PERIARTERITIS NODOSA (NECROTIZING ARTERITIS) ASSOCIATED WITH RHEUMATIC HEART DISEASE: WITH A NOTE ON ABDOMINAL RHEUMATISM

The availability for study of an unusually large number of cases of periarteritis nodosa has revealed a significant association of this derangement with rheumatic heart disease. In the last two years, of eight cases of typical periarteritis nodosa verified at necropsy, four presented conclusive evidence of rheumatic heart disease. This evidence consisted in all four cases of a history of rheumatic fever (i. e., acute polyarthritis accompanied by fever) and clinical findings of rheumatic cardiovalvular disease. Postmortem examination revealed characteristic gross and histologic features of rheumatic fever including in every case the presence of Aschoff bodies. In addition to the eight cases just mentioned the records of the department of pathology of the Mount Sinai Hospital show that the diagnosis of periarteritis nodosa was made in five other cases, in which the characteristic lesions were discovered at postmortem examination. Two of these five cases ran a febrile course with arthritis