THE DEVELOPMENTAL DEFECTS OF THE SKIN AND THEIR MALIGNANT GROWTHS.DISCUSSION
1904
Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
point made by the last speaker, I have seen great benefit in mild oe-ray dermatitis from its continued, and even rather fre¬ quent use, every few days, in a very mild degree. I do not know why I first suggested it, but on seeing the dermatitis, partly to keep up the effect and partly hoping that all would go well, I said, let us try two or three minutes at a greater distance of the tube. I did not see any indication for stopping it entirely. The gentleman also remarked that he did not find
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... ing else to control it. I find that a 25 per cent, watery solution of ichthyol painted over an x-ray burn makes it more comfortable, and 1 think helps heal it more quickly. I also use an ichthyol ointment. I know personally of the brilliant results from the light treatment of lupus in Copenhagen, but the same results are not often obtained elsewhere, partly be¬ cause many attempt to make the treatment with too short and severe an application, and thus get the external effects before the light has penetrated into the deeper tissues, and the lupus develops again because it has not been radically destroyed. In regard to the use of high-frequency currents, I think that we are just beginning to know what they will do. I do not know whether many of you have tried the high-frequency currents, with a carbon point, on vascular nevi. I have had two very striking cases. One was in a young girl who was several months in the hospital, and the results of the treatment of a port-wine discoloration which affected a large share of the face were certainly remarkable. The other case is still under treatment. Certain portions beneath the eye which we have treated are to-day normal and at ordinary talking distance you would not notice any redness. I burn the surface a little with the carbon point, so that there is almost a vesicle formed; the destruction goes just deep enough to alter the tissue and yet leave practically no scar. Time and again it is done, very superficially at first, subsequently going a little deeper. I am thoroughly satisfied with the portions which I have treated. In pruritus the high-frequency current is very valuable in re¬ lieving an iiehing dermatitis. I do not know how many of you have used the high frequency for warts, especially of the scalp, where they are sometimes very annoying. The carbon point, with high frequency, is applied to the wart until it is blistered, and there is a little hemorrhage, and the wart then dries up, and when the crust has fallen, in a few days, the surface is level. Two or three applications may be necessary. Dr. C. W. Allen-Dr. Corlett's question brings us to the subject discussed bj' Dr. Hartzeil, whether the high-frequency current is of any benefit in ic-ray dermatitis. In a general way, it is. Not only in the superficial second-degree burn, but also in the ulcer which has resisted other measures for a long time, and I base this view largely on the treatment of one particular case. It was a deep-seated lesion supposed to be a cancer of the liver, sent to me by Dr. Waldo, who asked me to treat it for him. I accepted the diagnosis; it looked to me like cancer of the liver, and I began to treat the woman. After treating her for some time she suddenly developed a very pronounced necrotic burn. When I left for Europe last March I gave her a note to a colleague, asking him to excise the ulcer. She had a pendulous abdomen, the tumor had gone down so, and the ascites had disappeared so that there was room for excision. On my return from Europe I found she had not presented her¬ self to this gentleman, and not hearing from her I mourned her as dead; I thought she was entitled to die from her carcinoma and dismissed her from my mind. A short time ago, on entering my waiting-room, there she sat, looking very much better than when I last saw her, and she said she was much better; said she had done nothing since, but had stayed at home and con¬ sulted no one. The burn had healed about the margins, pre¬ senting the picture with which you are so familiar, an ulcer in the center covered with a persistently recurring membrane, and showing absolutely no tendency to heal further in spite of various applications, powders, pastes, lotions, etc. (as a rule salves did not do well). I said to my assistant one day, "You start in with the £r-ray or with the high-frequency cur¬ rent." Fortunately, he adopted the high-frequency method. I believe that the case was really never cancer at all, but syphi¬ lis and she developed a sudden bad burn because of the syphilis. If these tissues will react in that way in alcoholics they will probably do so in syphil.itics, and I think in both classes of cases we have to be careful. Under the high-frequency cur¬ rent the ulcer began to pucker and heal up and now it is nearly healed. So I can say in my experience with both classes of cases, the second degree of burn and the third degree of burn, that the high frequency does well. THE New York-Much interest is taken at the present time in the development of malignant growths, and a tendency is displayed to discredit the parasitic theory and at¬ tach more weight to the possible embryonic origin of malignant growths. A study of such cases as Dr. Anthony has included in his paper certainly has a tendency to encourage a belief in Cohnheim's theory of the development of these tumors in em¬ bryonic rests. Regarding the question of the so-called multiple benign cystic epithelioma, experience has shown us that these cases are not always multiple. We may have single tumors on the face which show the clinical features and the histologie structure of benign epithelioma. Some of the rodent ulcers which develop on the face may persist for years as small pearly tu¬ mors, possibly due to some congenital displacement of epithe¬ lium. I do not intend to say that in every case of epithelioma or malignant disease of the skin there must be some congenital abnormality. In epithelioma of the lip or tongue, chronic irri¬ tation, or the pre-existence of some antecedent affection, like syphilis, is the chief factor in bringing about the disease. Dr. A. Ravogli, Cincinnati-I have had in my practice sev¬ eral cases of nevocarcinoma. I think four, in the course of three or four years, have died in consequence of carcinomatous metastasis, showing that nevocarcinoma is a very dangerous and malignant affection. I think we should study carcinoma as we do tuberculosis, and I think we shall see that carcinomas vary according to the tissues which are affected. I believe the resistance of the tissues which are affected has a great deal to do with the nature and the spreading of the epithelioma. We have for instance, a mild case of epithelioma which lasts eight or ten years without causing any trouble; a little limited ulcer or tumor, remaining for years without spreading, and later the process goes deeper and affects the tissues of the skin, which are loose and which allow the introduction of the cancerous ele¬ ments into the system, and then we have the formation of these nodules, the secondary carcinoma, and then the métastases in the skin. I think that from the beginning a superficial epithelioma is not at all different from carcinoma; the only dif¬ ference lies in the place where the carcinoma is situated and in the resistance of the tissues which isolate it and keep it from spreading. In the same way we have lupus vulgaris remaining for years without producing an infection. But if these nodules go deep into the subcutaneous tissue or lymphatic vessels, then we have the formation of a tubercular gumma, etc. I believe we have the same thing in carcinoma; the tissues of the nevi are very loose and of less resistance, and I believe that this peculiar looseness, this non-resistance of the tissues, has a great deal to do with the extension of the carcinomatous process. Oj. W. T. Corlett, Ohio-To me the word nevus is more es¬ pecially associated with derangements of the circulation, and when we apply nevus to abnormalities of development other than vascular, I think it becomes confusing. I am in accord with Crocker, who advocates employing the qualifying term, "embryogénie," when there is reason to believe the defects take their origin in fetal life. I have not seen that the children of syphilitics, or those one or two generations removed from a syphilitic subject, show any more tendency to the development of abnormalities of the skin than those without such antece¬ dents. There is a popular belief among the laity that melanotic
doi:10.1001/jama.1904.92500050001d
fatcat:22x5zpiuvjfylfhllviy6ahzpy