Vol. 60, 1909 - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Infantile Paralysis of tbe Muscles of
the Fool; its Treatment by Partial Ar-
throdesis.— Ducroquet and Launay ( Presse
Med., ) state one of the principal difficutties
met with by the surgeon after tendon grafting
to supply the place of the paralyzed
muscles, is the inability to tell just how
much force will be exerted by the accessory
muscle grafted on, and the constant failure
of the sole oi the foot to touch the ground
evenly, the foot being generally tilted to one
side giving varus of valgus. Toob\iate
this bad result, which prevents the child
from walking in the normal manner, the
authors propose an operation which thev
call arthrodesis, in which the calcaneo
astragaloid articulation and the medio tar
articulations are oi)ened, the articular carti
ABSTRACTS.
1 ages removed, and ankylosis of the joint
cansed, to prevent rotatory movements < t
the articulations, and to permit onh the
movements of flexion and extension. The
sole of the foot is then planted firmly on the Ruber's two cases the patients were aged .52
ground, and only a slightly stiff motion at and 20 years respectively; the important
the ankle is left. The operation for this points were ( 1 ) the establishment of an
purpose is carefully and described and ex- exaet diagnosis during life by means of
amples of the operation are given, showing skiagraphy: and (2) the relief afforded to
what excellent results have been obtained the patients by artificial feeding through an
in actual cases.
esophageal tube.—The London Medical
Lancet.
Idlopatlilc Enlargement of the Esophagus.
Dr, Armin Huberof Zurich has published
a very detailed account of two cases of idiopathic
enlargenieiit of the esophagus, an
affection which is rarely diagnosed during
the patient's life. Dr. F. Krauss wrote an
elal)orate monograph on this condition some
years ago, and Dr. Neumann in IdOO reported
70 cases, iiiort of which, however,
were discovered by the pathologist only.
The improvement of skiagraphy during recent
years has made this condition easier io
diagnose. As regards etiology Dr, Krauss
attributes the origin of the disease to a primary
nervous lesion—namely, partial paresis
of the vagus nerve and consequent atony
of the longitudinal muscles of the esophagus
combined often with local contraction of
the transverse muscles. In several cases
some infectious diseas such as diphtheria
was responsible for the malady. In Dr.
Temporosphenotdal Abscess Rupturing
Into the Lateral Ventricle.
A. A. Ckay recently reported to the Glasgow
Medico-Chirurgical Society a case of
this nature. On the opening of the abscess,
very fetid pus mixed with cerebrospinal
fluid escaped. After operation great improvement
took place. Consciousness and
intelligence were quite restored, and the
various paralyses, previously present, disappeared
to a great extent. A few days
afterward, however, meningitis set in, and
the patient died fourteen days after operation.
Post-mortem examination revealed a
long and tortuous sinus passing almost horizontally
backward from the abscess and
opening into the lateral ventricle at the
point where the posterior joins the middle
cornu. The infection thus had reached the
right lateral ventricle, and had then extended
to the third ventricle, from there to