Tuberculin in diagnosis and treatment / by Louis Hamman and Samuel Wolman.

  • Hamman, Louis, 1877-1946.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Tuberculin in diagnosis and treatment / by Louis Hamman and Samuel Wolman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    PREFACE The use of tuberculin in diagnosis and treatment has re- ceived wide attention during the past ten years. New methods of application in diagnosis have stimulated a keen interest to deter- mine their value, and recent changes in attitude toward important questions bearing upon immunity have provoked extensive re- searches, undertaken to make clear its mode of action. Tuberculin treatment, sternly rejected after its unsuccessful introduction, has again become widely popular and discussion is waged as to its true value, the most desirable preparation and the best methods of administration. A voluminous literature has grown up, and from these innumerable contributions we are now in a position to filter off certain facts that have crystallized. About much we are still un- certain, but there is enough that is definite to permit us to take bearings for our practical course. While this literature is easily ac- eessible, it is widely distributed and a large part of the best of it is in foreign languages. No satisfactory summary has appeared in English, and such a summary seems particularly desirable, as over- | statements and misconceptions incident to early enthusiasm have stuck fast in the minds of many and have remained uncorrected by the overwhelming evidence of later investigations. In our ex- perience there is a very general lack of knowledge of precisely what a reaction to tuberculin means, and of what account is the informa- tion gained from its use when applied to a particular instance. Numerous eases are still sent to us with a diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis based solely upon a positive cutaneous reaction, and in medical discussion one hears the most bizarre interpretations of the. subcutaneous test. _ During the past five years we have used tuberculin largely, both in diagnosis and treatment, at the Phipps Dispensary of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the experience we have gained is made the basis of this presentation. It is to be expected that we have come Vil