Anatomy and Embalming / A Treatise on the Science and Art of Embalming, the Latest and Most Successful Methods of Treatment and the General Anatomy Relating to this Subject

by Albert John Nunnamaker; Charles Otto Dhonau

Pneumo-Pericardium.

—Definition.—Pneumo-pericardium is an accumulation of air in the pericardium. Although this is a rare disease, it does occasionally occur, either through diseased processes, such as cancerous or tubercular ulceration or through injuries; thus a ruptured pulmonary cavity might result in this condition, or the perforation of the esophagus, by malignant processes would give rise to this lesion. Sometimes pus in the pericardium will generate gas.

Treatment.—As the accumulation of air or gas is secondary to some other process of disease, the immediate cause of death will carry with it the proper treatment. The gas itself should be removed by piercing the pericardium with a small needle or trocar, after which a small quantity of fluid should be injected.

Endocarditis.

—Definition.—Endocarditis is an inflammation of the lining membrane of the heart, and is generally confined to the valves, though other parts may be affected.

Pathology.—The morbid changes are, first, a reddened and injected appearance of the endothelium, which soon becomes opaque and swollen from congestion of the small blood vessels. This swelling or thickening of the membrane furnishes a favorable resting place for deposits of fibrin, and we have small, beady deposits from the size of a pin point to that of a pea, or even larger. These small, beady excrescences may become detached, and floating off in the general current, give rise to embolism in distant parts.

Treatment.—An embolism means the obstruction of a blood vessel by some foreign material. If in the injection of fluid, there is an obstruction in one of the blood vessels, leading to one of the organs, you will never be any the wiser, but if the obstruction is in one of the vessels supplying a certain area of skin, the condition will show up sooner or later, when that certain part will have to be treated hypodermically. Slow arterial injection with drainage of blood should be given and when symptoms of fermentation are present, include special attention to the abdominal cavity.

Aortic Incompetency.

—Synonyms.—Aortic Insufficiency; Aortic Regurgitation.

Definition.—Inability of the aortic valves to properly close an abnormally large aortic opening, or a change in the segments whereby they are shortened by curling of the leaflets, or by calcification.