SCARLET FEVER. Synonyms.—Scarlatina; Scarlet Rash. Definition ...

tubercle, and it frequently happens that a cavity will be crossed by one
or more blood-vessels. Later, even these give way, sometimes
accompanied bv profuse hemorrhage. Again there will be areas where
the tubercles are encapsuled. The bronchial glands are enlarged and
contain tubercles.
The pleura is nearly always involved, with a fibrinous exudation, and
the walls are frequently thickened by adhesions and the presence of
tubercles. Tubercular infiltration often takes place in the larynx, and
rarely in the pericardium. There is usually fatty infiltration of the liver.
The intestines show ulceration with infiltration in many cases.
Invasion.—Few diseases present such a wide range of symptoms as
chronic tuberculosis. This is due to the various ways in which it begins.
Gradual Invasion.—In many patients the invasion is so gradual that it
is with difficulty we can trace its beginnings. It has been noticed that
the general health has been giving way, the appetite has been
capricious, the secretions irregular, and the patient looks anemic, with
an ashen color of face. The strength fails from day to day, the breathing
is hurried after slight exertion, and the patient's condition is aptly
expressed in the popular phrase, “going into a decline.”
The symptoms are those of malnutrition, and weeks, or even months,
elapse before local symptoms are present.
Bronchitis or Influenza.—Next in frequency to the gradual invasion is
an attack of bronchitis or influenza.
There may have been a catarrhal condition of the bronchial tubes
resulting in frequent attacks of bronchitis, each lasting a little longer
and being more persistent, the general health being gradually
undermined, and, before the physician or patient is aware, tuberculosis
has made its inroads.
Pleurisy.—Sometimes the first complaint is a sharp pain in the side,
pleuritic in character; or a dry pleurisy, with friction murmur and pain
in apex, may be first recognized: or the pulmonary lesion may foster an
attack of pleurisy with effusion, and though this is gradually absorbed,
pain remains in the apex or under the shoulder-blade, and the cough
persists.
The Eclectic Practice of Medicine - PART I - Infectious Diseases - Page 196