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Pleurisy, Including Empyema and Bronchiectatic Conditions (1911)
Pleurisy Including Empyema and Bronchiectatic Conditions - 1911 Author:Alexander James Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II ETIOLOGY OF PLEURISY—PREDISPOSING CAUSES Age.—Pleurisy may occur at any age. I have met with an empyema on post-mortem examination in an infant of... more » two months. I have seen a sero-fibrinous pleurisy occur and end in tubercular lung disease in a woman of 82, and I have seen a foetid empyema occur, and be recovered from, in a man of ro 3O 40 50 6O 70 YCARS Diagram V.—Curves to show age incidence in hospital cases of (a) sero-fibrinous pleurisy and (b) of empyema. 84. The accompanying curves indicate the age incidence of my hospital cases of pleurisy and empyema. The noteworthy features which these curves present are:— (1) That the great bulk of both pleurisies occur between the ages of 15 and 55. (2) That the pleurisies of children are more likely to be purulent than those of adults. H (3) That in spite of this being so, purulent pleurisies yet tend to show themselves at later periods of life than do sero-fibrinous. Thus whilst 20 per cent, of the latter occurred after the fortieth year, 40 per cent, of the empyemas occurred after that period of life. Sex.—As regards sex in pleurisy, the preponderance of the male cases among hospital patients is marked. Of my hospital cases of sero-fibrinous pleurisy, 75 per cent, were males, of empyema 85 per cent. Occupation.—In order to consider whether or not occupation can influence this disease, a good plan is to divide occupations into two main divisions, viz., (1) those which entail physical work in the open air, or in open spaces; and (2) those which entail sedentary work indoors. Under the first head come such occupations as shepherds, outdoor labourers, engine and railway men, cabmen, curriers, brewery workers, butchers; under the second, such as engravers, watchmakers, hairdressers, p...« less