There is a case on record of a man who received a gunshot wound,
the ball entering behind the left clavicle and passing downward
and across to the right clavicle. Sometime afterward this patient
expectorated two pieces of bone and a piece of gum blanket in
which he was enveloped at the time of the injury. Carpenter
describes a case of fatal pleuritis, apparently due to the
presence of four artificial teeth which had been swallowed
thirteen years before.
Cardiac Injuries.--For ages it has been the common opinion
relative to injuries of the heart that they are necessarily fatal
and that, as a rule, death immediately follows their reception.
Notwithstanding this current belief a careful examination of the
literature of medicine presents an astounding number of cases in
which the heart has been positively wounded, and the patients
have lived days, months, and even recovered; postmortem
examination, by revealing the presence of cicatrices in the
heart, confirming the original diagnosis. This question is one of
great interest as, in recent years, there has been constant
agitation of the possibility of surgical procedures in cardiac as
well as cerebral injuries. Del Vecchio has reported a series of
experiments on dogs with the conclusion that in case of wounds in
human beings suture of the heart is a possible operation.
Pages:
1215
1216
1217
1218
1219
1220
1221
1222
1223
1224
1225
1226
1227
1228
1229
1230
1231
1232
1233
1234
1235
1236
1237
1238
1239