Granuloma pyogenicum

Reviewsof the literature Abstracts of current literature Effect on the Eye of Premeditation With Atropine. K. R. Mehra and P. Chandra. Hrit. J. Anaesth. 37: 133, February, 1965. Atropine, 0.1 mg. per stone (0.016 mg. per kilogram), was administered intramuscularly to 100 patients, all of whose eyes were normal in size, reaction of pupil, and intraocular tension. Ages varied from 16 to 60 years. Pupil size, reaction t,o light, cornea1 sensitivity, and intraocular tension were noted at intervals of 5, 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes aftcAr injection. There was no change in the size and reaction of the pupil to light in 87 per cent of the normal patients. Thirteen patients showed a slight dilatation of the pupil, varying from 0 to 2 mm., and even in these t,hr pupillary reaction to light was brisk. Ln nine patients there was a slight increase in tension, varying from 0 to 3 mm. Hg. The other parameters were unchanged. In five glaucomatous patients no changes were observed within 2 hours of atropine injection. In the present series the absence of marked mydriasis and tension elevation leads to the conclusion that, in this dose, atropine may bc used with safety in patients over 45 years of age and in glaucomatous patients. The

Gran~loma Pyogenicum. Francesco Ronchesc. Am. J. Surg. 109: 430, April, 1965. Granuloma pyogenioum on the skin is a benign vascular tumor, usually about 0.5 to 1 cm. in diameter. It develops, secondary to injury, in a mattrr of weeks. Diagnostic features are short duration, ease of bleeding, and appearance, which is like that, of a mushroom coming out of a hole in the skin. In fifty-eight cases of granuloma pyogenicum, there wcw thirty-seven female and twenty-one male patients. Among twenty-six women of chiltl-bearing age, five were pregnant. On the basis of these figures, the term pregnancy tzlmor, often applied, does not seem warranted. The treatment of choice is surgical-either excision or clectrocoagulation. The latter is the easiest and quickest form of therapy. Radiation therapy can be used in selected instances. One thousand roentgens (3 ml. aluminum) in two exposures on the exact area involved will eliminate the tumor. n. B. King Abscess Secondary to Thyroglossal Cyst. P. K. Kot,tmeirr, R. Rosenthal, and 8. Minkowitz. Am. J. IXs. Child. 109: 160, February, 1965. This article describes the case a 2-week-old Negro girl with a retropharyngeal abscess secondary to an infection of a lateral thyroglossal cyst. Presenting symptoms were acute respiratory distress and dysphagia. Physical examination revealed a firm, slightly tender mass in the left anterior neck. The trachea and esophagus were deviated anteriorly and to the right. A preliminary tracheotomy was performed. Culture and biopsy wcr(1 nmdc, and the edge of the cystic cavity was marsupialized to the skin since excision at that time was not feasible. When the patient was 5 months old, a secondary exploration with removal of the the central portion of the hyoid bone t,hyroglossal cyst was performed. The cyst, including and a tract leading to the foramen cecum, was excised. The case demonstrates the advisability of early excision of thyroglossal cysts as well as the necessity for prompt operative drainage of thyroglossal cysts with superimposed infections. D. R. King Retropharyngeal

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