THE ASSOCIATION of bacterial endocarditis and mycotic aneurysm has been recognized for over a century. In 1851, Koch1 described a patient with endocarditis who died suddenly after rupture of a superior mesenteric artery aneurysm. Tufnell2 recognized the influence of emboli from valvular vegetations in the development of arterial aneurysms. Osler3 termed these emboli "mycotic" and postulated the significant role of micro-organisms in the production of such aneurysms. In his Gulstonian Lecture on Malignant Endocarditis,4 Osier described a case of "ulcerative endocarditis," with multiple small aneurysms involving the aortic arch. In 1887, Eppinger5 demonstrated the actual infectious nature of the emboli, applying careful bacteriologic techniques.
We are reporting a patient who recovered from subacute bacterial endocarditis complicated by a ruptured aneurysm of the splenic artery and rupture of the spleen.
REPORT OF A CASE
V. C., 401163, a 30-year-old white housewife, was admitted to the Research and Educational Hospital on March