CALCIUM AND IRON INCRUSTATION AND OTHER LESIONS OF THE ELASTIC TISSUE OF THE SPLEEN AND LIVER

In conclusion, it may be said that the lesion described consists of a selective impregnation of the elastic tissue in the splenic trabeculæ and vessels with the phosphates—and perhaps other salts—of calcium and iron. There is a further chemical change in the elastic fibers which may be expressed by the term "elacin." Degenerated and, especially, calcified elastic tissue—even more than calcification in general—seems to possess an affinity for iron salts. The iron incrustations occur principally in congested or hemorrhagic tissues. The etiological agent in this case is obscure. The only other example of this lesion in the spleen was in a case of Banti's disease. Many features of this case suggest a primary splenomegaly, but the evidence in its favor is not conclusive. Calcified elastic fibers, without the iron and elacin reactions, were also present in the liver, which was the seat of a recent, apparently biliary or infectious, cirrhosis. The elastic tissue of other organs showed nothing remarkable except in the skin, where the fibers were undergoing the usual senile changes.