AXILLARY HYPERHIDROSIS.

IN October 1063, we described a new surgical technique for the management of axillary hyperhidrosis (Hurley and Shelley, 1963). A relatively simple approach, it consisted of resection of an elliptical segment of axillary skin containing a majority of the most active axillary sweat glands. This operation produced satisfactory reduction of axillary sweating in four patients and five volunteers described in that report. We have since surgically treated eighteen additional patients and volunteers, most of whom had much more severe axillary hy])erhidroRis than did the original group, re(iuiring modification of the surgical technique employed earlier. The present publication describes in detail the surgical approach employed in these people, the results achieved, and the effects of the surgery on axillarj^ odour and the local microflora. In addition, the clinical features of axillary hyperhidrosis will be discussed and evidence presented to indicate that the eccrine sweat glands, not the apocrine, are the sources of the excessive secretion seen in this condition.