[Further study of the L forms of Streptococci in blood cultures from the patients with rheumatic fever depending on the course of the disease and the methods of cultivation].

Cultures of blood from patients with rheumatism during the active and inactive phases of the disease, treated and untreated with antibiotics were studied. The following results were obtained in blood cultures (on Klodnisky's medium with a 0.01% cystine) of 105 patients with rheumatism: L-forms of streptococcus were isolated in the 88 cases, irrespective of the severity of the disease or the treatment, streptococcus--in 8, and the result proved to be negative in 9 cases. Hemoculture on broth with a 1% glucose solution proved to be positive (streptococcus) in one patient only. The constancy with which the L-forms of streptococcus were isolated in hemocultures from the patients with rheumatism and also the peculiarity of their pathogenic properties modelling the rheumatism under experimental conditions pointed to their role in the pathogenesis of rheumatism. A method of isolation of hemocultures on Klodnitsky's medium with a 0.01% cystine can be recommended for the diagnosis of a septic condition caused by the L-forms of streptococcus in patients suffering from rheumatism.