HODGKIN'S DISEASE

Abstract

Nearly a century ago, Hodgkin¹first described the disease that now bears his name. In his original series of cases—of which five at most were authentic—there was involvement of: (a) the lymph nodes in all cases; (b) the spleen in four cases; (c) the tonsils and the lymphoid tissues of the base of the tongue and pharynx in one case, and (d) the testicle possibly in one case. In 1859 Wilks²reported one case of Hodgkin's disease in which he noted, in addition, invasion of the liver and kidneys. Six years later,³he published further observations showing the specific lesions also in the lungs. In 1865, Cornil and Ranvier,⁴from a study of the literature and their own cases, had noted that Hodgkin's disease was more than a mere "affection of the absorbent glands and spleen." In addition to involvement of the lymph nodes and spleen, they found the specific