Case of tumour originating in the pterygoid fossa, and developing towards the buccal cavity, successfully removed / by Patrick Heron Watson.

  • Patrick Watson
Date:
[1869]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Case of tumour originating in the pterygoid fossa, and developing towards the buccal cavity, successfully removed / by Patrick Heron Watson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    SUCCESSFULLY REMOVED. Margaret B-, aged sixty, was recommended to my care by Sir James Y. Simpson, and admitted into the Chalmers Hospital on the 5th October 1868. History.—The patient states that seven years ago she observed a swell¬ ing along the lower border of the jaw in front of the angle, and a fulness in the regiQn of the parotid upon the right side. These swellings, which seemed to be independent of each other, were most marked when the mouth was closed, and diminished when opened. When first observed, the patient experienced no uneasiness. Under the impression that they were simple glandular swellings, for the time being she gave no particular heed to them. About six months afterwards she noticed a swelling which bulged into the buccal cavity, on the level of the molar teeth, and extended as far back as the soft palate. Since that period up to the pre¬ sent time the whole of these swellings, cervical and buccal, have steadily increased ; the enlargement gaining most towards the mouth, least in the submaxillary region. Present condition {Oct. 5th).—There is a well-marked tumour in the carotid and submaxillary region, obliterating in the former the sulcus between the jaw and the sterno-mastoid muscle, and occupying the whole digastric triangle beneath the maxilla. These swellings are deeply seated, are separated from each other in the situation of the angle of the jaw, and offer a resistance quite like that of the parotid and submaxillary glands. On opening the mouth, nothing but the rounded surface of a large tumour is seen, immediately behind the teeth, hiding the fauces posteriorly and concealing the tongue from view. This tumour obviously springs from the right side; it presents an elastic resistance, almost fluctuating in its character, at its most prominent point. The mucous membrane, by which it is covered, glides smoothly over the surface. On pressure out¬ wards, the tumours in the parotid and submaxillary regions become in¬ creasingly prominent. Deglutition and mastication are impeded—mas¬ tication so much so that some time since she was obliged to have all her
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