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Idiopathic hypertrophy of the heart
ABSTRACTS. grammes Up to I~ grammes daily, according to the affection and the weigJft of the animal. To the horse one may give from 2-7 grammes daily in electuary or in the water. The doses of terpinol are almost the same, and in some cases that may be employed advantageously in the form of a hypo· dermic injection dissolved in liquid vaseline. During the last four years M. Bissauge has treated twenty-one cases of acute or chronic bronchitIs in the horse with terpine. In fifteen of these cases he obtained a complete cure, in four a partial cure, and in two the treatment was unsuccessful. During the same period he has treated twenty-eight cases in the dog. Of these nineteen recovered completely, three made a partial recovery, and six were not benefited.---Recueil de MMecine VCterinaire.
IDIOPATHIC HYPERTROPHY OF THE HEART. MAURI, of the Toulouse Veterinary College, in an article in the Rez'ue Vderinaire, March 1894, states that idiopathic hypertrophy of the heart is a very common affection in Southern breeds of horses. They ·are endowed with a nervous temperament, and are frequently submitted to violent and sustained exercise, and as a result of this excitement the movements of the heart become violent, the arterial tension becomes -lowered, and the tension in the veins becomes increased. This condition is manifested by, overdistension of the superficial veins and congestion of the mucous membranes. The phenomena may be transitory and pass off in the course of a few hours, but, when they are often repeated, asystole becomes permanent, the cavities of the heart are over-distended with blood, and the capillaries yield to the abnormal pressure. Muscular contraction also contributes to produce this result by compressing the arteries and interfering with the flow of blood through them. The heart has then to contract more violently, and in consequence of that the myocardium becomes hypertrophied. One of the first consequences of this st::tte of things is an interference with the relation which subsists between the arterial and yenous tension. In the normal state the tension is much more considerable in the arteries than in the veins, but when the action of the heart is exaggerated this difference diminishes. This is the phenomenon to which the grave an::ttomical and function~ derangements in such cases are attributable. . In illustration of these statements Mauri narrates the following case : A nine-year-old horse was brought to him because for about a month previously he had been dull and had had a very capricious appetite. When made to walk he was sometimes seized with violent trembling and threatened to fall down. These symptoms were the more striking in view of the fact that the horse had previously been very fast and spirited. When Mauri paid his first visit to the animal, he was especially struck with the excessive pallor of the visible mucous membranes, by the distension of the superficial veins, and by the tumultuom action of the heart. Jugular pulse was present at intervals. The beats of the heart, which numbered 16-20 in a minute, were very irregular. The pulse was small, irregular, and scarcely perceptible. Percussion showed that the heart was greatly enlarged, and by auscultation it was ascertained that the heart-sounds were not accompanied by any murmur pointing to the existence of valvular lesions. Exercise produced alarming aggravations of these symptoms, respiration becoming very hurried, and the action of the heart violent and irregular. The horse was admitted into hospital, and seven days afterwards, while it was standing quietly in the stall, it had a seizure worse than any it had exhibited before. During the attack it trembled violently, and the wall of the chest was visibly raised by the cardiac
ABSTRACTS.
85
impulses, the respiration at the same time being dyspnceic. After this the horse had such attacks daily, and his condition rapidly became worse. The case was diagnosed as one of idiopathic hypertrophy of the heart, and at the end of twelve days the horse was killed. Post-Illortem.-The circulatory apparatus was examined with care, and it was ascertained that there was no aneurism of any of the large vessels. On opening the pericardium about i of a litre of serosity escaped. The heart was very voluminous and considerably above the normal weight for a horse of the same size. The capacity of the auricles and ventricles was decidedly increased, and at the same time the ventricular walls were much thickened, those of the auricles remaining normal. The auriculo-ventricular valve at the right side was slightly thickened, and to some extent insufficient, as was ascertained by injecting water into the ventricle from the pulmonary artery. When submitted to the same test the mitral valve was found to be quite efficient. The lungs were emphysematous in their anterior lobes. Mauri asserts that many cases of heart disease met with in veterinary practice are not associated with any valvular lesions. There exists, he says, a series of heart affections which are manifested at the outset by simple hypertrophy, entailing phenomena of acute or chronic asystole.--Rez'Ue Veterillaire.
