cells, rather than epithelial (surface) cells. Epithelial cell tumors are called “carcinomas”. Since sarcomas are relatively uncommon, but hard tumors or cysts on the bones are not, patients are often misdiagnosed at first. In children, osteosarcomas (sarcomas of the bone) comprise approximately 2.4% of cancer cases. Most of these tumors occur in the leg bones, but around 8% originate in the jaw. The standard treatment of osteosarcoma is resection of the affected bone - that is, removal of the tumorous section, and joining together the two sections of bone on either side of the removed area. If the tumor has spread or the bone is too overtaken by it, amputation of the limb is called for. Obviously, you can’t amputate the face, but detection of facial tumors is often much less delayed than in the leg, and the removal and resection of the jaw bone is usually possible. Five-year survival rates of pediatric osteosarcoma are still one of the lowest of all the childhood cancers, at an average of 68% across all the different manifestations. However, given that the survival rate was hovering around 5-10% at the beginning of the 20th century (and that’s being generous), we’ve come a long way. Early detection and eliminating misdiagnoses of leg tumors is critical to survival in all age groups. Tumors of the Jaws. Charles Locke Scudder, 1912.

Osteosarcoma of the upper jaw in 10-year-old boy

Sarcomas are relatively rare tumors in humans, formed from mesenchymal cells, rather than epithelial (surface) cells. Epithelial cell tumors are called “carcinomas”. Since sarcomas are relatively uncommon, but hard tumors or cysts on the bones are not, patients are often misdiagnosed at first.

In children, osteosarcomas (sarcomas of the bone) comprise approximately 2.4% of cancer cases. Most of these tumors occur in the leg bones, but around 8% originate in the jaw. The standard treatment of osteosarcoma is resection of the affected bone - that is, removal of the tumorous section, and joining together the two sections of bone on either side of the removed area. If the tumor has spread or the bone is too overtaken by it, amputation of the limb is called for. Obviously, you can’t amputate the face, but detection of facial tumors is often much less delayed than in the leg, and the removal and resection of the jaw bone is usually possible.

Five-year survival rates of pediatric osteosarcoma are still one of the lowest of all the childhood cancers, at an average of 68% across all the different manifestations. However, given that the survival rate was hovering around 5-10% at the beginning of the 20th century (and that’s being generous), we’ve come a long way. Early detection and eliminating misdiagnoses of leg tumors is critical to survival in all age groups.


Tumors of the Jaws. Charles Locke Scudder, 1912.

Dioctophyme renale, or, the Giant Kidney Worm, in the kidney of a dog

Dioctophyme renale is the largest parasite to infect humans, though its natural host is wild carnivores. Humans can contract the parasite by eating raw or undercooked fish or dog meat, and infection is most prevalent around the Caspian Sea and Iran.

Significant pain around the lower back, loin, and groin is often endured by those afflicted, though the fact that generally only one kidney is infected means that their kidney function is not completely lost.

As the female worms lay eggs, those eggs are excreted in the urine, which ends up in local waterways, and eventually in the environments of fish once again, re-starting the cycle of infection. The eggs in the urine are also how doctors diagnose infection with Dioctophyme renale. Once diagnosed, surgical removal is the only cure - if one leaves the worm in there indefinitely, their maximum lifespan is 5 years, and they will decompose and destroy local tissue once they die.

Images:

Top: The Principles of Pathology. J. George Adami, 1912.
Bottom: Dioctophyme renale removed from medium-sized dog, Vetnext.com.

Skiagraph (X-ray) of a dicephalus dibrachius Using the roots “di-“, “-cephalus”, and “-brachius”, the description of this x-ray is made clearer:Di-: two-cephal-: pertaining to the head-brachi-: pertaining to the arms From these, a description of “two-headed two-arms” is now known. Dicephalic dibrachius twins are also known as “dicephalic parapagus (dibrachial)”, with parapagus referring to the fused pelvis that is shared between the two. Dicephalic parapagus twins can also be “tribrachial” (three-armed) or “tetrabrachial” (four-armed), depending upon how far down the torso the conjoining begins. The Principles of Pathology. J. George Adami, 1912.

