SPLEENS FROM GAUCHER'S DISEASE AND LIPOID-HISTIOCYTOSIS

Abstract

The clinical and anatomic differences between Gaucher's disease and lipoid-histiocytosis (type Niemann) have been pointed out by Mandelbaum and Downey,¹ Pick,² and one of us.³ The purpose of this article is to report the striking differences that we have found in the chemical analyses of spleens from these two diseases. MICROCHEMICAL ANALYSIS In brief, the large cells in Gaucher's disease do not react positively to any of the usual staining reagents for lipoids. After mordanting in potassium bichromate, the large cells stain diffusely blue or yellowish orange with nile blue or sudan III. The intensity of the color is, however, of the same degree as the cells composing the remainder of the sections. In Niemann's disease, on the other hand, the large cells when fresh stain a rusty orange with sudan III. In formaldehyde-fixed frozen sections of organs from Niemann's disease, the large cells stain a light, though definite, pale