It is universally recognized that marked changes of the retinal arteries are associated with changes in the organs, particularly in the kidneys. That changes in the fundus can be found in general arteriosclerosis and in interstitial nephritis in their incipiency, and that such changes are synchronous with corresponding changes in the kidney and other organs, has not been sufficiently emphasized. While much has been written, the trouble has been that the ophthalmologist has not delved deeply enough into the medical aspect, and the internists are not sufficiently keen with the ophthalmoscope.
It is my contention that sclerosis of the arterioles of the kidney and brain cannot exist in the absence of a similar condition of the retinal arteries, and normal retinal vessels definitely exclude interstitial nephritis of the sclerotic type (small contracted kidney). Nephritis, or "nephrosis," such as is encountered following one of the infectious diseases, or possibly is caused