DISPLACEMENT OF THE PREGNANT UTERUS 151 



we imagine the uterus suspended by those bands, its greater 

 part lies above them. 



Chauveau already in 1818 pointed out this anatomical 

 arrangement. The more pregnancy advances, the thicker 

 become the broad uterine ligaments. Already in the second 

 half of gestation the ligaments are quite muscular, as stripes 

 of muscle tissue form in the serosa, as also hypoplasia of the 

 elastic and connective tissue. The uterine artery and vein 

 anastomosing freely, course in the suspensory ligaments. By 

 the contractions of these muscular elements the uterus may be 

 elevated. In discussing " Labor Pains," it was stated that the 

 beginning of each pain represents a contraction of the ligamen- 

 tum uteri. 



The mesometrium is not attached all along the lateral 

 border of the pregnant horn. The anterior part of the horn, 

 which is turned toward the diaphragm, is not fixed by the 

 ligaments, but is free. The body of the uterus is attached to 

 the vagina by the cervix, the vaginal portion of which lies free 

 in the vagina. Although the different organs have a definite 

 position in the abdominal cavity, the possibility of a displace- 

 ment is not excluded. One deviation was anteversion ; here we 

 have to do with a rotation on its long axis. The latter, quite 

 frequent in practice, and almost confined to the cow, is quite 

 possible on account of the anatomical arrangements just 

 described. 



Frequency. — Torsio uteri is usually met with in cows which 

 have calved repeatedly, but occasionally a case has been 

 observed in primiparae (Felder, Buhler). It is a frequent cause 

 of dystokia. In the ambulatory clinic at Zurich, of 130 cases of 

 dystokia, 29 were torsio uteri, and of these, 16 to the right 

 (Ehihardt). 



Most cases occur during or after the preliminary stage. 

 Saake claims that according to his experience torsio uteri is 

 never observed before dilatation of the cervix uteri. Mayr, 

 Johne, Beel, Felder, Veenstra, Baer, have observed an occas- 

 ional torsion during pregnancy in the fifth, sixth, seventh and 

 eighth months. In the discussion of mummification, it was 



