Splenic neutropenia in the Felty syndrome.

By H. E. HUTCHISON AND W. D. ALEXANDER T HE POSSIBILITY that overactivity of the spleen might cause neutropemsia, mentiomsed by Bauer us 1899,’ was discussed at lemsgth by Framskm who drew attentious to the close associatious betweeus splemsomegaly of diverse etiology amid iseutropemsia; that was its 1916, the year its which Kaztselsonm first reported rise of the platelet coumit followiusg removal of the spleems its t-hrombocytopetsia. Siusce theus spleusectomy for thromhocytopensia has steadily become more firmly established, as experiemsce has proved its value, amid as the type of case iii which it is effective has beets more closely defimsed. Its striking comstrast splemsectomy for useutropemiia is still hardly out of the experimeustal stage ; Frausk’s observatiouss s ’ere usot followed imp ausd umnitil Reissmanus its 1938 ausc! Wisemaus and Doams its 1939 and 1942 described the “primary” form of spleisic useutropenia, the possibility that splemsectomy might he curative its certaius cases of mseutropemsia \ .a,s useglected. Perhaps such cases were obscured by the greatly increased imscideusce, begiuiusiuig in the 1920’s, of useustropemsia due to arsenicals ausd later to the amidopyrine amsalgesics which focused attemstion ots drug semssitivity as a