The Science of Therapeutics - Classical Homeopathy Online

Full text of "The Science of Therapeutics: According to the Principles of Homeopath...Page 123 of 653Symptoms. The anatomical changes in oedema of the glottisconsist in a more or less considerable puffy swelling of the mucomembrane, more particularly at and close to the root of the epiglottis. This swelling may become so considerable that the swolleparts protrude behind the root of the tongue like a stuffed pad osausage. Usually the color is not bright-red but pale, and, oncutting into it, the swelling discharges a serous or serofluid.The phenomena of oedema glottidis sometimes develop themselveswith an extraordinary suddenness, and at other times very slowlymoreover they are modified by the locality where they occur. Inthe course of one of the above-mentioned affections, hoarseness,pain and burning in the larynx set in. The hoarseness very speedily increases to complete aphonia accompanied by a cough whichhas all the characteristic signs of croupy cough. These symptomsare accompanied from the outset by a continually increasing dysp138 Diseases of the Larynx and Trachea.noea which, in severe cases, may rise to a fearful height. The inspiration, in consequence of which the puffed-up and infiltratedof the glottis are forced towards each other and towards the rimaglottidis, becomes more and more prolonged, hissing and labored,and the patients very often have a feeling as if a foreign boilymoving around in the larynx. If the infiltration remains moderatein quantity, the respiratory process may go on without life beingin immediate jeopardy ; a condition of this kind may continue unchanged for naany days, although an exacerbation may take placeat any time. However if the respiration is seriously impeded, allthe symptoms, which we have described when speaking of croup ascharacterising a poisoning by carbonic acid, set in and the patiedie in a state of sopor. There is no fever unless it was presentviously; it is only in case the infiltration becomes purulent thathe phenomena peculiar to the formation of an abscess, manifestthemselves; on the bursting of the abscess the inspirations maysuddenly be restored. In such cases an oedematous swelling of theneck in the region of the larynx can almost always be seen.The affection may last from twelve hours to upwards of a week.The most common termination is death by suffocation, and theprognosis is consequently that of inevitable death.It is important to notice the features which distinguish the di&ease from croup with which it is most easily confounded. Manycases of so-called relapses in croup are probably nothing else thoedema glottidis resulting from croup and becoming manifest afterthe croupy process had run its course. The distinguishing characteristics are : In the first place, the swelling itself which, incases, is noticed at the root of the tongue ; the appearance of tdisease subsequently to and during morbid processes which arescarcely ever associated with croup ; the occurrence of the diseaamong adults, whereas croup attacks children almost exclusively ;the peculiar sensation as if a foreign body were moving about inthe larynx.The prospect of a successful treatment is very slim, especially ihttp://www.archive.org/stream/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog_djvu.txt