| Abstrakt: |
The title of my paper is rather misleading, for I do not propose to describe to you allthe abnormalities of the bones constituting the thoracic wall. It is my privilege to have the opportunity of seeing a very large number of skiagrams of the chest at the Brompton Hospital, but X-ray examinations are there undertaken mainly for the determination of the radiographic appearances of the lungs, pleura and heart; the technique therefore is chosen for that purpose only.Some time ago I was rather impressed by the number of variations from the normal as regards the ribs, seen in these routine films, and made a rough estimate that such congenital variations occurred in about 1 per cent of all cases examined. I therefore began detailed examination of films and reports in somewhere over 5,000 cases, to be exact 5,728, and my remarks are confined to what I saw in these cases.In this series some definite congenital abnormality appeared in 52 cases, proving that the original estimate of frequency was practically correct, approximately 1 per cent. The sex ratio was 25 males to 27 females, and the average age of the patients 32 years.It is generally stated that malformations of the ribs are usually associated with malformations of the corresponding vertebræ the truth of this is I am not in a position to prove or disprove as, of course, we are only concerned with examination of the contents of the thoracic cavity, but at some future date I hope to be able to bring to your notice the result of personal observation on this point. |
