Dermonecrotic factor. II. Frequency and clinical correlations of dermonecrotic factor in severe hypertension.

Fresh serum (0·1 ml.) obtained from 71 hypertensive patients and from 71 normotensive blood donors was injected i.d. into the shaved skin of guinea-pigs. Macroscopic skin necrosis was induced within 24 hr by the serum of 62 per cent of hypertensive patients but by the serum of only 14 per cent of control patients. The presence of a dermonecrotic response was found to be statistically associated with the height of the blood pressure, the duration of hypertension and the presence of an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate. It is suggested that the presence of a positive dermonecrotic response is an index of vascular tissue damage occurring in hypertension.