Chronic lead poisoning in guinea pigs

Abstract

Of the twenty-eight guinea pigs treated with sublethal doses of carbonate of lead seven (25 per cent.) showed a peculiar condition to which so far attention does not seem to have been directed. There has developed a hemorrhagic, sero-fibrinous inflammation of the pericardium, of the peritoneum in the upper part of the peritoneal cavity and occasionally also of the pleuræ. In the pericardium the lesion commences with a hemorrhagic exudate followed by the formation of fibrinous deposits especially on the parietal layer and ending with organization with marked thickening and occasionally adhesions. In the pleuræ one finds as a rule a simple serous exudate without deposits but occasionally heavy deposits of fibrin also. In the peritoneum also the condition commences with fibrinous deposits and eventually leads to marked peritoneal thickening more especially in the upper part of the peritoneal cavity. The capsules of liver and spleen are much thickened and the contraction of the thickened capsule often causes marked deformity of the liver. The lesions produced in this way are closely analogous to Curschmann's “Zuckergussleber.” The spleen is always more or less enlarged, but this is due to the excessive destruction of erythrocytes by the lead and is found in all animals. 1

It was only natural to suspect the presence of a bacterial infection of the serous membranes in these cases. A very careful bacteriological examination was made in several of the cases, but it was entirely negative.

Whether the hemorrhagic exudation which ushers in the process is due to the lead anemia appears to me a question well worth debating. Smears of the exudate show few leucocytes and often many nucleated red blood corpuscles, even megaloblasts.

In one case (46) adhesions had formed in the upper part of the peritoneal cavity with partial strangulation of duodenum and intestine and extreme dilatation of the stomach.