My great-great grandmother's death certificate said her cause of death was "Plerusy Chromie." WHAT???

Question

My great-great grandmother's death certificate said her cause of death was "Plerusy Chromie." I have NO idea what that is. I've yahoo searched it, googled it, and ask.com'd it, and I still have no idea. Can ANYONE help me???

Answer 1

I think the doctor meant to write "Pleurisy, Chronic"

Chronic pleurisy...

Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura- a two-ply membrane that both encloses the lung and lines the chest cavity.

People have two pleurae, one around each lung. The pleurae act as a protective wrapping, fitting snugly over your lungs. Pleurae are made up of two layers. Normally, there is no space between the inner and outer layer. The layers are joined at the edges, so that the pleura might be compared to a closed balloon, completely empty of air and wrapped tightly around the outside of each of the lungs.

Normally, there is nothing but a thin layer of Iubricating layer of fluid between the inner pleural lining and the outer one. The smooth pleura linings and lubricating fluid allow your lungs to move freely in your chest, as they do in normal breathing.

In people with pleurisy, the two layers of pleura get inflamed (red & swollen). This can create a space between the layers called the pleural cavity (cavity means space). In wet pleurisy, this space can fill up with fluid that can get infected.

Pleurisy may be acute - appearing, giving trouble for a period, and then disappearing. It may be chronic - hanging on, the pain steady or recurring often, the interference with breathing and other normal activity an enduring burden. Whether acute or chronic, pleurisy can be either dry or wet, painful or free of pain.

Answer 2

Have a look at the link below it's a site called 'Archaic Medical Terms' there's a few different versions of the symptoms for 'pleurisy' but really they all say the same thing it's inflammation of the lung, as for the chromie bit I think Wendy was spot on with her take on the word. Anyway have A look at what I found for you,

Plethora In a medical context, this means excessive blood
Plethoric Having a high colour or a ruddy complexion
Pleurisy or pleuritis Inflammation of the pleura i.e. The membrane(s) that surrounds the lungs
Pneumonalis Relating to the lung

http://rmhh.co.uk/medical.html

Hope this helps, I would keep this link in your favourites folder there's all sorts of things on there for the genealogist.

Answer 3

www.webmd.com

What is pleurisy?
Pleurisy is swelling (inflammation) of the thin layers of tissue (pleura) covering the lungs and the chest wall.

The outer layer of the pleura lines the inside of the chest wall, and the inner layer covers the lungs. The tiny space between the two layers is called the pleural cavity. This cavity normally contains a small amount of lubricating fluid that allows the two layers to slide over each other when you breathe.

When the pleura becomes inflamed, the layers rub together, causing chest pain. This is known as pleuritic pain.

Pleurisy is sometimes called pleuritis

What causes pleurisy?
In young, healthy people, a viral infection of the lower respiratory system or pneumonia usually causes the inflammation and pleurisy. Pleurisy caused by a virus usually lasts a few days to 1 or 2 weeks. In very rare cases, pleurisy can spread to others-it is contagious.

Other causes of pleurisy include air leaking into the pleural cavity (pneumothorax), injury to the chest (such as a broken rib), tuberculosis or other infections, or a tumor in the pleura.

Other conditions may also cause pleurisy. These include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, sickle cell crisis, pulmonary embolism, or pancreatitis. Pleurisy may also develop as a complication of heart surgery.

What are the symptoms of pleurisy?
The symptoms of pleurisy are chest pain and difficulty breathing. The chest pain usually starts suddenly. People often describe it as a stabbing pain. The pain:

May always be present, but it usually gets worse when you breathe in. You may avoid breathing deeply to prevent the pain.
Usually is on only one side of the chest.
May extend to a shoulder or the belly.
Is usually worse when you cough, sneeze, or suddenly move.
May ease when you hold your breath or press on the painful area.
If a viral infection is causing your pleurisy, you may or may not have common viral symptoms, such as fever, headache, and muscle aches.

