History of a successful case of amputation at the hip-joint : (the limb 48 inches in circumference, 99 pounds weight) / by J. Sampson Gamgee.

  • Sampson Gamgee
Date:
1865
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: History of a successful case of amputation at the hip-joint : (the limb 48 inches in circumference, 99 pounds weight) / by J. Sampson Gamgee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    and 6) were taken some time after it had been immersed in spirit, and had consequently shrunk. The specimen having been suspended for the convenience of the artist, the mass surrounding the bone has fallen to a lower level than it originally occupied, its upper limit having been on a level with the great trochanter. 13. Pathological Note and Keference to Cases. One of the most remarkable features in the object of this commentary was unquestionably the co-existence of the gigantic cartilaginous product with the evidences of the ossific diathesis,—the exostoses stealthily developed, apparently without history; the enchondroma with a marked period of origin, well defined and uninterrupted growth. The patient's statement that the parallel exostoses on the legs had existed since birth, and had not been a source of pain or discomfort, is consistent with the absolutely unchanged condition of the growths on the left tibia since the amputation. Although the period which has elapsed since the operation and the man's restoration to vigorous health do not altogether preclude the possibility of recurrence, they yet render it extremely improbable ; and the case is on record as one of the rarest, for the enormous bulk of the non-malignant disease, and for the speedy and complete recovery, notwithstanding the previously very debilitated condition, of the patient. On examining clinical records for analogous cases, I find the one most closely approaching to the subject of this memoir, recorded by M. R. A. Frogley, in the Medico- Chirurgical Transactions (vol. vii, 2nd series, 1843, p. 133, ei seq). The patient, a female, aet. 26, of apparently healthy constitution was the subject of a tumour, measuring in its greatest circumference 35| inches, and extending from the knee-joint to within an inch of the trochanters, immediately below which the limb was amputated with complete success. The bulk of the tumour was made up of numerous cartilaginous cysts, many of which communicated with each other, so as to form a large central cavity, in which was contained several pints of a tenacious yellow honey-like fiuid. The wall of the cysts being about a quarter of an inch in thickness, was composed of a whitish elastic tissue resembling cartilage, but rather more transparent: there was very little deposit of osseous tissue.
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