King Henry IV of France touching a number of sufferers of scrofula who are gathered about him in a circle. André de Laurens, 1609

Scrofula (Scrophula or Struma) refers to a variety of skin diseases; in particular, a form of tuberculosis, affecting the lymph nodes of the neck. In adults it is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and in children by nontuberculous mycobacteria. The word comes from the Latin scrofulae, meaning brood sow. Image File history File links Copperplate engraving by André Du Laurens (1558-1609), an anatomist and Paris court physician, showing King Henry IV of France touching a number of sufferers who are gathered about him in a circle. ... Image File history File links Copperplate engraving by André Du Laurens (1558-1609), an anatomist and Paris court physician, showing King Henry IV of France touching a number of sufferers who are gathered about him in a circle. ... Dermatology is a branch of medicine dealing with the skin, its structure, functions, and diseases (from Greek derma, skin), as well as its appendages (nails, hair, sweat glands). ... Tuberculous lungs show up on an X-ray image Tuberculosis is an infection with the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can also affect the central nervous system (meningitis), lymphatic system, circulatory system (miliary TB), genitourinary system, bones and joints. ... Structure of the lymph node. ... Binomial name Mycobacterium tuberculosis Zopf, 1883 Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the bacterium that causes most cases of tuberculosis. ... Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), or atypical mycobacteria or mycobacteria other than tuberculosis (MOTT), are mycobacteria which do not cause tuberculosis or Hansens disease (leprosy). ... Latin is the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Sow means: A female pig. ...

History

This disease is also called "The King's Evil," as it was believed in the Middle Ages that the touch of the sovereign of England or France could cure it, they having received this power from descent from Edward the Confessor, who, according to some legends, received it from Saint Remigius. The original Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Church contained a ceremony for this, and it was traditional for the monarch (king or queen) to present to the touched person a coin -- usually an Angel, a gold coin the value of which varied from about 6 shillings to about 10 shillings. King Henry IV of France is reported as often touching and healing as many as 1,500 individuals at a time. Middle age is a non-specific age when a person is not old, not young, but somewhere in the middle. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... Edward the Confessor or Eadweard III (c. ... Saint Remigius, Apostle of the Franks, bishop of Reims, (ca 437– January 13, 533) effected the conversion to Christianity of Clovis, King of the Franks, at Christmas, 496, one of the turning points in the success of Trinitarian Christianity and a climacteric moment in European history. ... The Book of Common Prayer[1] is the prayer book of the Church of England and also the name for similar books used in other churches in the Anglican Communion. ... The Anglican Communion is a world-wide organisation of Anglican Churches. ... A monarch is a type of ruler or head of state, whose titles and ascent are often inherited, not earned, and who represents a larger monarchical system which has established rules and customs regarding succession, duties, and powers. ... 1¢ euro coin A coin is usually a piece of hard material, generally metal and usually in the shape of a disc, which is used as a form of money. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... Henry IV (French: Henri IV) (December 13, 1553 – May 14, 1610), called the Great (French: le Grand), was the first of the Bourbon kings of France, reigning from 1589 until 1610. ...

Queen Anne touched the Infant Dr. Samuel Johnson in 1712, but King George I put an end to the practice as being "too Catholic." The kings of France continued the custom until 1825. The term Queen Anne, when applied to a style of furniture or architecture, refers to the only British monarch of the name, Anne, who reigned between 1702 and 1714. ... Samuel Johnson circa 1772, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds. ... // Events Treaty of Aargau signed between Catholic and Protestants. ... George I King of Great Britain and Ireland George I (George Ludwig von Guelph-dEste) (28 May 1660–11 June 1727) was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) from 23 January 1698, and King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 1 August 1714, until his death. ... 1825 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

The disease

Scrofula of the neck

Scrofula is the term used for tuberculosis of the neck, or, more precisely, a cervical tuberculous lymphadenopathy. Scrofula is usually a result of an infection in the lymph nodes, known as lymphadenitis and is most often observed in immunocompromised patients (ca. 50% of cervical tuberculous lymphadenopaty). In ca. 95% of the scrofula cases in adults are caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but only 8% in children. The rest are caused by atypical mycobacterium or nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM). With the stark decrease of tuberculosis in the second half of the 20th century, scrofula became a very rare disease. With the appearance of AIDS, however, it has shown a resurgence, and presently affects ca. 5% of severely immunocompromised patients. Image File history File links Scrofula of the neck. ... Image File history File links Scrofula of the neck. ... Immunosuppression is the medical suppression of the immune system. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... The Red Ribbon is the global symbol for solidarity with HIV positive and people living with AIDS. The Red Ribbon was created by the late New York-based painter Frank Moore. ...