Skiagraph (X-ray) of a dicephalus dibrachius

Using the roots “di-“, “-cephalus”, and “-brachius”, the description of this x-ray is made clearer:
Di-: two
-cephal-: pertaining to the head
-brachi-: pertaining to the arms

From these, a description of “two-headed two-arms” is now known.

Dicephalic dibrachius twins are also known as “dicephalic parapagus (dibrachial)”, with parapagus referring to the fused pelvis that is shared between the two.

Dicephalic parapagus twins can also be “tribrachial” (three-armed) or “tetrabrachial” (four-armed), depending upon how far down the torso the conjoining begins.

The Principles of Pathology. J. George Adami, 1912.

Variant forms of Trypanosoma rhodesiense [now Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense] This trypanosome is known to cause fast-onset sleeping sickness in Southern and Eastern Africa, and is found in many ungulate game animals. It’s also known to masquerade as other subspecies of Trypanosoma spp. when game reserves were tested for the parasite, and when blood smears are analyzed in patients with sleeping sickness. However, seeing the trypanosome form is enough to diagnose a patient (analyzing the subspecies is largely for distribution data), and though this subspecies is particularly virulent, the treatment is the same as for other subspecies. Originally treated with a drug known as “Atoxyl” (developed by the great physician Paul Erlich), the arsenic-based compound was known to cause blindness, and was often ineffective after the second stage of the illness. Less toxic compounds were developed over the years, and in the 1960s, it was even thought we might eradicate the disease. However, as humans are not the only reservoir of the disease, this proved harder said than done. Today, Eflornithine is used to treat cases of African sleeping sickness (and, apparently, facial hirsutism). Given the low rates of infection and the general lack of demand for the drug, the manufacturer Aventis halted production back in 1999. However, in 2001, Médecins Sans Frontières and the World Health Organization signed a contract with the company to manufacture and donate the drug on a long-term basis. Cool side note: You know how there’s the gene in about a third of Sub-Saharan Africans that can “prevent” (or at least make survivable) most strains of malaria, yet causes sickle cell disease when a person has two copies of the gene? There’s a similar trait with sleeping sickness! The gene APOL1 has two different variants that can prevent acute sleeping sickness (the kind that kills you), but can cause kidney disease if two copies of the same variant are inherited. [Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology. Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, edited by Ronald Ross, March 1912.]

Variant forms of Trypanosoma rhodesiense [now Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense]

This trypanosome is known to cause fast-onset sleeping sickness in Southern and Eastern Africa, and is found in many ungulate game animals. It’s also known to masquerade as other subspecies of Trypanosoma spp. when game reserves were tested for the parasite, and when blood smears are analyzed in patients with sleeping sickness. However, seeing the trypanosome form is enough to diagnose a patient (analyzing the subspecies is largely for distribution data), and though this subspecies is particularly virulent, the treatment is the same as for other subspecies.

Originally treated with a drug known as “Atoxyl” (developed by the great physician Paul Erlich), the arsenic-based compound was known to cause blindness, and was often ineffective after the second stage of the illness. Less toxic compounds were developed over the years, and in the 1960s, it was even thought we might eradicate the disease. However, as humans are not the only reservoir of the disease, this proved harder said than done.

Today, Eflornithine is used to treat cases of African sleeping sickness (and, apparently, facial hirsutism). Given the low rates of infection and the general lack of demand for the drug, the manufacturer Aventis halted production back in 1999. However, in 2001, Médecins Sans Frontières and the World Health Organization signed a contract with the company to manufacture and donate the drug on a long-term basis.

