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Abstract
B. histolyticus was demonstrated in cultures taken from débrided tissues in 17 civil wounds. There
were 7 compound fractures, 5 lacerations, 3 gunshot wounds, and 2 burns. These are
believed to be the first records of B. histolyticus in connection with burns.
Only 1 case, that of a compound fracture, proved fatal. This was a typical case of
gaseous gangrene caused by B. perfringens and other bacteria. The typical lesions produced by pure infections of B. histolyticus were probably masked and were not recognized.
All of the other patients recovered and the peculiar lesions of infection by B. histolyticus were not recognized in any case.
Persistence of B. histolyticus in an infected wound was noted in one case of compound fracture of the leg as late
as the twenty-fifth day, when the leg had to be amputated. Persistence to the thirty-seventh
day was observed also in a case of multiple pistol shot wounds.
The occurrence of B. histolyticus in wounds is regarded solely as an expression of its widespread occurrence in nature.
If wounds are promptly and adequately débrided it rarely persists. If gaseous gangrene
develops, the peculiar lesions produced by this organism in pure infections are likely
to be masked and overlooked. It may persist in a mixed infection for twenty-five to
thirty-seven days without giving any clinical indication of its presence.
The comparatively infrequent demonstration of this organism in accidental wounds probably
gives an erroneous conception of the actual frequency of its occurrence owing to the
fact that it is so easily overlooked in a bacteriologic examination of a mixed infection.
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Article info
Publication history
Received:
March 26,
1945
Footnotes
☆Work done under a contract recommended by the Committee on Medical Research, between the Office of Scientific Research and Development and Columbia University.
Identification
Copyright
© 1945 Published by Elsevier Inc.
