A VARIABLE SYMPTOM COMPLEX OF UNDETERMINED ETIOLOGY WITH FATAL TERMINATION

Abstract

The medical literature contains descriptions of a condition characterized by all or many of the following features: prolonged fever, polyarthritis, polyserositis, endocarditis, erythematous cutaneous lesions, nephritis, anemia and a remittent cachectic course, with a fatal termination months to several years after the onset. This variation in the characteristics and the unknown cause of the condition have resulted in the application of a great variety of names to this syndrome, depending on the symptom complex or pathologic lesion which most impressed each author. The purpose of this communication is to present a similar case with necropsy studies. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE The association of visceral lesions with diseases of the skin has long been recognized. The reports by Osler¹in 1904 of 2 cases of "visceral manifestations of the erythema group of skin diseases" may be early descriptions of the condition under discussion. When case reports²of "lupus erythematosus