On the ready curabilty of the more acute form of hydrocephalus in its earliest stage under active treatment : with a case / by Alexander Harvey.

  • Harvey, Alexander, 1811-1889.
Date:
[1844?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the ready curabilty of the more acute form of hydrocephalus in its earliest stage under active treatment : with a case / by Alexander Harvey. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    apprehend, that those who entertain a confident persuasion of the ready curability of the disease, at the period and under the treatment already mentioned, and are impressed with the impor¬ tance of being satisfied, in judging of the diagnosis, with indica¬ tions much short of certainty, are at once prompt and energetic in their practice; that those who are more or less sceptical as to its curability, or require rather clear evidence of its existence, are so far influenced thereby, in cases at least which are at all doubtful, as to decline or defer any very active or decided prac¬ tice; and that those who, though agreeing generally in the views of the former class, are less confident in their apprehension of them, and less sanguine as to the general efficacy of bold and energetic practice, are proportionally less prompt and decided in their treatment. And what if the views of the first class, and their statement of the successful results of practice, are well founded? What if it be true that hydrocephalus, in its more acute form and in its earliest stage, is readily amenable to active treatment, and that its diagnosis may in general be then made out with sufficient con¬ fidence to warrant such treatment ? And what if the views of the others are erroneous, and their unfavourable experience of the disease attributable to inefficient practice, or to active prac¬ tice either too long deferred or carried to a degree short of what the disease requires ? These are obviously questions of the utmost practical importance. Being myself satisfied that the evidence adduced and relied on by those who believe that these questions admit of an affirma¬ tive answer, has stronger claims on our consideration than many suppose, or at least that “ it is not so clear a case that there is nothing in it” I think it might not be amiss, for the sake of those who have never carefully examined it, to lay that evidence formally before them, and to urge upon them whether, if, upon a due consideration of it, it shall not appear altogether satisfac¬ tory to their minds, it is not, at all events, such as to require of them a line of conduct nearly, if not exactly, the same as if it were in the highest degree conclusive ; and whether, also, it is not our duty, in dealing with a disease of so intractable a cha¬ racter when fairly established, and so hopeless when left to itself, to act in doubtful cases upon indications of a slight nature, and on low probabilities as to their curability in all cases, and not de¬ cline or defer the adoption of active treatment till we havQ some