Family tendency to hypertrophic cirrhosis of the liver (Hanot's disease) / by James Finlayson.

  • Finlayson, James, 1840-1906.
Date:
[1899]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Family tendency to hypertrophic cirrhosis of the liver (Hanot's disease) / by James Finlayson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    6/10 (page 42)
    Neither of them had leukaemia. Both died, and in botli the livers are described, post-mortem, as large and granular. In the British Medical Journal for April 23rd, 1892, p. 858, Mr. Jollye reports two cases in children, a brother and sister, who died with ascites due to atrophic cirrhosis; although a post-mortem examination was obtained only in one case, lie presumed the condition was similar in the other. He also quotes Dr. Onnerod’s paper, which falls to be noticed hereafter. The existence of a family tendency to hypertrophic cirrhosis is obviously important, although its significance is still obscure. Of course, if due to syphilis, the explanation might be clear; or, if due to transmission from a drunken parent (see Hanot, p. 99), the disease might well occur in various members of the family. Both of these causes seem fairly to be excluded in the family here referred to. The resemblance of hypertrophic cirrhosis to what is called “biliary cirrhosis” seems very close. Further, in hyper- trophic cirrhosis, we have a disease characterized by jaundice, one occurring in early life, and specially implicating certain families; it may be well, therefore, to consider some of the features of congenital malformation of the bile ducts where these peculiarities are also found. The occurrence of biliary cirrhosis, with enlargement of tlie liver and often with enlarged spleen also, is well known in cases of congenital obliteration of the bile ducts. “ It seems probable that biliary cirrhosis always occurs if the child lives long enough” (Dr. John Thomson, Congenital Oblitemtion of the Bile Ducts, Edin., 1892, p. 29). Dr. Thomson also says, of such congenital defects, “ there is evidently a very remarkable tendency for the disease to occur in more than one child of the same parents” (p. 13). In his tabulation of cases we find one (No. 22) where one twin died with obliteration of the duct, and the other, although jaundiced, recovered. Other cases (No. 9 and No. 33) in his table show recoveries from icterus neonatorum in families where fatal defects of the ducts had occurred. Further, cases are given in table No. 4, where, with similar symptoms proving fatal and in families