Cool side note: You know how there’s the gene in about a third of Sub-Saharan Africans that can “prevent” (or at least make survivable) most strains of malaria, yet causes sickle cell disease when a person has two copies of the gene? There’s a similar trait with sleeping sickness! The gene APOL1 has two different variants that can prevent acute sleeping sickness (the kind that kills you), but can cause kidney disease if two copies of the same variant are inherited.

[Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology. Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, edited by Ronald Ross, March 1912.]

Non-pathological heart and great vessels, viewed from front and behind.

Note the significant number of vessels that cover the heart itself - though it moves blood around the entire body, it doesn’t just run on its own. The short loop of the coronary circulatory system is distinct from both the systemic circulation (where oxygenated blood travels to the rest of the body) and the pulmonary circulation (where deoxygenated blood travels from the right ventricle to the lungs, and back to the left ventricle of the heart).

When the coronary circulation is hindered or halted, the myocardium (heart muscle) is killed off. This can cause a myocardial infarction, or heart attack. Coronary bypass surgery takes blood vessels from other parts of the body and grafts them to parts of the coronary circulatory system that are clogged up or otherwise non-functional.

Diseases of the Heart and Aorta. Arthur Douglass Hirschfelder, 1912.

African Ratel, or Honey Badger The earliest descriptions of the ratel that I can find describe it as a repulsive and lazy creature, with an awkward waddle and thieving ways (as they were thought to steal honey from beehives - no one realized they were after the bee larvae until the turn of the century). Really, no one took much interest in them, and as largely solitary creatures, they weren’t the easiest targets for study. Still, by the time this photograph was taken (at the Transvaal Zoological Gardens in Transvaal Colony, South Africa), people that were around the ratel had a hell of a lot more respect for them. It’s written that they were fighters with tenacious ways, whose “waddle” was caused by the size of their muscles and depth of their chest (lending them great endurance), and that they could dig as well as they could climb. Yes, the Zoological Gardens found that out the hard way. Their ratel apparently escaped at one point. I don’t know if this is the escapee or a different one, but he looks fierce. Animal Life in Africa: Book 1, Carnivora. Major James Stevenson-Hamilton, 1912.

African Ratel, or Honey Badger

The earliest descriptions of the ratel that I can find describe it as a repulsive and lazy creature, with an awkward waddle and thieving ways (as they were thought to steal honey from beehives - no one realized they were after the bee larvae until the turn of the century). Really, no one took much interest in them, and as largely solitary creatures, they weren’t the easiest targets for study.

Still, by the time this photograph was taken (at the Transvaal Zoological Gardens in Transvaal Colony, South Africa), people that were around the ratel had a hell of a lot more respect for them. It’s written that they were fighters with tenacious ways, whose “waddle” was caused by the size of their muscles and depth of their chest (lending them great endurance), and that they could dig as well as they could climb. Yes, the Zoological Gardens found that out the hard way. Their ratel apparently escaped at one point. I don’t know if this is the escapee or a different one, but he looks fierce.

Animal Life in Africa: Book 1, Carnivora. Major James Stevenson-Hamilton, 1912.

Blood vessels and surrounding structures of the kidney Non-pathological veins and arterial vessels. The yellow structure coming off the kidney is the ureter. The renal artery delivers blood to the kidneys, where it’s filtered and has the water-soluble impurities removed. The renal vein returns the filtered blood to the heart, and the waste products are transported to the bladder via the ureter. A Textbook of Genito-Urinary Diseases. Translated by Charles W. Bonney. Dr. Leopold Casper, 1912.

Blood vessels and surrounding structures of the kidney

Non-pathological veins and arterial vessels. The yellow structure coming off the kidney is the ureter.

The renal artery delivers blood to the kidneys, where it’s filtered and has the water-soluble impurities removed. The renal vein returns the filtered blood to the heart, and the waste products are transported to the bladder via the ureter.

A Textbook of Genito-Urinary Diseases. Translated by Charles W. Bonney. Dr. Leopold Casper, 1912.

