Purpura Fulminans With Group B B-Hemolytic Streptococcal Endocarditis

PURPURA URPURA fulminans is a disorder characterized by the sudden onset of peripheral, symmetrical, apparently hemorrhagic lesions which usually become gangrenous. It is reported most often as a sequela of β-hemolytic streptococcal infections or any of several other conditions, including meningococcemia, pneumococcal sepsis, varicella, pregnancy, and myocardial infarction.1-3 This is believed to be the first report of purpura fulminans in association with infection by β-hemolytic streptococci of Lancefield group B (Streptococcus agalactiae). REPORT OF A CASE The patient (BCH 382522), a 78-year-old Polish confectionary seller, entered the hospital on Aug 11, 1963, acutely ill with the chief complaint of being "sick." It was learned that he had been discharged eight days previously from another hospital with diagnoses of (1) arteriosclerotic heart disease, (2) chronic brain syndrome, (3) degenerative arthritis, and (4) benign prostatic hypertrophy for which he had undergone a transurethral resection. There was no history of rheumatic fever,