[Changes in the nervous system in amyloidosis]

The author investigated different areas of the nervous system in five cases of primary and in seven cases of secondary amyloidosis--rheumatoid arthritis accompanied by amyloidosis. In nine out of the 12 cases studied, amyloid was found in the vascular walls and in the stroma of the peripheral, somatic and vegetative nervous system, by using light, polarization, fluorescent and electron microscopy. In cases of rheumatoid arthritis, apart from amyloid deposits, the connective tissue and vascular walls exhibited mucoid swelling, fibrinoid alterations and sclerosis, i.e., stages of the pathological process which are characteristic of this disease in particular and of collagen diseases in general.