Multiple Sclerosis and Polyarteritis

To the Editor.—  I enjoyed reading the article "Multiple Sclerosis Associated With Eosinophilic Vasculitis, Pericarditis, and Hypocomplementemia" by Dr Tanphaichitr (Archives 1980 37:314-315). Either through oversight or perhaps through some confusion in terminology, the article did not mention polyarteritis as a possible cause for the patient's difficulties. I and my colleagues reported a case of a 16-year-old boy who had polyarteritis and in whom a multiple sclerosis like syndrome developed that affected the brainstem and cerebrum.' His serum demyelinated nerve in culture of tissue. A renal angiogram revealed multiple aneurysms that involved the peripheral branches of both renal arteries, mainly on the left side. Drs Mannik and Gilliland nicely reviewed the differential diagnosis of vasculitis.² In my opinion, the neurological manifestations of both Dr Tanphaichitr's patient and my patient could all be attributed to vascular disease, and the multiple sclerosis picture to an "eosinophilic" herring.