Spasmodic asthma : a thesis for the M.B. degree of the University of Cambridge / by W.E. Steavenson.

  • Steavenson, W. E. (William Edward), 1850-1891.
Date:
1879
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Spasmodic asthma : a thesis for the M.B. degree of the University of Cambridge / by W.E. Steavenson. 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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    ro us with any authority for admitting spasm of the bronchial muscles, although symptoms seem to justify it. It is argued in this way; first, that there is an inability to inspire, with a loud wheezing obstructive noise at each endeavour. The sounds suggest the idea that there is an obstruction or narrowing of something. Then it has been proved that the smaller bronchi are surrounded with muscular fibres, that they can contract, and so reduce the calibre of the tubes. These muscles are supplied by the pneumo-gastric nerve : and irritation of this nerve, both centrally and peripherally, has been proved to produce asthmatic attacks. But also by a process of reasoning, and an observation of facts, almost an entirely opposite theory can be deduced. The inability to inspire is caused by spasm of the inspiratory muscles, and an already over- filled condition of the air-tubes and vesicles. The loud wheezing noise is simply produced in the larynx, and the sound transmitted by, not caused in the bronchia themselves. The chest is hyper-resonant, the whole thorax dilated, and the circumference increased, a fact I knew many years ago by having to unbutton the upper part of my waistcoat when suffering from an attack, and sometimes I actually could not get it to meet. The area of prce-cordial dulness is diminished, or temporarily obliterated, as in chronic bronchitis and emphysema, the proe-cordial dulness returning a day or two after the subsidence of the paroxysm. The heart itself is depressed, and produces epigastric pulsation, which also lasts until the chest has returned to its normal size. The whole of the diaphragm is con- tracted and depressed, and with it the liver and