The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Digital Library
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Coronal Section of the Perineum (Pelvis)
No full textThis wet specimen is a coronal section (front to back) of the lower pelvic region showing the anatomical structure of both the soft tissue and the pelvic bones. The tissues have been treated with a solution that renders portions transparent in order to see the blood vessels. The hole in the specimen is the rectum.
This cross section belongs to a series of specimens across the pelvis. The series is among the many items donated by Oscar V. Batson, MD. Dr. Batson (1894–1979) was a distinguished otolaryngologist and anatomist. He was a Fellow of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia for 47 years and donated more than 400 objects and specimens to the Mütter Museum. One of Dr. Batson’s contributions to medicine was his study of vertebral veins. He developed a technique for preparing anatomical specimens that allowed the visualization of the vascular system as a complete unit. This technique allowed physicians to see the extent of the complexity of the vascular system as well as how cancers could spread through the vertebral venous system.
These pelvis specimens were prepared using Dr. Batson’s technique of injecting the vascular system with a special solution and then applying s specific corrosive substance that would render some soft tissue translucent, enabling physicians to see the blood vessels more clearly
Coal Miner’s Lung
No full textNormal lungs are pink, with spongy, springy tissue. This lung from a coal miner shows significant discoloration and damage, such as scarring and fibrosis.
Long-term exposure to coal dust and silica dust generated during coal mining can lead to lung damage. Fine coal and silica dust particles are inhaled deep into the lungs, and tissues there react by becoming inflamed, scarred, and hardened. Over many years this damage can lead to chronic cough and shortness of breath. There is no known treatment or cure. Various names for this condition are black lung disease, coal miner’s disease, and coal worker’s pneumoconiosis.
It took years of activism and advocacy by miners and their unions and public health officials for industry and policy makers to recognize that exposure to coal dust could cause chronic, debilitating disease. Since 1969, the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has required regular health surveillance of coal miners. This now includes periodic chest x-rays, breathing tests, and surveys about exposures. Coal miners can receive compensation for occupational exposures and resulting injuries, and mining operations are subject to regulations that attempt to limit miners’ exposures.
In spite of these regulatory efforts, coal miners still get black lung disease. After an explosion in 2010 killed 29 West Virginia coal miners, autopsies showed that 71% of those with enough lung tissue to be examined had black lung disease
Pessaries
No full textA pessary is a device inserted into the vagina to support the uterus, correct the position of the uterus, or support other organs. When the structures that normally support the uterus are weakened such as by pregnancy, traumatic birth, or multiple births, the uterus may descend into or through the vagina. This condition is called uterine prolapse. Pessaries are primarily used to treat uterine prolapse and may also be used in bladder, rectal, and vaginal prolapse.
The earliest mention of pessary use can be found in Egyptian papyrus scrolls. They have been made from a variety of materials including wood, metal, glass, Bakelite, and more recently rubber and medical grade silicone. The shape of a pessary is determined by the nature of the prolapse and the patient’s anatomy.
The Mütter Museum collection includes hundreds of pessaries. The blown glass globe pessary shown here is one of our oldest and dates from the 1840s. It is easy to imagine that this fragile glass orb made moving difficult. The two metal pessaries were sturdier but dangerous, as the metal could be toxic to the wearer. The metal globe was used for uterine prolapse, and the oblong S-shaped one for rectal and bladder prolapse. The donut-shaped rubber pessary type was commonly used for severe uterine prolapse, or for support of the cervix after a partial hysterectomy. The metal coil pessary was intracervical: its stem was inserted into the opening of the cervix. This type was developed in Germany in the 1880s as a birth-control method. Its modern-day descendant is the IUD (intracervical uterine device).
As limiting as these objects may seem, they were a low-cost and safer alternative to surgery, especially in the 19th century when obstetrical surgery was fraught with the danger of trauma and infection. Pessaries are still used today for some women who are not good candidates for surgical treatment of prolapse.
Accession Numbers:
17521.60J (glass globe)
17521.62B (metal globe)
F1995.72 (oblong metal)
17521.72 (coiled spring stem attached to hollow oval base)
17838.24 (rubber, doughnut-shaped
Placental Corrosion Specimen with Twin
No full textThis double placenta nourished a pair of twins during pregnancy, but something went wrong. The placenta, an organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy, provides nutrients and oxygen to a developing fetus through the arteries and vein in the umbilical cord. The human navel or belly button, the scar left after the umbilical cord detaches, is a permanent reminder of the months spent in the womb.
The mother of these twins had hydramnios (amniotic fluid disorder), a condition that occurs in about 1–4% of pregnancies, more frequently with twins or multiple births. The amniotic sac filled with fluid surrounds the fetus, forming a protective cushion. The fetus moves around in the amniotic fluid and even “breathes” the liquid, which helps its lungs develop. If there is too much or too little fluid, however, the fetus or fetuses may not grow normally.
In this case, one fetus literally crowded out the other, which stopped developing at four months gestation. The remaining twin, a boy, developed fully and was born normally. When the placenta was expelled after birth, the tiny, compressed body of the second fetus was revealed. As the old catalogue card for the specimen notes, “the struggle for existence . . . began in the womb.”
The skull collection of Austrian anatomist Joseph Hyrtl, MD (1810–1894), is one of the highlights of the Mütter Museum. Hyrtl also studied placentas for clues about fetal development. This specimen resembles a wax model because it is partly made of wax. To create a corrosion specimen, the preparator injected liquid wax into blood vessels. After the material hardened, the preparator applied acid to corrode or “burn” away the surface of the blood vessels, then painted the wax casts to look lifelike. Here, red pigment (now faded) marks the arteries that took oxygen-rich blood from the placenta to the fetus, and blue shows the veins that carried oxygen-depleted blood back to the placenta. Acid also removed the flesh of the remaining fetus, leaving only the skeleton. Hyrtl was a highly skilled anatomical preparator, expert in the corrosion process
The Discovery of Radium
No full textA promotional card published by the Radium Chemical Company of Pittsburgh PA depicting the discovery of radium by Marie Curie and suggesting its medicinal use in the treatment of uterine fibroids
Wood cut made from a photograph of an ovarian cyst case
No full textWood cut illustration made from a photograph of an ovarian cyst case. The woman’s navel is herniated. Taken from Diseases of the ovaries; :their diagnosis and treatment by Spencer Wells.Title supplied by cataloge