PULMONARY EMBOLISM.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 25, 6 March 1914, Page 5

PULMONARY EMBOLISM.

THE COLLINS INQUEST. An inquest was held at the Magistrate 's Court to-day on the body of George Ipdward Collins, of Opawa, who died on Tuesday afternoon at 3 o'clock, after undergoing treatment with "Salvarsan.''

Mr Bishop conducted the proceedings and Mr Mosley appeared on behalf of the relatives.

Albert John Orchard, medical practitioner, said that N deceased was a patient of his. He was suffering from a constitutional disease that had proved impracticable of treatment by any ordinary means. It was arranged some time ago that he should have injected, into him a suitable remedy used in such cases. The name of the remedy was Salvarsan. It is customary to dissolve it in salt and water and inject it into one of the superficial veins of the arm. The preparation of the solution of the drug and injection of it was carried out in the customary way—that is, the method generally adopted. Witness had made previous examinations of deceased from time to time, and he knew of no contrary indications. The process occupied from fifteen to twenty minutes. During most of that time the patient experienced no change in sensation. When most of the preparation had been injected he began to cough violently, and complained that he was short of breath. For this reason a small portion was not injected. He had most of the dose. The coughing continued for several minutes an'd also the shortness of breath. He was distinctly cyanosed (blue). It appeared .to witness that there was some interference with the circulation of the blood through the lungs. Witness then- made a hypodermic injection with the object of stimulating his circulation. The patient's colour improved, and he said he was better, and in fact seemed to be fairly comfortable. Witness then left the house, promising to return soon. An hour afterwards witness received an urgent message to return. Deceased died just as he arrived. Ever since Collins had come to Christchurch witness had treated him for this disease. About two years ago he used the Salvarsan treatment on another patient, injecting it into the muscles of the back. Later again he injected it into the arm of another man. In neither case was there any ill effect. This was the first time it had been used on Collins. In one' of-the other cases the result was brilliant. It was an especially difficult case of long standing. Witness pointed out that the treatment was not free from risk. The mortality in the treatment was about one in one thousand. Apart from this disease Collins was a physically strong man. Dr A. C. Sandstein said that he had made the post mortem on deceased on the evening of March 3. Dr Orchard was present. - The body was well nourished, but the face was very cyanosed, with a considerable amount of discharge from the nostrils. Both lungs showed gigns of old-standing pleurisy, especially on tlie right side. Death was due to infraction of blood clots from the pulmonary arteries. In witness's opinion there was a tendency to the formation of clots, probably due to a specific condition. The injection of Salvarsan caused an acute formation of clots superimposed on the old condition. The administration of "606" was familiar to witness in every way. He could/' call to mind at least eight cases. The results obtainable by the '' 606'' treatment were unparallelled, and patients willingly ran the risk involved in its use. Except for the clotting of the blood there was no other risk, and the benefits had been immense, the drug acting like a charm. John 11. Collins, residing at Lyttelton, stated that deceased was his brother. He had been laid up for about eleven months about five years ago, otherwise he was in fair health. The Coroner recorded a verdict in accordance with Dr Sandstein's evidence to the effect that deceased died from pulmonary embolism.