ASPARAGUS AND HÆMATURIA
J.S. Mackintosh
1901
The Lancet
1825 pupils were unequal, the pulse was 120, and the temperature was normal. As no urine had been passed since the accident on the previous afternoon a catheter was passed and the bladder was emptied. The head was shaved and an ice-bag was applied; small quantities of milk and soda-water and beef-tea were ordered to be given at intervals. The patient was placed upon a water-bed as soon as one could be procured. For the next few days he remained in a etate of semi-consciousness, alternating with
more »
... most violent attacks of delirium, requiring at times two men in addition to the nurses to control him. The catheter had to be employed night and morning until Sept. 5'.h, on which date the bladder resumed its normal action. On the evening of Sept. 7th the temperature suddenly rose to 100'8° F. The whole day the patient was more or less delirious, the symptoms indicating irritation of the brain ; the next morning the temperature fell to the normal point, and during the remainder of the treatment never rose above 100 4°—the point attained on Oct. 4th and 6th, its usual range being from 97 4° to 99°. The pulse-rate was generally between 80 and 96 ; the hightest rate recorded was 120 on the evening of Sept. 7th. The respiration rate Tanged between 20 and 24. The wound in the thigh was very tedious in its progress and necessitated a hypodermic injection of morphine (a quarter of a grain of bi-meconate) each night when dressed. A considerable amount of sloughing of integument and fascia was unavoidable; it eventually healed by granulation and was systematically dressed for the last time on Oct. 31st, the patient leaving home for the sea-coast on Nov. 6th. Remarks.-The cae is remarkable, more especially as regards the depth of the fall. There were never any decided symptoms of compression, those of irritation being most marked. Abscess and the trephine I most dreaded, but the brain mischief gradually and steadily improved. Great credit was due to a man working on a platform at the bottom -of the well at the time of the accident, who, although suffering from three fractured ribs and a laceration of the face caused by the falling gear, managed by means of the tackle to send his more severely-injured companion to the surface. I must express my indebtedness to Mr. R. H. ON May 25th last an old gentleman, aged 73 years, sent to me a bottle of his urine, passed between 11 P.M. and 4 A.M. on the previous night, which had alarmed him by its dark "colour. On testing it gave reactions for albumin and blood and under the microscope plenty of blood-corpuscles and a few blood-casts could be seen. This, together with the smoky colour of the urine, pointed clearly to the kidney itself as the source of the hsemorrhage. On calling to see the patient I found him busy in his study, looking and feeling quite well. The history he gave was that he was very fond of asparagus and that two days previously he had had a fine bundle sent to him from the country, which he had consumed at luncheon and dinner on each of the two days, taking at each meal "about as much as he could grasp with one hand." He owned an astronomical telescope, and after dinner on the second day (the evening before the hsematuria took place) he went out to give a demonstration of the moon to some friends. The day had been warm, but the evening, with the strong east wind prevalent at that date, became very cold. The patient did not notice the cold until the end of the demonstration, when he felt that he had got chilled. About midnight he had a desire to urinate and he passed the urine of which he sent to me a specimen. In the evening he sent to me another specimen of the urine passed during the day after I had seen him. In this there was no trace whatever of albumin, blood, or casts. There has been no abnormality of the urine since. The patient had a prejudice against drugs, so, as there had been no symptoms whatever of an acute nephritis beyond the condition of the urine, he was recommended to confine his diet to slops and to keep himself under observation. Asparagus is a stimulant diuretic causing dilatation of the afferent and contraction of the efferent blood-vessels of the kidney. The patient, then, with the kidneys engorged with blood exposed himself to a thorough cooling of the surface of the body. The mode of production of the hsematuria seems plain enough. What is not so clear is its transient character. Apparently, a train had been well laid to lead to an explosion of Fin acute nephritis, but ended, happily, in a mere fizzle. The patient himself is, for his years, remarkably active, both in mind and body. Of spare habit and small stature he enjoys, as a rule, excellent health, beyond occasional slight "uricacidity" manifestations. He exhibits a degree of arterio-sclerosis not uncommon at his age, but of chronic interstitial nephritis no symptoms at all. The moral appears to be that exposure to a chill after indulgence in asparagus is not without its dangers.
doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(01)89638-0
fatcat:sxfco7gy7ndlflx4q6aksbdn6y