[Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome in adults]

Only a minority of published cases of Waterhouse-Friderichsen-syndrome occurred in adults (Harms et al., 1973). At the autopsy of a 23 years old woman there were found sugillations of the eyelid, of the peri- and epicard, of the serosa of the small intestine and of the lung. In the region of the adrenal gland a brownish-red mass was detectable. Histologically an adrenal apoplexy with necrosis and in liver, spleen and lung a lot of neutrophils were seen. Streptococcus viridans was pointed out in the blood.