A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SUBCUTANEOUS NODULES IN RHEUMATIC FEVER AND RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS*t

Since the original observations of Meynet (1) and Barlow and Warner (2) on the occurrence of subcutaneous nodules in rheumatic fever, numerous studies on these lesions have appeared. I t is now well recognized that subcutaneous nodules are a frequent manifestation of the disease rheumatic fever and that these lesions present a highly characteristic histological structure. Occasional reference (3) has also been made to the presence of subcutaneous nodules in rheumatoid arthritis but, until recent years, detailed pathological descriptions of the lesions in this disease have not been presented. In the last few years, however, communications have appeared (4-7), which have shown that subcutaneous nodules are of not infrequent occurrence in rheumatoid arthritis and that these lesions also possess a highly characteristic histological structure. These observations have led to a comparative study of the nodules in the two diseases and to a consideration of the relationship between the clinical entities, rheumatic fever and rheumatoid arthritis (3). In the present communication there is presented a detailed study of the subcutaneous nodules in the two diseases. This study has