A B S T R A C T Using a hemagglutination test which can detect antibodies to (a) native and denatured deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and (b) an extractable nuclear antigen (ENA), a comparative study of patterns of autoantibody formation has been done in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and related rheumatic diseases. Antibody to native DNA was present in the serum in 96% of patients with active SLE and disappeared during remissions. Antibody to ENA was found in 86% of those patients with SLE nephritis who responded to treatment but in only 8% of those who did not. The highest titers of antibody to ENA were found in patients having a mixed connective tissue disease syndrome with features of SLE, scleroderma, and myositis. The latter syndrome was notable for the absence of renal disease and for a striking responsiveness to corticosteroid therapy. Hemagglutination testing of 277 sera from normal persons and patients with a wide variety of acute diseases other than SLE revealed the presence of antibody to native DNA in only 1.4% and antibody to ENA in only 0.4%.These results yield significant correlations among the pattern of autoimmune reactivity, the clinical form of the rheumatic disease, and responsiveness to treatment. They implicate the qualitative nature of the patient's immune response as a conditioning factor in the type of disease. Together with other correlations they may allow classification of rheumatic diseases into more biologically meaningful groups and lead to more selective methods of therapy.

A wide spectrum of traumatic abnormalities has been demonstrated by computed tomography. CT findings in acute trauma range from cerebral edema and contusion to intracerebral or extracerebral hematoma, subarachnoid and intraventricular hemorrhage and varying combinations thereof. Late traumatic changes shown by CT include chronic subdural hygroma, post-traumatic infarct, and porencephaly and hydrocephalus. The latter findings are indistinguishable from changes resulting from degenerative or ischemic brain disease. Follow-up CT scanning elucidates the natural course of various traumatic lesions. Occasionally, it may uncover occult, delayed sequelae which can be remedied surgically before irreparable brain damage occurs.

Repeated administration of hyperimmune rabbit antiserum to guinea pig thyroglobulin (GPTG) consistently protected guinea pigs from developing autoimmune thyroiditis when studied 23 days following active immunization with GPTG in complete Freund's adjuvant. Rabbit antisera to various non-thyroid antigens were much less effective in causing inhibition. The suppressive effect noted with antiserum to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) differed from anti-GPTG suppression in that it was transient and associated with reduced delayed hypersensitivity to GPTG. Protective effects of anti-GPTG persisted at 156 days even in the presence of intact delayed hypersensitivity to GPTG. Transfer of hyperimmune anti-GPTG during the first 10 days after active immunization still resulted in protection, but hyperimmune anti-GPTG given late or early anti-GPTG given throughout the experiment failed to protect.