Evening star., 1952-05-24
Doctors Report
Rare Medical
Cases at Clinic
Pediutrics Told of
Nerve Tumor Thut
Almost Killed Child
By Wallace E. cIoyton

The first reported case of a
nerve tumor which had a definite
functional effect on the body was
described today by DR.. Gordon w.
Daisley. jr., chief resident at
ChildrenS Hospital.
DR.. Daisley described the case
to members of the American
Academy Of Pediatrics, at the
final session of a three-day scien-
tific meeting at the Hotel Statler.
A nerve called a gangli-
oneuroma is not unknown.
About $50 cases have been report
ed in medical literature, DR..
Daisley said.
However. these other small
tumors have had no effect on the
body other than pain or discom-
fort.
Removed by Physicians.
In the case reported by DR..
Daisley, the tumor caused a severe
case of diarrhea. The child was
near death when Childrens Hos
pital physicians removed the tu-
NOR.
The growth, about as round asI
a 50-cent piece, was removed from
one of the adrenal glands, the
glands which control the electro
1yte balance of the body.
DR.. Daisley said doctors could
not explain why this particular
nerve tumor had such a near-fatall
effect, when similar growths have
not had functional effects. HeI
pointed out. however, that nausea
and diarrhea are symptoms of
some adrenal disease. The case
history of the child is containedl
in the latest issue of the Children's
Hospital Clinical Proceedings.
In another report on a medical
first" Col. Ogden c. Bruton, chief
pediatrician at the Walter Reed
Army Medical Center, told of anI
8-year-old boy who was found toI
have no gamma globulin in his
blood. These are immunity fac
tors built up in the blood by ex-
posure to disease.
When Col. Bruton first saw the
child. the patient had had mumps
three times. Although immunizedl
three times against diphtheria,
subsequent tests showed the vac
cine had produced no disease
resisting, effect.
Had Recurring Complaint.
The child. son of an airman,
was brought to the hospital suf-
fering from recurring chills and
fever. He returned to the hos
pital several times with the same
complaint, which was diagnosed
as septis. a bloodstream infection.
When it was discovered his
blood had no gamma globulin.
dosages of it-manufactured COM
mercially from human serum :
was administered. Col. Bruton
said it was found that the highly
necessary factors disappeared
from the blood after six weeks.
But during that period the child
had no reoccurrence of septis.
Consequently the patient was put
on a regular routine of gamma
globulin injections. Vaccines for
such disease as diphtheria are
now effective, and the child has
had no other infections for the
last IA months.
DR.. Reginald S. Lourie, director
Of the department of psychiatry
at Childrens Hospital here, told
the pediatricians yesterday they
have a claim to the care of adoles-
cents, but he said "it is still an
unworked claim"
Continued Care Suggested.
- He suggested that pediatricians
continue to care for their patients
through the early teens, in order
to help them through the difficult
emotional adjustments of adoles-
cence.
DR.. Harold Jacobziner, director
of the New York City Bureau of
Child Health. disagreed with lex
pressed views" by some narcotics
control officials that educational
publicity on narcotics is dangerous
because it stimulates curiosity.
In. sketching the fight against
drug addiction in New York
schools. DR. Jacobziner said:
Education in an important ad-
junct in the control and preven-
ton of any epidemic. It should be
directed at all levels. but should
be Informative and reliable and
devoid of sensationalism and
hysteria.
He said not every one exposed to
drugs becomes an addict.