Signs and symptoms

The most usual signs and symptoms are the appearance of a chronic, painless mass in the neck, which is persistent and usually grows with time. The mass is referred to as a "cold abscess", because there is no accompanying local calor or warmth and the overlying skin acquires a violaceous color. NTM infections do not show other notable constitutional symptoms, but scrofula caused by tuberculosis is usually accompanied by other symptoms of the disease, such as fever, chills, malaise and weight loss in ca. 43% of the patients. As the lesion progresses, skin becomes adhered to the mass and may rupture, forming a sinus and an open wound. The term symptom (from the Greek syn = con/plus and pipto = fall, together meaning co-exist) has two similar meanings in the context of physical and mental health: A symptom may loosely be said to be a physical condition which shows that one has a particular illness or disorder (see... The neck is the part of the body on many limbed vertebrates that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. ... Hyperthermia: Characterized on the left. ... Chill can refer to either Chill, a role-playing game. ... Malaise is a term used to refer to a general state of discomfort, tiredness, or illness. ... In the context of physical health, weight loss is the process of losing body weight, usually by losing fat. ... A wound is a physical trauma where the skin is torn, cut or punctured. ...

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is usually performed by needle aspiration biopsy or excisional biopsy of the mass and the histological demonstration of stainable acid-fast bacteria in the case of infection by M. tuberculosis (Ziehl-Neelsen stain), or the culture of NTM using specific growth and staining techniques. Diagnosis (from the Greek words dia = by and gnosis = knowledge) is the process of identifying a disease by its signs, symptoms and results of various diagnostic procedures. ... Needle aspiration biopsy is a procedure performed to diagnose and treat certain kind of illnesses. ... A biopsy (in Greek: bios = life and opsy = look/appearance) is a medical test involving the removal of cells or tissues for examination. ... A bacillus is a rod-shaped bacterium: an acid-fast bacillus (or AFB) is a rod-shaped bacterium which, when stained with certain compounds, retains that stain despite treatment with an acidic solution. ... The Ziehl-Neelsen stain was first described by two german doctors; Franz Ziehl (1859-1926), a bacteriologist and Friedrich Neelsen (1854-1894), a pathologist. ...

Therapy

Treatment approaches are highly dependent on the kind of infection. Surgical excision of the scrofula does not work well for M. tuberculosis infections, and has a high rate of recurrence and formation of fistulae. Furthermore, surgery may spread the disease to other organs. The best approach then is to use conventional treatment of tuberculosis with antibiotics. Scrofula caused by NTM, on the other hand, responds well to surgery, but is usually resistant to antibiotics. The affected nodes can be removed either by repeated aspiration, curettage or total excision (with the risk in the latter procedure, however, of causing cosmetically negative effects or damage to the facial nerve, or both). Therapy (in Greek: θεραπεία) or treatment is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a diagnosis. ... In mathematics, a recurrence relation, also known as a difference equation, is an equation which defines a sequence recursively: each term of the sequence is defined as a function of the preceding terms. ... In medicine, a fistula (pl. ... Persons with tuberculosis (TB) infection (class 2 or class 4 TB), but who do not have TB disease (class 3 or class 5 TB), cannot spread the infection to other people. ... An antibiotic is a drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria. ... A typical modern surgery operation For other meanings of the word, see Surgery (disambiguation) Surgery (from the Greek cheirourgia - lit. ... In surgery, the use of a curette to remove tissue by scraping or scooping. ... The facial nerve is seventh of twelve paired cranial nerves. ...

Prognosis

Prognosis: with adequate treatment, clinical remission is practically 100%. In NTM infections, with adequate surgical treatment, clinical remission is greater than 95%. It is recommended that persons in close contact with the diseased person, such as family members, should undergo testing for tuberculosis. Prognosis (older Greek πρόγνωσις, modern Greek πρόγνωση - literally fore-knowing, foreseeing) is a medical term denoting the doctors prediction of how a patients disease will progress, and whether there is chance of recovery. ...

See also

• Laying on of hands
• Tuberculosis diagnosis
• Tuberculosis treatment

The laying on of hands is a religious practice found throughout the world in varying forms. ... A complete medical evaluation for tuberculosis (TB) includes a medical history, a physical examination, a tuberculin skin test, a chest X-ray, and microbiologic smears and cultures. ... Persons with tuberculosis (TB) infection (class 2 or class 4 TB), but who do not have TB disease (class 3 or class 5 TB), cannot spread the infection to other people. ...

External links

• Scrofula from eMedicine medical article