The inflammation of the pleura sometimes causes fluid to build up in the pleural cavity (pleural effusion). You may have less pain after this happens, because the fluid prevents the two layers of the pleura from rubbing together. If there is a large amount of fluid, it may prevent the lung from expanding when you breathe in and make it hard to breathe. Other symptoms of pleural effusion include fever, chest pain, and a dry cough.
Pleural effusion may occur without pleurisy in other conditions, such as heart failure or liver or kidney disease.

How is pleurisy diagnosed?
your doctor will look for what is causing your inflammation. He or she will use a physical exam and a chest X-ray to look for signs of conditions that may cause pleuritic chest pain, such as:

Viral infections.
Chest muscle strain.
Rib fracture.
Blood clots in the blood vessels of the lung (pulmonary embolism).
Inflammation around the heart (pericarditis).
Pneumonia.
Tuberculosis.
Fluid in the pleura (pleural effusion).
If your doctor thinks your pleurisy is being caused by an autoimmune disease such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, he or she may do blood tests.

If you have pleural effusion, your doctor may use a needle to remove and examine some of the fluid from the pleura (thoracentesis) to help identify the cause of the effusion.

How is pleurisy treated?
The treatment for pleurisy depends on the cause. For example, if a bacterial infection is the cause, you will probably need an antibiotic. If a pulmonary embolism is present, you may use medicine to slow or prevent future blood clots (anticoagulants).

For most cases of pain caused by pleurisy, your doctor will suggest that you use aspirin, ibuprofen, and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). If you have severe pain, you may need prescription cough or pain medicine. You may also be able to relieve pain by lying on the painful side or pressing a pillow against it.

If you have pleural effusion, you may need to have the fluid drained through a tube inserted in your chest.

In some cases of pleural effusion, you may need pleurodesis. In this procedure, a chemical or medicine is put into your chest cavity, which triggers an inflammatory reaction over the surface of the lung and inside the chest cavity. This in turn causes the surface of the lung to stick to the surface of the chest cavity, which prevents or reduces more fluid from building up.


(Note: if, indeed, the word is "chronic"--meaning being long-lasting and recurrent or characterized by long suffering--chances are, your great-great grandmother died of pneumonia or a similar disease. At that time in history, this was a major cause of death because doctors just didn't know how to treat it, like they do now. Also, chances are, if you have had a bad cold and coughing really hard, you could also have had pleurisy because the persistent cough made your chest hurt.)

Answer 4

What is pleurisy? Pleurisy is inflammation of the linings around the lungs (the pleura). There are two layers of pleura: one covering the lung (termed the visceral pleura) and the other covering the inner wall of the chest (the parietal pleura). These two layers are lubricated by pleural fluid. Pleurisy is frequently associated with the accumulation of extra fluid in the space between the two layers of pleura. This fluid is referred to as a pleural effusion. Pleurisy is also referred to as pleuritis. Pleurisy can be caused by any of the following conditions: Infections: bacterial (including those that cause tuberculosis), fungus, parasites, or viruses Inhaled chemicals or toxic substances: exposure to some cleaning agents like ammonia Collagen vascular diseases: lupus, rheumatoid arthritis Cancers: for example, the spread of lung cancer or breast cancer to the pleura Tumors of the pleura: mesothelioma or sarcoma Congestion: heart failure Pulmonary embolism: blood clot inside the blood vessels to the lungs. These clots sometimes severely reduce blood and oxygen to portions of the lung and can result in death to that portion of lung tissue (termed lung infarction). This, too, can cause pleurisy. Obstruction of lymph channels: as a result of centrally located lung tumors Trauma: rib fractures or irritation from chest tubes used to drain air or fluid from the pleural cavity in the chest Certain drugs: drugs that can cause lupus-like syndromes (such as Hydralazine, Procan, Dilantin, and others) Abdominal processes: such as pancreatitis, cirrhosis of the liver

Answer 5

HMMM
IF the doctors handwriting was like most I have seen, it is a good chance that it could have been pleurisy, chronic
Pleurisy is an illness of the lungs. Chronic would be that she had it off and on, most of the time.
That's my guess and I'm stickin to it.

Answer 6

Pleurisy is a lung disease. Not sure what the chromie part is.

Answer 7

Spelling it wrong - search again. It's "Pleurisy," which is an inflammation of the lungs.

Dying from that was pretty common.