A patient with a fatal illness, characterized by unusual clinical and histopathological features, was seen recently at the Yale-New Haven Medical Center.
Report of a Case
The patient was a 66-year-old white married woman who died after being ill for 8 months. Her illness began in March, 1959, with symptoms of weakness and malaise. Spots appeared in front of her right eye, with decreased visual acuity in that eye, which lasted for about one week and then cleared spontaneously. About 10 days later she noticed markedly decreased vision in the left eye, which lasted another 4 weeks. At the same time the patient developed tinnitus and loss of hearing in the right ear. Two to 3 weeks after the onset of these visual and aural symptoms, she noted an eruption over her trunk, back, and thighs (Figs. 1 and 2). This consisted of 1-4 cm., slightly tender, bluish patches, some