147/189 long had perforated the pericardium, causing a suppurative pericarditis. Dagron reports a unique instance of death by purulent infection arising from perforation of the esophagus by a pin. The patient was a man of forty-two, and, some six weeks before he presented himself for treatment, before swallowing had experienced a severe pain low down in the neck. Five days before admission he had had a severe chill, followed by sweating and delirium. He died of a supraclavicular abscess on the fifth day; a black steel pin was found against the esophagus and trachea. |