Vol 24, No 2 (1928)

On December 18, 1927 in Kazan, at a solemn meeting of the Council of the Institute with the participation of representatives of universities and public organizations, chaired by the People's Commissar of Health of the RSFSR, Professor N.A. Semashko, marked 30 years of scientific and pedagogical and medical and social activities of the Institute Director and Head of therapeutic clinic, Professor Roman Albertovich Luria.

One year ago in the January issue of "Kazan Medical Journal" was published my report, made on November 1, 1926 to the Scientific Assembly of Physicians of the State Institute for Advanced Training of Physicians under the title: "A new method of so called "rejuvenation" of organisms". I based my work on the doctrine of "natural cellular poisons", which I had been developing for many years. According to this doctrine, dissimilation products are natural and unavoidable poisons for those cells and tissues from which they were formed. This is explained by the fact that each organ, each tissue has its own specific protein. The specificity of the latter can be easily proved by immuno-biological reactions: precipitation, complement binding, anaphylaxis, etc. At the same time, the more complex the function of the cell, the more complicated is the physicochemical structure of its protein, and the more complex are the products of vital activity and metabolism that arise here.

The works of Zondek, Kraus, Loeb, Laew and Rosen revealed a great role of mineral substances in the living organism. Such substances include mainly Na, K and Ca ions. It was only natural to think to make a series of observations to find out how ultraviolet light affects the electrolyte composition of the body. The most convenient substrate for such observations is the blood, reflecting on itself the particular changes of the latter.

Polyuria and associated polydipsia are known to be the main, and often the only, symptoms of diabetes insipidus. The amount of urine excreted may reach enormous figures - 43 liters in the case of Trousseau. Specific gravity is at a very low level, reaching 1001 and below. Together with this disturbance of water exchange, the exchange of sodium chloride is usually disturbed, and these two processes, in fact, characterize diabetes insipidus. Regarding the origin, systematics, and pathogenesis of these basic symptoms there is a large literature, but even on the main questions there are still fundamental discrepancies.

Among echinococcal diseases of internal organs, lung echinococcus, although a relatively infrequent disease, still ranks second in frequency after liver echinococcus. According to Alexinsky, in 1950 cases of echinococcus the latter was found in the liver in 53%, and in the lungs - in 6.3%; according to Frey and Madelung, % of echinococcus in lungs is 11.9, according to Neisser - from 7.4 to 10.6, according to Frangenheim-7; among 22 cases of Palygauay echinococcus in lungs was found once. In our clinic Echinococcus of the lung was found only twice out of 20 cases of echinococcus of internal organs.

According to Wenglowski, esophageal ruptures usually occur quite unexpectedly, in the midst of complete health, due to some external influence, or for no apparent reason at all. But so far we do not have a classification covering all possible cases of traumatic esophageal injuries, probably due to a very limited number of published cases. This report is based on a case of esophageal gas rupture, which is of considerable interest both because of its rarity and because of the setting in which the injury occurred.

The method of intravital staining first applied by Goldmann made it possible to detect a whole group of cells with the ability of intracellular accumulation of electro-negative colloids. Further study of these cells, as we know, led to the creation of the doctrine of the so-called reticulo-endothelial system. During the last years numerous researches have studied not only the morphology of this system but also proved its great functional importance for the course of biological processes in the organism.

In the first years of my activity in Kazan as an otolaryngologist, I used a 20% solution of hydrochloric cocaine for surface anesthesia, but, noticing frequent cases of poisoning, I replaced it with a 10% solution. However, even when smearing with this solution, we also observed symptoms of poisoning quite often, although the percentage of cases of the latter and its degree were much less than with the 20% solution. This indicates that cocaine poisoning depends not only on the predisposition, but also on the concentration of the solution. Wishing to be completely free from the unpleasant consequences of superficial cocaine anesthesia during operations in the nose, nasopharynx and larynx, I replaced cocaine solutions with strong solutions of novocaine. It turned out, however, that while subcutaneous injections of 1/2% novocaine give good anaesthesia during operations on the maxillary cavity, on the mastoid process, etc., with surface anaesthesia even with the strongest solutions of this substance I did not get good results, and the patients felt severe pain during all manipulations in the above mentioned organs, so I had to return to strong solutions of cocaine.

