Lectures on the development of the gravid uterus / by William O. Priestley.
- Priestley, William Overend, 1829-1900.
- Date:
- 1860
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Lectures on the development of the gravid uterus / by William O. Priestley. 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.
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![sauguiueous extravasation. Small and ckcumscribed clots produced in this way are sometimes found between the utenis and decidua. These, if limited, may not interrupt the continuance of pregnancy, but if the eflusion be more extensive, and separates a larger poriion of the decidua, it necessarily interferes with the nutrition of the ovum, produces death of the foetus, and precipitates abortion. Again, if the escape of blood from the vessels is confined to a limited space at the upper part of the uterus, although it may pro- duce much pain, no external haemorrhage may be noticed at the time of its occurrence; but when it takes place near the cervix, the blood more readily finds exit from the uterus, and is discharged by the vagina. In aborted ova you may frequently observe blood-clots, which have been formed at different times, undergoing various changes in consistence and colour, according to the date of their effusion. Some have a deep purple colour, some a chocolate-brown, others a yellow hue. Generally, the recently expelled ovum, if enveloped in the decidua, is covered over with thick layers of fibrine, which need to be removed from the dorsal surface of the latter before its proper texture can be discernetL Even then the tissues may be so condensed and injui’ed by the pressure to which they were exposed dm-ing expulsion, that they may not be readily recog- nisable, and may need maceration in water for some time before they can be examined with advantage. Occasionally in the first weeks blood pours dii-ectly into the decidual cavity, fills it with a coagulum, and obliterates all trace of the embryo, constituting one of the species of mole, which is thrown oil' as a triangular cast from the uterus, and has firm layers of fibrine externally, with a soft clot in the centre. A not uncommon appeai’ance is that in Avhich the cavity and both layers of decidua are infiltrated Avith blood, become firm by coagulation, and nodular concretions project under the chorion toAvards the chamber which contains the foetus. This form is designated by some authors the apoplectic ovum. It is a modification of the same morbid change Avhich produces the other varieties I have described, and caused by the extravasation and hardening of the maternal blood in the sub- stance of the decidua. An embiyo is sometimes found attached by iis funis to some part of a smooth central caAuty ; but many times it is absent, a rudimentary umbilicus being the only trace of its ])revious existence. In early abortions the decidua uteri is usually detached, not only from the uterus, but from the ovum itself, and is expelled](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22334452_0034.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
