1068 



Cardiac Dilatation. 



lieart. The absence of friction sounds distinguishes it from 

 pericarditis or from hvdropericardium. 



Treatment. Permanent recovery may be hoped for only 

 if a previously healthy heart has become dilated owing to very 

 severe muscular exertion. In such cases the circulator}^ dis- 

 turbances retrogress considerably or entirely under absolute 

 rest and through the influence of repeated administration of 

 cardio-tonic remedies, first of all digitalis. This improvement 

 may occur in a short time. (For details see the chapter on 



Fig. ls!i. Canliuc DiJalaliun. Iloart aulliu'bs of the hui^c ju.unv.l iii i'ig. Iss, 



on the liglit side, in the 4th to 5th intercostal space; in front tlie upper border 



reaches the scapular line. 



valvular diseases.) Even dilatation which commences in the 

 course of acute infectious diseases may sometimes be reduced 

 by similar treatment; but if the heart had been diseased pre- 

 viously or if there are permanent impediments to the circula- 

 tion of the blood, if, moreover, signs of degenerative processes 

 exist, it may be possible to obtain an improTement that is at 

 times quite considerable, but this will soon yield to an aggrava- 

 tion of the condition. Such patients can be used for work only 

 to a very limited degree. It is always necessary to insure 

 nutritious feeding and to save the animals from work. 



Literature. De la Camp, Z. f. kl. Med., 1904. LI. 1. — Goedecke, D. t. W., 

 1910. 205. — Pr. Mil. Vb., 1899-1908. — Trasbot, A. d'Alf., 1878. 204; Bull, 

 1899. 206. — Zschokke, Sch. A., 1900. XLIT. 211,' (See also Lit. on hypertrophy of 

 the heart.) 



