Clinical manual for the study of medical cases / edited by James Finlayson.

Date:
1878
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Clinical manual for the study of medical cases / edited by James Finlayson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    463/616 (page 435)
    In young girls leucorrhcea is common, and is often regarded as the cause of the weakness. It is properly the effect, and may be met with in debilitated constitutions, especially the strumous and phthisical. The absence of any other uterine symptom except amenorrhea, or scanty and irregular secretion, will point to the truly constitutional nature. Any bad hygienic influences, and certain occupations, such as the use of the sew- ing machine, may lead to this form of the affection. Leucorrhcea is an almost constant attendant of all uterine affections, but usually other symptoms are associated therewith. In such cases a careful examination should be made when possible, before treating in routine fashion the prominent symptom. The secretion may come from the uterus, the vagina, or from both. In the former case it may be seen by means of the speculum escaping from the os, clear and glairy, like the white of egg, becoming thick and opaque in the vagina. Curdy pieces or thick tenacious mucus generally indicate that the cervix is the seat of origin. The microscope will also detect the source by the character of the epithelial cells—round or columnar from the uterine cavity, and tesselated from the vagina. The discharge may be purulent in character, but no special infer- ence can be derived from this condition. The diagnosis must be based on other considerations. A mucous discharge may be present, and even abundant, without the patient being conscious of it, either from inattention or from its escaping only during micturition. Children at all ages are liable to a form of leucorrhcea, which however is situated in the vulva only. It is often very obstinate, and is dependent upon a depraved constitutional state, associ- ated at times with local causes, such as want of cleanliness, or the irritation of diarrhoea or worms. Watery discharges. Associated with leucorrhcea or occurring alone, the discharge is often watery in character, sometimes greenish in colour, at others pink or tinged with blood. If there is any cause for suspecting pregnancy, it may be the