Abstract
Wegener's granulomatosis is a rare, fatal disorder. of obscure etiology. It is pathologically characterized by necrotizing granulomatous lesions of respiratory tract, generalized arteritis and focal glomerulonephritis. In the present communi cation two autopsy cases of Wegener's granulomatosis that we encountered recently are briefly described.
In the first case of a woman, aged 57, signs of generalized disease appeared just after the radical middle ear operation, which took a fulminating course of 56 days after the operation. Her autopsy revealed typical characteristic findings of Wegener's granulomatosis.
In the second case, a woman, aged 33, was treated vigorously with steroids in the early stage of the disease when she was suffering from the inflammation of the upper respiratory tract and had a prolonged course of 8 years. Histopatho logical findings in autopsy presented unusual pathologic changes modified probably by steroids and secondary infection, and generalized angitis was relatively mild. This case was regarded as an atypical form of Wegener's granulomatosis.
Similar disorders included in the categories of arteritis and granulomatous disease are mentioned and discussed.
