This case of acute intestinal toxemia, the result of high obstruction, seems to me to be worthy of report. I am in debt to the commanding officer, Major Haverkampt, and the staff of the provisional base hospital, Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., for permission to report the case and the clinical data.
Experimentally, this toxemia has received considerable mention, especially following the work of Whipple, Sweet and others. So far as I am aware, it has not been frequently described as a clinical entity. A substance or combination of substances, the exact nature of which is undetermined, has been isolated from the closed loops of the upper intestine, notably the duodenum. In concentration, this substance is extremely potent, producing rapid death in experimental animals.
REPORT OF CASE
History.
—E. V., aged 23, a private, was admitted to the base hospital, Aug. 18, 1917, complaining of a feeling of discomfort about the umbilicus