326 ENDOCRINE GLANDS 



goitre is an example. There are also syndromes of Base- 

 dow's disease of sympathetic origin. Laignel-Lavastine 

 and Bloch have observed the syndrome of Basedow's 

 disease, following a pachypleurisy of the apex of the lung 

 involving and irritating the cervical sympathetic. Sergent 

 has found at least signs of it in 5 out of 9 patients suffering 

 from nerve lesions of the cardiac plexus following bullet 

 wounds of the mediastinum. Curschman finally reported 

 a syndrome of Basedow's disease coinciding with gastric 

 crisis in a woman suffering from tabes. 



The function of the thyroid can be disturbed just as well 

 by a lesion of the sympathetic nerve as by a glandu- 

 lar lesion. 



II. SYNDROME OF ADDISON'S DISEASE. The part 

 played by the sympathetic in the pathogenesis of Addi- 

 son's disease is brought out by anatomical, experimental 

 and clinical facts: 



(a) In the course of autopsies performed on patients 

 dying from Addison's disease, it has been noticed, par- 

 allel to the alterations of the suprarenals, a variety of 

 lesions of the sympathetic : compression of the solar plexus 

 by caseated ganglionic masses in the celiac or periaortic 

 region; tuberculosis of the semi-lunar ganglia. 



The histological examination brings out, with or without 

 evidence of tuberculosis, a solar ganglia sclerosis, a pig- 

 mentation of the nerve cells, a myelin degeneration of 

 the afferent or efferent nerves. 



(6) Laignel-Lavastine has shown that: 



1. The removal of the suprarenals is followed by 

 lesions of the sympathetic and of the nerve cells of the 

 solar plexus. 



2. The removal of the solar plexus brings about altera- 

 tions of the suprarenals (hypopigmentation of the supra- 

 renal on the same side as the semi-lunar ganglion removed). 



