THE RÔLE OF ATYPICAL DISEASE IN THE CONTINUING MORTALITY OF ACUTE APPENDICITIS
Authors: F F BOYCE
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1954)

Article1 April 1954THE RÔLE OF ATYPICAL DISEASE IN THE CONTINUING MORTALITY OF ACUTE APPENDICITISFREDERICK FITZHERBERT BOYCE, M.D.FREDERICK FITZHERBERT BOYCE, M.D.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-40-4-669 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptThe Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in 1951 published an article on the chances of dying from important causes.1aAcute appendicitis was not included in the list. Statistically there was good reason for the omission. The death rate from this cause among company policyholders had been reduced by more than 80 per cent in the preceding five years and by more than 60 per cent in the preceding 10 years.1bFinancially, there was equally good reason for the omission. In 1927 the company paid out $2,337,000 on deaths from appendicitis.1cIn 1952 it paid out $765,000, about one third as much,...Bibliography1. (a) The chances of dying from important causes, Statistical Bull., Metropolitan Life Insurance Company 32: 3, 1951. (b) Appendicitis death rate still decreasing, ibid. 32: 9, 1951. (c) Death claim payments total $335,588,000 in 1952, ibid. 34: 2, 1953. Google Scholar2. Rees WS: Fatal appendicitis: the decline in mortality, Lancet 2: 1199, 1952. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Estimated numbers of deaths and death rates for the United States. Annual summary for 1952, part 2. Monthly Vital Statistics Report, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare 1: 15, 1953. Google Scholar4. Murphy JB: Two thousand operations for appendicitis, with deductions from his personal experience, Am. J. M. Sc. 128: 187, 1904. CrossrefGoogle Scholar5. McClureAltemeier RDWA: Acute perforated appendicitis with peritonitis. Report of two hundred fifty-two consecutive cases, Ann. Surg. 105: 800, 1937. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. Totten HP: Mortality factors in appendicitis with perforation, Ann. Surg. 106: 1035, 1937. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. Bryant JD: Removal of the vermiform appendix. Letter from New York (Domestic Correspondence), J. A. M. A. 8: 55, 1887. Google Scholar8. Collins DC: The dangerous masking effect of penicillin in acute perforative appendicitis with secondary peritonitis, Ann. West. Med. and Surg. 5: 71, 1951. MedlineGoogle Scholar9. MillerBryant EMR: Mesenteric venous thrombosis associated with acute appendicitis in a young child. Recovery following resection of infarcted intestine, J. A. M. A. 149: 1634, 1952. CrossrefGoogle Scholar10. Van Zwalenburg C: Obstruction and consequent distention the cause of appendicitis, as proved by cases and by experimental appendicitis in dogs, J. A. M. A. 42: 820, 1904. CrossrefGoogle Scholar11. Wilkie DP: Acute appendicitis and acute appendicular obstruction, Brit. M. J. 2: 959, 1914. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar12. Wangensteen OH: The genesis of appendicitis in the light of the functional behavior of the vermiform appendix (Lewis Linn McArthur Lecture), Proc. Inst. Med. Chicago 12: 266, 1939. Google Scholar13. deTarnowsky G: Surgery of the aged: indications and contraindications, S. Clin. North America 20: 3, 1940. Google Scholar14. Case 38162, Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital, New England J. Med. 246: 627, 1952. MedlineGoogle Scholar15. KellyHurdon HAE: The vermiform appendix and its diseases, 1905, W. B. Saunders and Company, Philadelphia. CrossrefGoogle Scholar16. Boyce FF: Acute appendicitis and its complications, 1949, Oxford University Press, New York. Google Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: New Orleans, Louisiana*Received for publication October 9, 1953.From the Department of Surgery, Tulane University of Louisiana School of Medicine. Nextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byACUTE APPENDICITIS: A REVIEW OF MORTALITY AND A REAPPRAISAL OF EARLY DIAGNOSIS AND APPENDICECTOMYTHE CAUSES OF DELAY IN OPERATION FOR ACUTE APPENDICITISThe Acute Abdomen—Medical AspectsCurrent pediatric references 1 April 1954Volume 40, Issue 4Page: 669-693KeywordsAppendicitisDeath ratesMortalitySurgery ePublished: 1 December 2008 Issue Published: 1 April 1954 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright, 1954, by The American College of PhysiciansPDF downloadLoading ...