Erythrocytes in Urinary Sediment in Health and in Disease (Scarlet Fever)

Abstract

The cause of chronic glomerular nephritis is by no means clear, nor is there much agreement among investigators as to whether an acute attack followed by a latent period is the forerunner of the chronic stage.It is not the purpose of this article, nor will any attempt be made, to discuss exhaustively the literature on these problems. We present, however, a few expressions of opinion from recent textbooks and articles relating to the subject. Aldrich 1 stated: Several facts brought out by our study of nephritis have cast doubt upon this hypothesis: First, one is often unable to elicit from the patients or their families any history of acute febrile infection at the onset; second, our careful follow-up observation of large numbers of children who have suffered from acute postinfectious hemorrhagic nephritis has failed to reveal significant relationship between the two conditions; third, in the few patients seen from the beginning of their chronic nephritis, the onset observed was distinctly insidious; fourth, treatment in our clinic of all demonstrable foci of infection has never had perceptible favorable influence on the course of chronic nephritis or resulted in a single cure.Boyle, Aldrich and their co-workers 2 studied by means of Addis counts 25 children clinically recovered from acute hemorrhagic nephritis, the studies being made up to eight years after recovery. They con¬ cluded that children who have clinically recovered from acute postinfectious hemorrhagic nephritis do not have subacute or latent nephritis. Fishberg 3 concluded :The etiology of acute glomerulo-nephritis, from which the chronic form evolves, has been discussed. Chronic glomerulo-nephritis seems more apt to develop From the Sarah Morris Hospital for Children of the Michael Reese Hospital and the Cook County Children's and the Cook County Contagious Disease Hospital.