Concept of Reticuloendotheliosis

Abstract

This study is undertaken to establish the concept and classification of reticuloendotheliosis upon the basis of observations of the human materials and the results of basic experimental studies of the animals. Reticuloendotheliosis is defined as processes of proliferation, especially systemic one, of the reticuloendothelial system and is classified largely into two groups, namely reactive and idiopathic. The former group implies a functioning or secondary reticuloendotheliosis and is further divided into three subgroups depending upon their causes, i. e., infections, metabolic disturbances and other miscellaneous causes. The latter group contains processes of neoplastic proliferation of the reticulohistiocytic cells and the reticuloendothelium. Furthermore, idiopathic reticuloendotheliosis includes processes of a non-neoplastic proliferation of the reticuloendothelial cells. These processes have been interpreted mainly from the monophyletic or trialistic theory to be synonymous with monocytic leukemia or stem cell leukemia, but the authors disagree with these thoughts, because they do not recognize a hematopoietic potency of the reticuloendothelial system. In the idiopathic reticuloendotheliosis, the authors find out the existence of the processes of a non-noeplastic proliferation and give them a name of reticuloendotheliosis narrowly construed, which may be called as cataplastic reticuloendotheliosis according to Waugh's proposal. The reticuloendotheliosis narrowly construed is taken to imply a non-neoplastic condition which lies beyond the limit of reactive hyperplasia of the reticuloendothelial cells and which has not yet led to any neoplastic proliferation. The cataplastic reticuloendotheliosis can be fundamentally classified into two types, namely functional and cellular. In the functional type, the specific functions played by the reticuloendothelial cells are represented prominently and lymphoreticulosis hyperglobulinemia, macroglobulinemia, amyloidosis, Hodgkin's disease and myelofibrosis can be included. On the other hand, the cellular type represents entirely cellular proliferation, in which leukemic reticuloendotheliosis and Brill-Symmers disease can be contained.