Chiasmodus niger (now Chiasmodon niger) - The Black Swallower

These fish are noted for their ability to swallow other fish that are much larger than themselves. Sometimes they end up swallowing fish so large that they can’t digest them before decomposition sets in, and the gasses released from decomposition drag the black swallower to the surface, where it can’t survive. 

Relatively recently, a black swallower that was 19 cm long (7.4 in) floated to the surface. When it was retrieved, it was found to have swallowed a snake mackerel that was 86 cm (34 in) long. Given that snake mackerels would just as soon eat a black swallower and are themselves aggressive predators, it’s not known how the little fish managed to swallow one.

The Depths of the Ocean. John Murray and Johan Hjort, 1912.

Hey I found some bumblebees! These are all European bumblebees. Bumblebees are classified under the genus Bombus, but Cuckoo Bumblebees are called by their subgenus, Psithyrus. The Humble-Bee: Its Life History and How to Domesticate It. F. W. L. Sladen, 1912.

Hey I found some bumblebees!

These are all European bumblebees. Bumblebees are classified under the genus Bombus, but Cuckoo Bumblebees are called by their subgenus, Psithyrus.

The Humble-Bee: Its Life History and How to Domesticate It. F. W. L. Sladen, 1912.

Bone tied in a knot Have some (relatively) dilute hydrochloric acid? Got a bone or two? Soak them bones for a few days and tie ‘em in knots! The acid dissolves the mineral support in the bones, while leaving the proteins and sugars behind. It gets all rubbery! Immediate Care of the Injured*. Albert S. Morrow, 1912.  *You, ah, probably don’t want to care for the injured by tying their bones in knots…

Bone tied in a knot

Have some (relatively) dilute hydrochloric acid? Got a bone or two? Soak them bones for a few days and tie ‘em in knots! The acid dissolves the mineral support in the bones, while leaving the proteins and sugars behind. It gets all rubbery!

Immediate Care of the Injured*. Albert S. Morrow, 1912. 

*You, ah, probably don’t want to care for the injured by tying their bones in knots…

Advanced Tuberculosis of the Testicle You can clearly see the bulging outgrowths (tubercules - hence the name tuberculosis) of the testicle pushing into the epididymis, and the cavitation within the testicle body. If a testicle like this were not removed, it is not unlikely that tubercules would interrupt the fairly delicate blood supply, and necrosis of the tissue would follow. A Textbook of the Genito-Urinary Diseases.  Charles W. Bonney, 1912.

Advanced Tuberculosis of the Testicle

You can clearly see the bulging outgrowths (tubercules - hence the name tuberculosis) of the testicle pushing into the epididymis, and the cavitation within the testicle body. If a testicle like this were not removed, it is not unlikely that tubercules would interrupt the fairly delicate blood supply, and necrosis of the tissue would follow.

A Textbook of the Genito-Urinary Diseases.  Charles W. Bonney, 1912.

Epithelioma of Tongue Epitheliomas consist of both the benign and cancerous growths/tumors of the tissues covering the organs and other surfaces of the body. It’s rare that they lead to death when they’re removed. When cancerous epitheliomas occur on the tongue, they’re almost always a squamous cell carcinoma, with a pathology akin to squamous cell carcinomas on the skin or any other surface. Rose and Carless’s Manual of Surgery for Students and Practitioners. Albert Carless, 1912.

Epithelioma of Tongue

Epitheliomas consist of both the benign and cancerous growths/tumors of the tissues covering the organs and other surfaces of the body. It’s rare that they lead to death when they’re removed.

When cancerous epitheliomas occur on the tongue, they’re almost always a squamous cell carcinoma, with a pathology akin to squamous cell carcinomas on the skin or any other surface.

Rose and Carless’s Manual of Surgery for Students and Practitioners. Albert Carless, 1912.

Ways to Die: Nutritional Deficiencies -Scurvy!

Ways to Die: Nutritional Deficiencies

-Scurvy!