Clinical aspect of the enlarged prostate : with a review of 67 cases / by James N. Vander Veer.

  • Vander Veer, James N., 1877-1937.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Clinical aspect of the enlarged prostate : with a review of 67 cases / by James N. Vander Veer. 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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    readily picture the natural sequence of events which occurs when this enlarges and en- croaches upon the outlet. More especially is the anatomy to be studied after the period of so-called “old age” has set in, when the muscular fibers are replaced by fibrous tissue -—one of those histological elements unyield- ing in character and distorting in action upon surrounding organs. Strange as it may seem, the enlargement of this gland, save as a result of some form of urethritis, or sexual abuse, in young men, sel- dom occurs until the patient is in his declining years, and at a time when we see degenera- tive changes elsewhere in the body. In the 67 cases, of which, unfortunately, the records are somewhat incomplete in 26, we note that 41 cases are recorded in detail; first, as to age— in which we find the average of the ages of the patients approximated 67 years at the time when the operation was performed. Some authors claim that this condition is never ob- served until after 50, and in these 41 cases the youngest is noted as being 51 years old at the time of operation, while the oldest is 85. The age, however, averaged up to the time when the symptoms first appeared gives us a much lower percentage. In 37 cases out of 41 it is 63 years. The youngest recorded is 44, while the oldest is 83. Some clinicians, Caspar be- ing among them, claim that the condition has been noted as early as the 40th year, and that it is usually due to the chronic enlargement of the gland, followed sooner or later by a second- ary slow chronic inflammatory condition which progresses for many years. Personally, I be- lieve, with many other clinicians, that the in-