74 



The Philippine Journal of Science 



1917 



Table IX. — Age incidence of infantile beriberi cases. 





Cases. 





Cases. 



to 1 month 



6 



8 to 9 months 



3 



1 to 2 months 



56 



9 to 10 months 



1 



2 to 3 months 



44 



10 to 11 months 



2 



3 to 4 months 



12 



11 months to 1 year 







4 to 5 months 



6 



1 to 1.5 years 



2 



5 to 6 months 



10 



2 years and 7 months 



1 



6 to 7 months 



4 



Unknown 



1 



7 to 8 months 



2 







Total 



150 



It is plainly shown that the highest incidence is in the first 

 three months of life. The oldest case (autopsy 2869) is that of 

 a girl 2 years and 7 months old; the pathologist (B. C. Crowell) 

 wrote the following note: The hypertrophy and dilatation of 

 the heart was due to infantile beriberi, this being probably a 

 residual of an infantile condition. 



Of these 15 cases, 65 cases were clinically diagnosed as infantile 

 beriberi and confirmed at autopsy. The clinical diagnosis of the 

 rest is worthy of note, for almost all of them gave symptoms 

 suspicious of either cerebral or respiratory trouble. 



Convulsion, 25 cases; meningitis, 3 cases; eclampsia, 2; acute 

 bronchitis, 25; diphtheria (?), 2; bronchopneumonia, 5; unde- 

 termined, 10 ; no diagnosis, 9 ; nephritis, 1 ; chronic gastritis, 

 1 ; and status lymphaticus, 1. During my hospital service in 

 pediatrics I was more than once tempted, from the clinical stand- 

 point, to diagnose infantile beriberi as status lymphaticus. 



Associated anatomicopathologic lesions. Cholera, 1 case; hy- 

 perplasia of the spleen, 6 ; hyperplasia of the glands, 5 ; hyper- 

 plasia of the thymus, 4 ; acute nephritis, 3 ; cloudy liver, 2 ; cloudy 

 kidneys, 1; patent ductus arteriosus, 2; bronchopneumonia, 1; 

 acute suppurative bronchitis, 1; patent fossa ovalis, 3; cystic 

 ovaries, 1 ; emphysema, 1 ; ulcerative colitis, 1 ; tuberculosis, 1 ; 

 and enterocolitis, 1. 



Pure types of infantile beriberi, that is, dilatation and hyper- 

 trophy of the right ventricle of the heart, subserous petechial 

 hemorrhages, more or less oedema of the lungs and congestion 

 of the visceral organs, and subcutaneous and serous transudation 

 of fluid, were present in 132 cases. 



The hypertrophy and dilatation of the heart has been a per- 

 plexing point to almost all the workers in this disease. Accord- 

 ing to the transactions of the Second Regional Assembly of 

 Physicians and Pharmacists in the Philippines, (l) Guerrero and 



