HISTOPATHOLOGIC EXAMINATION OF THE SKIN IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF MYXEDEMA IN CHILDREN

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
FOR years it has been known that hypothyroidism may be associated with an accumulation of a mucinous substance in the dermal connective tissue. In 1878 Ord (1) coined the term myxedema, i.e., mucinous edema, which has ever since been used to designate the entire syndrome caused by hypofunction of the thyroid gland. In a case of hypothyroidism Ord, by chemical methods, found fifty times the normal amount of mucin in the skin. A few years later (1885) Horsley (2) reported accumulation of mucin in the connective tissue of myxedematous humans and monkeys. Carol (3) studied the skin of patients with localized myxedema by chemical methods and found a mucin-like substance which reduced Fehling's solution following hydrolysis with hydrochloric acid. Watson (4) and Watson and Pearce (5) reported a marked increase in the connective-tissue content of hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulphuric acid in localized myxedema. In the tissues, these mucopotysaccharides are bound to proteins.