Abstract
DR. ALFONSO R. SIMS contributes a paper on the spontaneous healing of cavities in tuberculosis of the lungs to Aparato Respiratorio y Tuberculosis, No. 3, 1944, published in Santiago De Chile, in which he gives the results of investigations carried out during the period 1937–42 at the Laenec Sanatorium, when 1,130 cases were dealt with. Males only were admitted—adolescents and adults—and it was found that spontaneous cures amounted to only 8·71 per cent. The importance of the size of the cavity was recognized and cures were not effected in cases where the diameter of the cavity exceeded 4–5 cm. It is remarkable that cavities in the left lung showed a greater tendency to heal spontaneously than those in the right lung. Schminke's classification of the cavities as primary, secondary and tertiary, the first having three and the second two subdivisions, was adopted, and it was found that by far the greatest number of spontaneous cures took place with the first class. Infra-clavicle cavities provided the greatest percentage of spontaneous cures, and those at the apex seldom provided any. It is pointed out that great care is necessary before taking any risks in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, and in all cases the patients should be dealt with while they are confined to bed, or at least under the best possible conditions of repose.
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Lung Cavities in Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Nature 155, 694 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/155694a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/155694a0