The problem of endocarditis in connection with the doctrine of allergy

The works of Ashoff, Klinge and Talalaev firmly linked the problem of endocarditis with acute rheumatism. The discovery of specific anatomical and histological changes in the form of Aschoff's granuloma in the heart and blood vessels in various forms of acute rheumatism has brought the lesion of the cardiovascular system to the fore in the clinic of acute rheumatism. Davydovsky believes that almost all endocarditis is of rheumatic origin. In the same way, the etiopathogenesis of rheumatic endocarditis is recognized to be identical with the pathogenesis of other forms of rheumatism, and the differences in the clinical picture between endocarditis and acute rheumatic polyarthritis are explained by differences in the localization of painful changes. As the authors who stand on the point of view of the nonspecific etiology of acute rheumatism, and most of those who recognize the presence of a specific causative agent for acute rheumatism, agree that the allergic reaction of the macroorganism is important for the pathogenesis of acute rheumatism.