Case of hydatid tumour of the abdomen, simulating ovarian disease : treated successfully by operation, with remarks / by Thomas Bryant ; reported by Frederick Taylor.

  • Bryant, Thomas, 1828-1914.
Date:
[1869]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Case of hydatid tumour of the abdomen, simulating ovarian disease : treated successfully by operation, with remarks / by Thomas Bryant ; reported by Frederick Taylor. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Avas notliing sufficiently unusual to lead Dr. Olclliam to suspect it had any other than an ovarian origin. The thin watery nature of the fluid by itself was not enough to excite suspicion where none previously existed; for ovarian fluid is often thin and as often watery; although^ had the fluid been examined and found to have been free from albumen^ its true nature would doubtless have been discovered at that time. The subsequent progress of the case also failed to excite any doubt as to its nature^ it was so like that of ovarian dropsy; and it was not till a critical examination was made, with the view of an operation, that a suspicion was raised that it might be other than ovarian. The first point that excited a doubt as to its nature in our minds was the presence of an independent cyst in front of the abdomen; and the strong fact that the small cyst was tense, globular, and hard, such as is seen in the hydatid tumour, whilst the large or abdominal one was doughy and free from tension. The second point was that afforded by manipulation of the abdominal cyst. It was clearly fluid in its nature, yet no distinct wave could be detected through it as a whole, and from its outline it did not appear to be polycystic, so as to explain this fact; no ridges or septa could be detected on the most careful * examination, and to the hand it appeared to be no other than one large cyst. On kneading the abdominal tumour a peculiar sensation also was experienced; it was quite unlike that yielded by any ovarian 1 or other tumour that I had ever felt: it had a special character which, I think, may be recognised again with tolerable facility. If I describe it as a doughy feel, such a word fails to express adequately the sensation that was exj)erienced, yet it approaches nearer the truth than any other. It was clearly due to the rolling and pressing together the immense closely-packed mass of hydatid cysts that the parent tumour contained. It was by the presence of these peculiarities in the symptoms that a doubt was raised, in our critical examination of the case, as to its nature. Every possibility was consequently discussed and carefully considered, and amongst these the question of hydatid was entertained. The clinical character of the small tumour gave rise to the idea, for it had all the local features of