On visceral hæmorrhages in stillborn children : an analysis of 130 autopsies being a contribution to the study of the causation of stillbirth / by Herbert R. Spencer.

  • Herbert Ritchie Spencer
Date:
[1892]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On visceral hæmorrhages in stillborn children : an analysis of 130 autopsies being a contribution to the study of the causation of stillbirth / by Herbert R. Spencer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/130 page 205
    Introduction. From tlie 1st of August, 1887, to tlie 1st of June, 1890, 6088 women were delivered under my care in the outdoor Maternity Department of University College Hospital. I have made autopsies on all the children born “ still ” during that period, with the exception of a few cases in which I was unable to obtain the parents’ consent. I have also examined the bodies of twenty-five children which lived only a few hours or a few days. The total number of bodies examined is 180. Of these exactly fifty were in a more or less advanced state of intra-uterine maceration, and, while interesting from other points of view, have little bearing on the object of this paper, and are not included in it. The paper deals with the remaining 130 fresh foetuses. I am personally responsible for the whole of the work —post-mortem examinations, microscopic sections, and drawings. The plan of the present paper is— Part I.—An epitomised account of each case in so far as congestion, oedema, and haemorrhage are concerned. Part II.—Tables of the injuries (as shown by conges- tion and haemorrhage) in various important viscera. Part III.—A description of the injuries to the viscera based on the above. Part IV.—A discussion of the causation of the haemor- rhages. Part V.—Some practical conclusions. It being impossible for me to attend every labour in a large out-patient practice, I have only been able to give the more important features of the labour. Most of the difficult cases have, however, been attended by me. With the exception of the spinal cord and the intestinal tract all the viscera were carefully examined in every case. When an organ other than the spinal cord or intestinal
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