Page:A Contribution to the Pathology of Phlegmasia Dolens.djvu/17

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PHLEGMASIA DOLENS.
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Levret's description strikingly coincides with that of Puzos, "Le cordon des vaisseaux cruraux, est aussi douloureux pour lors dans une grande partie de son trajet."[1]

Callisen and Gardien have described the disease in similar terms, and Mr. Whyte, Mr. Trye, and Dr. Hull, have all stated that the pain is most frequently first experienced in the situation of the great blood-vessels at the brim of the pelvis, and extends from thence along the course of the femoral vessels.

From the preceding facts, as well as from the cases to which I have already alluded, we may, I think, safely conclude, that inflammation of the coats of the iliac and femoral veins in puerperal women does unquestionably give rise to all the phenomena of genuine Phlegmasia Dolens. It remains, however, for future observers to determine, if this venous inflammation be the only cause of the disease, or if cases do not occur wherein the other textures are primarily affected. I may observe, that hitherto no instance of Phlegmasia Dolens has been met with where the glandular, lymphatic, or cellular tissues of the limb have been found diseased, without the veins being also in a morbid condition.

Whether the inflammation of the coats of the

  1. Levret, L'Art des Accouchements, p. 392.