Sleep is one of the most interesting problems of biology. The periodic change of sleep and wakefulness in all living creatures of the Earth, including plants, sleep of individual organs, adaptation of the biological rhythm to the cosmic rhythm (change of day and night) - these are the most difficult topics, which have been the subject of serious discussions more than once. In May and June of last year, the question of sleep, normal and pathological, was on the agenda of the international meeting of the Society of Neuropathologists in Paris.

By passing fluid through an isolated adrenal gland using the Kravkoz method, we found that arecoline (1:4,000-1:50,000), a typical vagotropic poison, vigorously constricts the adrenal vessels and increases the secretion of adrenaline-like bodies. If the decreased outflow is compensated by an increase in pressure, the concentration of adrenaline-like bodies in the outflowing fluid is also increased.

The author confirmed by his experiments that constitutional resistance or susceptibility to infectious diseases stands in connection with the organs of internal secretion. In the Tuberculosis Institute it was found that guinea pigs and rabbits have a difference in endocrine formulas, which difference corresponds to the difference in the natural immunity of these animals against different infections. For final proof, an attempt was made to approximate the endocrine formula of a rabbit to that of a guinea pig to see if its natural immunity would change.

Analyzing caverns clinic on the sanatorium material (100 cases of cavernous tbc), the author concludes that it is necessary to distinguish early caverns from terminal ones, because the course and prognosis of both are completely different. Fresh early caverns are almost always unilateral, late caverns tend to spread metastatically to the other side and are mostly multiple.

The author is an opponent of the doctrine of demineralization of the organism by consumption. Numerous studies at the Bologna Med. It has been proved by numerous studies in the Bologna Medical Institute that mineral losses are not at all necessary in this disease, even in the acute stage of its development, and when they occur, they are caused not by the specific action of tbc poison itself, but by secondary phenomena like fever, digestive disorders, assimilation, etc., which are also found in other disease processes.

For tbc diseases of the urinary organs at New-York Hospital there has been a special department for more than a year, where a urologist and tbc specialists work together. Severe cystitis is best treated with internal and local application of methylene blue. General treatment requires, above all, complete rest, fresh air, and good nutrition.

That the whipworm (trichocephalus dispar) can be a very dangerous guest of the human intestine is shown by the case reported by Dr. P. Bonem. A 54 year old woman was admitted to the Stuttgart City Hospital in June 1927 for diagnosis, who at the end of winter had an apparently unexplained anemia. Besides the usual signs of the latter, the examination revealed numerous hemorrhages in the skin, and in the feces many eggs of the whipworm and stringworm.

The author notes that after the use of tetraiodophenolphthalein the liver and kidneys become more visible in X-rays, because iodine, after administration per os or through the duodenal probe, by portal circulation enters the liver before it appears in the general circulation, and before the discharge into the gall bladder. The best conditions for hepatography occur 2 hours after duodenal probe administration and 6 hours after per os ingestion.

The author treated 70 cases of gastric and duodenal ulcers with subcutaneous injections of pepsin (Megske 1% or Kahlbaum 2-5%), and often observed a good effect in the sense of lowering acidity and complete disappearance of all disorders.

The author suggests using a combination of scopolamine and hyoscine, from which he has observed a good effect both protective and therapeutic. The dose is equal to 0.5 mgr.

To solve this question, the author illuminated an isolated lymphatic gland in the fossa poplitea simultaneously with a normal one on the other side. Histological examination resulted in very intense changes only in the non-isolated gland.

