ESSENTIAL HYPERHIDROSIS CURED BY SYMPATHETIC GANGLIONECTOMY AND TRUNK RESECTION

Essential hyperhidrosis is excessive sweating which is limited to circumscribed bilaterally symmetrical areas and to extremities. Excessive sweating of the hands and feet frequently accompanies vasospastic conditions, such as are seen in Raynaud's disease and peripheral atrophic arthritis, but in true essential hyperhidrosis the patient complains chiefly of excessive perspiration that is aggravated by exposure to warm temperatures, by nervous excitement and by emotional strain. This symptom becomes so annoying as to interfere with business and social activities. When the hands are involved, the patients find it impossible to work as bookkeepers or accountants or to work with delicate fabrics that require dry finger-tips. The skin over the finger-tips often becomes macerated and tender. The patients are likewise constantly embarrassed in meeting strangers, since their hands are always dripping wet and they feel compelled to apologize in offering them in the customary salutation. They frequently shun the opposite sex to