ESERIN IN THE TREATMENT OF COLIC. In 1892 Pichel published in the Zeitscllrift fur Ve!erinarkunde an article in which he gave his experience of eserin in the treatment of colic, and in which he contended that the dangers attributed to the use of this substance by many veterinary surgeons have no existence. In a more recent number of the same J oumal (1893) Hirseman comes to the same conclusion. Since the introduction of eserin Hirseman has used it most extensively in the treatment of colic in the horses of a \Vurtemburg cavalry regiment, and he has not observed that it exerted any injurious influence on the course or result of the disease. For example, out of thirty-two cases of colic that occurred in the regiment in 1892 twenty-five were treated with eserin and seven without it, and the three fatal cases belong to the latter series. The following table (see next page) shows all the colic cases which have occurred in the regiment from 1885-1892. A striking fact brought out by this table is that in the years 1885 and 1886 the percentage of fatal C:1ses was proportionnlly high, viz., 25% and 15~~, but this apparently large proportion of fatalities is nscribahle to the fact that the milder cnses of colic were not included in the table. The proportion of btalities to cases of colic from 1887-92 wns from 6 to 12 per cent. Unfortunately, for most of the years information is not forthcoming regarding the cause of death in the fatal cases, but in the years 1890, 1891, and 1892, there were in all 215 cases of colic in the regiment. Putting aside thirty-seven of these cases which were not submitted to medicinal treaj:ment, there remain 178, and M these 135 were treated with eserin, and forty-three without it. In thirteen (9'62 per cent.) fatal cases after treatment with eserin the postmortem showed that five were due to rupture of the stomach or intestines, while in four (9'30 per cent.) cases that had not been treated with eserin one or other of these lesions was found at the post-mortem. Of the first five ruptures two were primary and three supervened on displacement of the intestine. Of the other two ruptures, which occurred in animals that had not been treated with eserin, one wns a rupture of the diaphragm, and the other a rupture of the stomach after twist of the intestine. Hence only tbe two primary ruptures need be considered in this connection, but in the one case
IDIOPATHIC HYPERTROPHY OF THE HEART. MAURI, of the Toulouse Veterinary College, in an article in the Rez'ue Vderinaire, March 1894, states that idiopathic hypertrophy of the heart is a very common affection in Southern breeds of horses. They ·are endowed with a nervous temperament, and are frequently submitted to violent and sustained exercise, and as a result of this excitement the movements of the heart become violent, the arterial tension becomes -lowered, and the tension in the veins becomes increased. This condition is manifested by, overdistension of the superficial veins and congestion of the mucous membranes. The phenomena may be transitory and pass off in the course of a few hours, but, when they are often repeated, asystole becomes permanent, the cavities of the heart are over-distended with blood, and the capillaries yield to the abnormal pressure. Muscular contraction also contributes to produce this result by compressing the arteries and interfering with the flow of blood through them. The heart has then to contract more violently, and in consequence of that the myocardium becomes hypertrophied. One of the first consequences of this st::tte of things is an interference with the relation which subsists between the arterial and yenous tension. In the normal state the tension is much more considerable in the arteries than in the veins, but when the action of the heart is exaggerated this difference diminishes. This is the phenomenon to which the grave an::ttomical and function~ derangements in such cases are attributable. . In illustration of these statements Mauri narrates the following case : A nine-year-old horse was brought to him because for about a month previously he had been dull and had had a very capricious appetite. When made to walk he was sometimes seized with violent trembling and threatened to fall down. These symptoms were the more striking in view of the fact that the horse had previously been very fast and spirited. When Mauri paid his first visit to the animal, he was especially struck with the excessive pallor of the visible mucous membranes, by the distension of the superficial veins, and by the tumultuom action of the heart. Jugular pulse was present at intervals. The beats of the heart, which numbered 16-20 in a minute, were very irregular. The pulse was small, irregular, and scarcely perceptible. Percussion showed that the heart was greatly enlarged, and by auscultation it was ascertained that the heart-sounds were not accompanied by any murmur pointing to the existence of valvular lesions. Exercise produced alarming aggravations of these symptoms, respiration becoming very hurried, and the action of the heart violent and irregular. The horse was admitted into hospital, and seven days afterwards, while it was standing quietly in the stall, it had a seizure worse than any it had exhibited before. During the attack it trembled violently, and the wall of the chest was visibly raised by the cardiac
ABSTRACTS.
