THE ARTIFICIAL INDUCTION OF SUBCUTANEOUS NODULES IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATIC FEVER 1

Abstract

The injection of the patient''s own blood into the subcut. tissues of subjects with rheumatic fever frequently resulted in the appearance of subcut. nodules in the area injected. These nodules are clinically indistinguishable from nodules occurring spontaneously. In 90% of these patients injected who had clinical rheumatic fever these induced nodules appeared. They resulted in 50% of those patients with only laboratory evidence of active rheumatic fever. In 14% of the injected inactive rheumatic fever patients, and in 14% of those patients with chorea, nodules resulted. In only one instance (3%) did such a nodule appear in the control group studied. Hence, these nodules are seen to be produced in proportion to the severity of rheumatic fever.