Rheumatoid nodules; a study in their pathogenesis and the effects of cortisone and ACTH.

The dramatic remissions occurring in rheumatoid arthritis during the adminis-tration of cortisone or ACTH are now familiar observations. In addition to the -volume of clinical and biochemical data already collected, there have been reports describing alterations in the pathological changes of the joint lesions with the use of these drugs. When one of our first cases to receive cortisone showed a rapid -disappearance of a rheumatoid nodule over one knee, we became interested in studying the changes produced by hormone administration in these remarkable lesions. Six patients with multiple subcutaneous rheumatoid nodules were given either ACTH or cortisone and detailed observations were made of the effects upon this particular feature of their disease. This paper presents the clinical and pathological findings which have been *of interest; it refers only to the subcutaneous nodules of rheumatoid arthritis.