Notes on Surgical Pathology in the Dog. 103 



62 (994) 



Notes on surgical pathology in the dog. 



By W. Howard Barber and John W. Draper. 



[From the Laboratory of Surgical Research and from the Depart- 

 ment of Pathology, University and Bellevue Hospital Medical 



College.] 



1 . Diaphragmatic Hernia into the Pericardial Cavity as 

 Cause of Sudden Death. 



A French poodle, fully grown and bred to extreme fineness, was 

 noticed by his owner, a highly trained observer, to "save himself" 

 in play and for this reason was suspected of having heart-disease. 

 Except for these periods of rest, taken at unexpected and unusual 

 times, the animal appeared physically perfect. 



On January 12, 1915, the dog developed general convulsions 

 which lasted one half hour, at the end of which he died. The 

 autopsy, performed the following morning, revealed the following: 



1. "Thorax-Lungs. — Right slightly congested posterially. Left 

 deeply congested throughout. 



"Heart. — Pericardial sac large. Right heart compressed by 

 three lobes of liver, gall bladder, and great omentum, 7 by 15 cm. 

 Liver and omentum congested. Gall bladder empty and connected 

 with liver remaining within the abdomen by elongated adhesive 

 band. Deficiency in pericardium measured 3 cm. in diameter 

 and reinforced by fibrous tissue. Deficiency of equal size in 

 central tendon of diaphragm. No hernial sac found. 



2. "Liver. — Portion within pericardial sac shows extreme 

 passive congestion and fibrosis, indicating that the circulatory 

 obstruction caused by its position has been of long duration. Free 

 portion shows moderate fat infiltration. 



"Edge of Diaphragmatic Opening. — Appears well rounded and 

 is covered by endothelium, — evidently a congenital defect." 



Many phrenic hernias in man have been reported to date. 1 

 Grosser and Thoma, alone, have collected 433 cases. Learning's 

 radiograms of Freeman's case - showed ante-mortem practically 



1 Keen's "Surg.," Vol. 4, p. 93. 



'Lockwood, Diseases of Stomach, plate XI, p. 406. 