85
impulses, the respiration at the same time being dyspnceic. After this the horse had such attacks daily, and his condition rapidly became worse. The case was diagnosed as one of idiopathic hypertrophy of the heart, and at the end of twelve days the horse was killed. Post-Illortem.-The circulatory apparatus was examined with care, and it was ascertained that there was no aneurism of any of the large vessels. On opening the pericardium about i of a litre of serosity escaped. The heart was very voluminous and considerably above the normal weight for a horse of the same size. The capacity of the auricles and ventricles was decidedly increased, and at the same time the ventricular walls were much thickened, those of the auricles remaining normal. The auriculo-ventricular valve at the right side was slightly thickened, and to some extent insufficient, as was ascertained by injecting water into the ventricle from the pulmonary artery. When submitted to the same test the mitral valve was found to be quite efficient. The lungs were emphysematous in their anterior lobes. Mauri asserts that many cases of heart disease met with in veterinary practice are not associated with any valvular lesions. There exists, he says, a series of heart affections which are manifested at the outset by simple hypertrophy, entailing phenomena of acute or chronic asystole.--Rez'Ue Veterillaire.
ESERIN IN THE TREATMENT OF COLIC. In 1892 Pichel published in the Zeitscllrift fur Ve!erinarkunde an article in which he gave his experience of eserin in the treatment of colic, and in which he contended that the dangers attributed to the use of this substance by many veterinary surgeons have no existence. In a more recent number of the same J oumal (1893) Hirseman comes to the same conclusion. Since the introduction of eserin Hirseman has used it most extensively in the treatment of colic in the horses of a \Vurtemburg cavalry regiment, and he has not observed that it exerted any injurious influence on the course or result of the disease. For example, out of thirty-two cases of colic that occurred in the regiment in 1892 twenty-five were treated with eserin and seven without it, and the three fatal cases belong to the latter series. The following table (see next page) shows all the colic cases which have occurred in the regiment from 1885-1892. A striking fact brought out by this table is that in the years 1885 and 1886 the percentage of fatal C:1ses was proportionnlly high, viz., 25% and 15~~, but this apparently large proportion of fatalities is nscribahle to the fact that the milder cnses of colic were not included in the table. The proportion of btalities to cases of colic from 1887-92 wns from 6 to 12 per cent. Unfortunately, for most of the years information is not forthcoming regarding the cause of death in the fatal cases, but in the years 1890, 1891, and 1892, there were in all 215 cases of colic in the regiment. Putting aside thirty-seven of these cases which were not submitted to medicinal treaj:ment, there remain 178, and M these 135 were treated with eserin, and forty-three without it. In thirteen (9'62 per cent.) fatal cases after treatment with eserin the postmortem showed that five were due to rupture of the stomach or intestines, while in four (9'30 per cent.) cases that had not been treated with eserin one or other of these lesions was found at the post-mortem. Of the first five ruptures two were primary and three supervened on displacement of the intestine. Of the other two ruptures, which occurred in animals that had not been treated with eserin, one wns a rupture of the diaphragm, and the other a rupture of the stomach after twist of the intestine. Hence only tbe two primary ruptures need be considered in this connection, but in the one case