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The Roman Empire
Published in Scott M. Jackson, Skin Disease and the History of Dermatology, 2023
Of the skin lesions that “arise internally from corruption of some internal part … there is none worse than the carbuncle,” and “the best plan is to cauterize without loss of time.”17 On the other hand, carcinoma “is not so dangerous, unless exasperated by imprudent treatment” and “chiefly occurs in the upper parts, about the face, nose, ears, lips, and the breasts of females.”18 Celsus noted stages of skin cancer: first an early, curable stage called a cacoethes, next a cancer without ulcer, then an ulcer, and finally a thymium (warty mass). He discouraged treatment of any stage but the first. Celsus' ignis sacer (see Interlude 2) sounds more like an ulcerative disease such as pyoderma gangrenosum or shingles than erysipelas, which does not ulcerate. Celsus was among the first to describe scrofula (struma in Latin), a cutaneous presentation of tuberculosis: Scrofula is a tumor in which certain concretions below the skin, consisting of pus and blood, arise like small glands: these are particularly troublesome to the medical attendant; for not only do they excite fever, but they scarcely ever maturate without difficulty; and whether treated by the knife, or by medicaments, they again make their appearance near the old cicatrix, but much more frequently after being treated by the last; add to these, they are of long continuance. They principally occur in the neck, but in the armpits also, the groins, and sides.19
Application of Next-Generation Plant-Derived Nanobiofabricated Drugs for the Management of Tuberculosis
Published in Richard L. K. Glover, Daniel Nyanganyura, Rofhiwa Bridget Mulaudzi, Maluta Steven Mufamadi, Green Synthesis in Nanomedicine and Human Health, 2021
Charles Oluwaseun Adetunji, Olugbenga Samuel Michael, Muhammad Akram, Kadiri Oseni, Ajayi Kolawole Temidayo, Osikemekha Anthony Anani, Akinola Samson Olayinka, Olerimi Samson E, Wilson Nwankwo, Iram Ghaffar, Juliana Bunmi Adetunji
The origin of the genus Mycobacterium has been traced to over 150 million years ago (Barberis et al., 2017). The bacteria were assumed to be found initially in soil and some species evolved to live in mammals. The migration of a mycobacterial pathogen from domesticated cattle to humans and its adaptation to a new host by evolution to the closely related Mycobacterium tuberculosis was thought to take place within 10,000–25,000 years ago (Smith, 2003). In the Middle Age, an ailment of cervical lymph nodes termed scrofula was depicted as a new clinical form of TB. Afterwards, tuberculosis disease was referred to as “King’s evil” in England and France as it was widely believed a royal touch could bring healing to persons affected (Barberis et al., 2017). Also “consumption” and “phthisis” both terms were used in the 17th and 18th centuries to describe the disease due to associated weight loss and progressive wasting condition, respectively, until the mid-19th century when Johann Lukas Schonlein coined the term “tuberculosis”. A renowned scientist named Robert Koch isolated M. tuberculosis and presented his novel findings to the Society of Physiology in Berlin on 24th of March 1882, and this defined a milestone in battling TB (Barberis et al., 2017).
Tuberculosis in Childhood and Pregnancy
Published in Lloyd N. Friedman, Martin Dedicoat, Peter D. O. Davies, Clinical Tuberculosis, 2020
Lindsay H. Cameron, Jeffrey R. Starke
Tuberculosis of the superficial lymph nodes, historically referred to as scrofula, is the most common form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in children, accounting for approximately 67% of cases.63,67 Historically, scrofula was usually caused by drinking unpasteurized cow's milk laden with Mycobacterium bovis. However, through effective veterinary control, M. bovis has been nearly eliminated from North America. Most current cases of tuberculous lymphadenitis occur within 6–9 months of the initial infection, although some cases arise years later. The tonsillar, anterior cervical, submandibular, and supraclavicular nodes become involved secondary to extension of a primary lesion of the upper lung fields or abdomen. Infected lymph nodes in the inguinal, epitrochlear, or axillary regions result from regional adenitis associated with tuberculosis of the skin or skeletal system.
Mycobacterium scrofulaceum disease: experience from a tertiary medical centre and review of the literature
Published in Infectious Diseases, 2019
John W. Wilson, Anil C. Jagtiani, Nancy L. Wengenack
Mycobacterium scrofulaceum is a slow-growing non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM) originally identified over fifty years ago and named for the ‘scrofula’-like infections described in children with cervical lymphadenitis [1,2]. M. scrofulaceum is classified as a Runyon class II scotochromogen, producing yellow pigment in both light and dark conditions. It is an ubiquitous organism commonly associated with aqueous environments, including warm, acidic and swamp water [3]. Aside from reported cases of paediatric NTM lymphadenitis [4,5], M. scrofulaceum disease in adults is rarely encountered, and the clinical manifestations and management strategies remain unclear. To further characterize both clinical disease and management approaches of M. scrofulaceum infections, we reviewed all clinical cases of M. scrofulaceum infection identified at our medical centre over a 15-year period and compared our findings with those of other prior published reports. Types of mycobacterial disease, co-morbidities, antimicrobial treatment and outcomes are described.
Richard Bright’s observations on diseases of the nervous system due to inflammation
Published in Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, 2018
In the section on the effects of pressure, Bright provided additional examples of intracranial “scrofulous tubercles” generally connected with a “scrofulous constitution,” and tubercles elsewhere in the body, which were sometimes accompanied by an increase in the intracranial fluid (p. 360).5Scrofula (King’s evil) or cervical adenitis and tubercles in the lung and elsewhere in the body was recognized as different aspects of the same disease at the end of the eighteenth century, but the question was not settled until the discovery of the tuberculosis bacillus by Robert Koch (1843–1910). The term scrofula is derived from the Latin scrofa, breed sow, apparently because pigs were prone to the disease. These cases may represent tuberculous meningitis.
What caused Joan of Arc’s neuropsychiatric symptoms? Medical hypotheses from 1882 to 2016
Published in Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, 2023
He also argued that tuberculosis was widespread in European cattle during medieval times and that it was common for the bovine form to spread through infected milk, especially to children (Ratnasuriya 1986). Because Joan had tended her father’s cattle, she also might have become infected by inhalation. Ratnasuriya added epidemiologic data, noting that, in regions where tuberculosis is common, about one-third of intracranial tumors are found to be tuberculomas (Ratnasuriya 1986). One critic of Ratnasuriya’s ideas noted that Joan was never reported to have had scrofula, the most common manifestation of bovine tuberculosis (Moore 1986).