Abstract
1.1. Seventy-five cases of postabortal infection with Clostridium welchii are presented. These occurred from 1948 to 1952 at the Maternity Hospital in Santiago, Chile.2.2. The incidence of this infection at this hospital among all patients with abortion was 1 in 307.3.3. The symptoms and clinical course of these cases are described. The diagnostic triad of hemoglobinuria, hemoglobinemia, and a deep bronze icterus leaves no difficulty in the diagnosis of this disease.4.4. The course of the disease is described as occurring in two phases, the icterohemolytic syndrome and the hepatorenal syndrome.5.5. The mortality rate was 73.3 per cent, with a decrease in mortality rate from 87.5 per cent early in the series to 68.7 per cent in the last year.6.6. Twenty-three (30 per cent) of these patients developed anuria; 94.6 per cent had oliguria some time during the course of their illnesses.7.7. Laboratory and pathological findings are described.8.8. Treatment was directed along three basic lines, removing the focus of infection in the uterus, specific treatment with Perfringens antitoxin and antibiotics, and supportive treatment.9.9. Although the outcome of any given case depended primarily on the virulence and toxicity of the organism, treatment as outlined appeared to offer a better chance of survival.10.10. The serious abortion problem in Chile is decried and a plea for preventive measures to curtail it made.
Published Version
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