This historical paper reports two cases of Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome and reviews the literature on adrenal hemorrhage associated with fulminating septicemia.
Case reports of Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome alert clinicians to adrenal hemorrhage in fulminant sepsis; leaves open modern management implications.
Article1 February 1937FULMINATING SEPTICEMIA ASSOCIATED WITH PURPURA AND BILATERAL ADRENAL HEMORRHAGE (WATERHOUSE-FRIDERICHSEN SYNDROME); REPORT OF TWO CASES WITH REVIEW OF THE LITERATUREMILTON S. SACKS, B.S., M.D.MILTON S. SACKS, B.S., M.D.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-10-8-1105 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptThe occurrence of adrenal hemorrhages of varying degree is a matter of common clinical and pathological knowledge in such conditions as diphtheria, scarlet fever, measles, and pneumonia. In new-born and still-born infants, adrenal hemorrhage, likewise, is known to occur and is chiefly of mechanical or traumatic origin. Snelling and Erb1 found 43 cases of adrenal hemorrhage in 3,637 consecutive autopsies, an incidence of 1.19 per cent. Of these, 15 occurred in the new-born. In older children adrenal hemorrhage is usually of toxic or infectious etiology.The association of fulminating purpura with bilateral adrenal hemorrhage has long been recognized. The earliest...Bibliography1. SNELLINGERB CEIH: Hemorrhage and subsequent calcification of the adrenals, Jr. Pediat., 1935, vi, 22. CrossrefGoogle Scholar2. GARRODDRYSDALE AEJH: Hemorrhage into both suprarenal capsules, Trans. Path. Soc. London, 1898, xlix, 257. Google Scholar3. VOELCKER : Quoted by Dudgeon.22 Google Scholar4. STILL : Quoted by Friderichsen.11 Google Scholar5. BATTEN FE: Hemorrhage into suprarenal capsule, Trans. Path. Soc. London, 1898, xlix, 258. Google Scholar6. TALBOT E: Cases of hemorrhage into suprarenal capsules, St. Bartholomew's Hosp. Rep., 1900, xxxvi, 207. Google Scholar7. LANGMEAD F: On three cases of suprarenal apoplexy in children, Lancet, 1904, i, 1496. CrossrefGoogle Scholar8. BLAHERBAILEY PSBE: On some cases of hemorrhage into skin in suprarenal capsules, Brit. 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Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Baltimore, Maryland*Received for publication October 20, 1936.From the Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byAnti-Inflammatory Therapy in SepsisThe Syndrome of Asplenia, Pneumococcal Sepsis, and Disseminated Intravascular CoagulationALAN L. BISNO, M.D., JOHN C. 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