Action of Iodized Oils on Serous Membranes.

Abstract

Iodized oils (Lipiodol “Lafay”, and Lipoiodin “Ciba”) have been injected into the pericardium, pleura, peritoneum, and joint cavities in an endeavor to study the pathogenicity of these substances. Dogs were used throughout. Ten animals were injected intrapericardially with 15 to 20 cc. iodized oil; in each case the dog developed a sterile pericarditis with marked effusion. Death was in most cases due to a pneumonia which was probably secondary to an embarrassed circulation caused by the pericardial effusion. The pericardium was covered with a fibrinous exudate resembling that of the “shaggy heart” of pneumonia; there was thickening of the pericardium and it appeared congested. A few adhesions were commonly present, especially about the auricles. The exudate consisted of from 90 to 300 cc. of creamy fluid, which on microscopic examination showed oil droplets, fibrin, and leucocytes (chiefly lymphocytes). Direct smears of the effusion were always negative for bacteria, as were cultures. Microscopic examination of frozen sections stained with Sudan III and of ordinary hematoxylin and eosin preparations showed the fibrin layer covering the inner surface of the pericardium to be loaded with leucocytes and oil droplets. The pericardium itself contained many leucocytes and a few red blood cells. The first few layers of muscle fibers under the pericardium had undergone fatty degeneration.