RT Journal
A1 KILBOURNE NJ
T1 LEg ulcers of unrecognized etiology
JF Journal of the American Medical Association
JO Journal of the American Medical Association
YR 1932
FD June 4
VO 98
IS 23
SP 1955
OP 1960
DO 10.1001/jama.1932.02730490001001
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1932.02730490001001
AB In a series of 150 cases of leg ulcer, seen in clinic and in consultation, 50 patients were found in whom varicose veins were not visible and the Wassermann reaction was not positive to point to the cause of the ulcer. Ulcers with no obvious etiology present a neglected problem in diagnosis.The clinical picture is distressing: the patients are incapacitated for self-support; they are unable to sleep at night for pain; they go unhealed for five years, ten years, twenty years, even thirty-eight years!The past histories of these fifty cases showed that the average practitioner is puzzled to know what to do with them. He tries ointments, light treatments or ingenious surgical procedures to the part. Improvement is temporary. Eventually the old ulcer breaks down again or new ulcers form because the original cause of the ulcer has not been ascertained.In my experience, a way out can