The author draws the attention of practical doctors to the results of treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcers (more than 100 own observations) with X-rays. 10-14 days after application of one series of illumination (4 times a week in small doses) independent pains disappear (without preliminary reaction), appetite quickly appears, bleeding stops (several hours after the first illumination), and spastic constipation, which are companions of stomach and duodenal ulcers, disappears. As for the pains of pressure and hyperacidity, they remain for a while, but subsequently also disappear.

B. Shimshelevich found that diathermy should be used in all cases of decreased gastric secretion, including achylia. On the contrary, diathermy treatment is contraindicated in cases of increased secretion.

Based on 403 operations with treatment of the operating field with 5% alcoholic solution of picric acid, the author considers the latter to be quite reliable means for disinfection of the operating field (4% of suppuration). Due to its strong skin tanning properties, picric acid solution can replace iodine tincture.

On the basis of 110 operations performed for goiter, the author concludes that the more toxic goiter is, the more often local anesthesia should be used for its operation, avoiding ether anesthesia if possible.

The author cites three cases of anesthesia paralysis of peripheral origin on the basis of traumatization of nerve trunks. In the author's opinion, predisposing moments here may be prior exhaustion of the patient's nervous system and poisoning it with a specific poison (alcohol, syphilis).

The author reports that the Eiselsberg Clinic had 25 cases of tetanus over a period of 20 years, a very small number compared to the large number of patients with traumatic injuries admitted. The disease manifested itself in two forms - the lightning one, which always killed the patient, and the protracted one, which often ended in recovery.

Based on the material of 100 cases the author gives preference to cholecystoduodenotomy or cholecystogastrostomy over cholecystectomy in inflammatory diseases of the gallbladder. After a suture is placed, the infection usually subsides, bile passes freely into the intestine, cholecystitis no longer recurs, and there is no ascending cholangitis. The mortality rate after these operations is lower than after cholecystectomy.

Proceeding from the undoubted facts that the environment has a great influence on the development of the growing organism, Vinogradova carefully studied the physical and chemical properties of amniotic fluid in order to study more precisely the influence of this environment on the development of the fetus. Physical study of the fluid components showed that its mineral parts, subjected to the action of t ° 700 ° C, get the ability to fluoresce in the dark, and so much so that you can clearly distinguish the clock face. The light is produced by the formation of calcium sulfide, which is produced by the calcium salts and protein substances contained in the liquid when it is incandescent.

In the treatment of abortions, the author adheres to the middle line of behavior. If there is no fever and the external pharynx is open, immediate instrumental emptying of the uterus is indicated. If the cervix is not completely open, an ice bladder, quinine, and pituglandol are used until the uterus is fully dilated. If these remedies prove ineffective, cautious dilatation of the cervix is begun.

Contrary to Aschner, who states that after great blood loss the postpartum as well as the postoperative periods usually proceed without fever, Volkmann could establish that after operations complicated by great blood loss the morbidity is significantly higher. Similarly, after bleeding sub partu the incidence of febrile processes in the postpartum period increases, and the more profuse the bleeding.

In agreement with Schollmüller's views, the authors believe that anaerobic streptococci are of predominant importance in puerperal infection. Of the 17 cases where blood cultures were positive, they were detected in 11. Cultures obtained from the uterine cavity detected 35 times anaerobic and 12 times aerobic streptococci. Of the 10 deaths, 5 were due to anaerobic streptococci and 3 to a mixture of anaerobic streptococci with other microbes.

Despite the outstanding therapeutic value of radium, the latter may not be used in all cases of uterine cancer, and in many cases it is even harmful. For these very cases G. Gellhorn recommends treatment with acetone. The technique of this method is the following: proliferating cervical cancer is first scraped with a sharp spoon, then a deep cylindrical mirror is inserted into the vagina, the patient's pelvis is raised, and 1-2 tablespoons of acetone is poured into the mirror. Bleeding immediately stops. After 10 minutes, the liquid is removed by lowering the pelvis, and fresh acetone is poured, which is left for about 20 minutes, then the same way is removed, the remains of acetone are washed off, and mirror is removed. The treatment is repeated first every day, then after 1-2 weeks, every other day and then even less frequently.

