Anybody know what this illness is ?

[Guest]

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[dobbiedobz1]

Looks to me like pyosalpinx - not very nice!

Definition: Distention of a fallopian tube with pus.

Would this make sense?

[Guest]

thanks Dobbie does that kill then ?

[dobbiedobz1]

It's abcesses on the falopian tubes - I would imagine left untreated it could kill through things like blood poisoning etc. I googled it and got this definition:

'Pyosalpinx
an accumulation of pus in an oviduct, usually resulting from acute
salpingitis. Obliteration of the external and internal apertures of the oviduct
results in the formation of a closed purulent cavity whose walls are the
distended and thickened oviduct. Pyosalpinx often develops after abortion; more
rarely it is caused by postpartum infection. Other frequent causes are acute and
chronic gonococcic salpingitis.

The symptoms of pyosalpinx are pain in the lower abdomen, fever, and
leukocytosis. Gynecological examination reveals a painful, sizable formation in
the true pelvis, located lateral to the uterus or behind it. Pyosalpinx may be
acute or chronic; periodic aggravation is often mistaken for a chronic
inflammation of the uterine appendages. The most dangerous complication is
rupture of the oviduct, with development of pelvic peritonitis and later of
diffuse peritonitis.

Treatment of the disorder consists of laparotomy and removal of the
pus-filled oviduct. Pyosalpinx may be prevented by timely treatment of
salpingitis and gonorrhea and by reducing the number of abortions.'


Robyn

[Guest]

good grief wish they would write in plain english sounds awful, thanks very much Robyn

[dobbiedobz1]

LOL I think that might be taken from a medical journal so lots of medical mumbo-jumbo thrown in there! I think we can gather though it's not something that you'd want to be suffering with!

Robyn

[Guest]

wonder if she had an abortion then ??? mmmmmmmm thanks again

[dobbiedobz1]

It very well could be, although pyosalpinx seems to start off as a bacterial infection so could have well been an STD or another infection - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salpingitis.

Did your lady die from this then? Or was it a hospital admission?

Robyn

[Guest]

not positive its her but very likely yes she did die from it and she wasnt married so thats why I wondered about an abortion?

[dobbiedobz1]

Hmmm possibly then if she wasn't married - that's the worst part about doing this is all the unanswered questions at the end!! We can only speculate what caused it, unless she was admitted to a hospital that would have her records? Otherwise who knows!

Robyn

[Guest]

I'd love to go back in time and see what they lived like wouldn't you ?

[dobbiedobz1]

Oh indeed! I think my Dad's family would have been a colourful bunch - found a few criminal convictions for his grandfather and great grandfather for public drunkeness in the late 1800s!! The more I look into my family tree the more questions I end up asking myself!

[Olde Crone Holden]

Val

As abortion was a criminal offence I think it would have been mentioned on the DC as a primary cause of death and there would most likely have been an inquest.

OC

[darannon]

I'm not sure what year this is from? Anyway, I do know that in medical terms a miscarriage often used to be referred to as an abortion, or spontaneous abortion. I know this caused upset (not suprising)
Also, maybe your lady had an ectopic pregnancy that caused an infection in her fallopian tubes?
Denise

[Guest]

thanks OC I dont think it mentioned an inquest, and thanks Denise this was from 1890

[kiki1982]

I believe ectopic preganancies usually end in the falopian tube bursting (due to the size of the baby) and then the woman bleeding to death inside.

Could be an abortion, but could also be post-partum, i.e. after delivery (of an illegitimate child in this case that would be).

Could probably also be spontaneous, though, as it is a bacterial infection, but nonetheless, the abortion thing makes you wonder ;)

[Olde Crone Holden]

As I said, abortion was a serious criminal offence and if criminal abortion was even suspected as the cause of death it would have had to be investigated by a coronor, just as murder is/was. Even if it was thought the abortion was self inflicted, there would still be an inquest. They didn't pull their punches in victorian times - you were punished, dead or alive, for your "crime".

Whatever the cause, the poor soul must have died an agonising death.

OC