Experiments on kiesteine : with remarks on its application to the diagnosis of pregnancy : an inaugural dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Medicine / by Elisha K. Kane ; published by the recommendation of the Medical Faculty of the University of Pennsylvania.

  • Kane, Elisha Kent, 1820-1857.
Date:
[1842]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Experiments on kiesteine : with remarks on its application to the diagnosis of pregnancy : an inaugural dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Medicine / by Elisha K. Kane ; published by the recommendation of the Medical Faculty of the University of Pennsylvania. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    on the fourth, fifth or seventh week, although perfectly manifest on the tenth. Tlie urine of unimpregnated females in a state of health rarely untlergoes any change which in this respect can be misapprehended. I have examined twenty-eight cases in a perfectly healthy condition, and have sometimes known pellicles form on the urine, as well as on that of males; but the dis- tinctive character of the kiesteine was wanting in every case. In certain pathological conditions, however, discrimination is somewhat more difficult. The pellicle that is not unfrequently seen on the urine in the last stages of phthisis, in arthritic diseases, and in cases of metastatic ab- scess, vesical catarrh, and uterine tumours, has points of resemblance to the kiesteinic which might readily mislead the unpractised. With reference to this, I have examined a large number of cases in various states of health and disease, and noted the results; but it may not be necessary to give more than a concise summary of them. In thirty cases of phthisis pulmonalis, the urine of four presented a pelli- cle somewhat like the kiesteine, and one a pellicle bearing a strong resem- blance to it, though, more unequally and irregularly disposed, and thus dis- tinguishable by the eye. Fourteen of the cases were in the latter stages of the affection, and amOng these were three that presented the pellicle. In arthritic diseases, eight cases of acute rheumatism and a large number of chronic rarely presented any well-marked pellicle, and never one that could be confounded with the kiesteinic. Sixteen females between the ages of sixty and one hundred, as well as ten epileptics, presented no change that could give rise to confusion. Numerous blennorrhagic and leucorrhoeal cases were likewise examined. In the urine of these an increased quantity of mucus was generally present, disposed in flocculi, as M. Becquerel and others have noticed, but this was by no means uniform. In most of them the pellicle was of a cloudy character, much obscured by rapidly induced decomposition. In only two of them did it approach in appearance the kiesteine. But in these the resemblance was close; the most remarkable difference being in the manner of its formation, which was apparently referable to the advance of decompo- sition. The pellicle, moreover, was thickened by depending flocculi of mucus, which gave to its lower surface an irregular fungiform appearance. The particulars in which the kiesteine differs from other pellicles regard the manner of its formation and departure, even more than its appearance when developed. As I have already mentioned, it generally begins to show itself within a day, or at furthest within two days after the discharge of the fluid, and advances gradually to its complete development. The other pelli- cles, on the contrary, rarely give indications of their approach until the fluid has stood a longer time, or even till decomposition has supervened, and then form with rapidity. I have known them entirely defined within a few hours.