In children of difficult age, suffering from characteristic for exudative diathesis seborrhea, eczema of the face, diaper rash, etc., Scheer recommends to introduce in food from 100 to 600 cf. hydrochloric milk, prepared as follows: on 250 cf. boiled and cooled, whole or diluted by third with water milk, add by drop, stirring, 10 cf. normal solution (3.6%) hydrochloric acid and then 15-25 grams. (i.e. 6-10%) sugar. Already after a few days the exudative diathesis begins to improve and in 2-4 weeks it goes away.

According to Prof. Gastein's observations, intensification of II tone on the aorta, which is considered a very significant sign of syphilitic aortitis in adults, occurs especially often in children with hereditary lues, in which this phenomenon is much more important than in adults.

The author notes that, thanks mainly to the classical works of Academician I.P. Pavlov, it can be considered established that normal, natural sleep and hypnosis are states of the same order, which differ from each other only quantitatively, not qualitatively, and are an expression of cerebral cortex inhibition. In discussing the question of what leads to complete inhibition in the cerebral cortex, i.e. to sleep, the author dwells on the opinion of Legendre and Pieron, who believe that sleep is the result of hypnotoxin poisoning, and the opinion of Acad. Pavlov, according to which sleep is a simple unconditional protective, innate reflex, protecting the most valuable elements of the organism - nerve cells of the large hemispheres.

In the field of x-ray diagnostic literature, we have two kinds of manuals and textbooks: some of them are intended for specialist radiographers, others for those numerous clinicians or practitioners who either use X-rays independently as an auxiliary diagnostic method, or are forced to decipher the radiographer's protocol notes or to understand the radiographs brought by the patient. This book is intended for the latter category of physicians.

The collection has the character of a monograph devoted to the questions of inflammatory diseases of the male genital glands, the effect of these diseases on their functions, and the most suitable methods of their therapy. It contains 6 separate articles, which, supplementing each other, give a rather complete picture of these lesions.

The thirty-eighth Congress of the German Paediatric Society, which took place September 8-15, 1927, in Vienna and Budapest, was of particular interest because its program was not only rich in scientific content, but also included a large number of visits to institutions, excursions to nearby spas, etc. It is worth mentioning the preliminary organizational work done by the Society's Bureau: each member, who paid in time, received a bundle of documents providing him not only preferential travel by train and steamboat, but also a Hungarian visa, a hotel room for the duration of the Congress, and all kinds of other benefits up to automatic luggage delivery to his apartment.

Dr. A. M. Klementieva demonstrated a rare case of lattice aneurysm located in the lower part of the thoracic and upper part of the abdominal aorta, reaching art. rcnalis. The aneurysm was perforated in the thoracic region. During his life the patient, 27 years old, suffered from sharp constant pain in the epigastrii area. I.I. Vasiliev and R.A. Luria and Dr. M.I. Mastbaum who noted diagnostic features of this case, rarity of similar abdominal aortic lesion and instructive value of this case in the sense of special attention to cases of visceral lues.

On February 15 this year, Professor Pavel Karlovich Gorst of Kazan University was honored on the occasion of his 36th anniversary of his teaching and 40th anniversary of his pharmaceutical activity. Among many greetings was heard a greeting from the editors of "Kazan Med. Magazine".

Under foreign bodies of the ear in the proper sense of the word should be considered only those that enter the external auditory canal from the outside. However, this notion is now somewhat expanded to include in the group of foreign bodies of the ear deposits of the glandular apparatus of the external ear with the formation of accumulations of wax - "wax plugs". In general, all these bodies, of one origin or another, can be divided into two groups: animate and inanimate (Tsytovich, Fink).