The Hospital of the Order of the Brothers of Saint John of God was founded on October 15, 1806 by a wealthy nobleman, István Marczibányi and his wife, Mária Majthényi (Figs. 1 – 7).
The National Institute of Rheumatology has been considered the citadel of rheumatology in Hungary. The Institute was established after the Second World War, on July 1, 1951, after modernizing and extending the nearly 150 year old Hospital of the Order of the Brothers of Saint John of God in Budapest.
The Golden Age of the National Institute of Rheumatology was the quarter of a century between 1957 and 1983. During this period it became the center of a nationwide network of departments of rheumatology in Hungary (Fig. 8). At its zenith it had nearly 1500 beds, mainly for rheumatic diseases in association with a general hospital which had the usual departments of internal medicine, cardiology, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, urology, general surgery and orthopedic surgery, allergology, etc.
In July 1, 2000 the hospital and different parts of this institute (Figs. 1-9) has regained its former name, Hospital of the Order of the Brothers of Saint John of God in Budapest, Hungary.
Of special significance for pathology is the fact that until the end of the 20th century all patients who died in a hospital in Hungary were autopsied.
Between 1970 and 2000, 11537 patients died at this Institute; of these, 234 patients had rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 52 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), panarteritis nodosa (PAN), progressive systemic sclerosis (SSc), etc., and all of them were autopsied.
This book is based on this autopsy population and biopsy material of the Pathology Department (Fig. 9), as well as on material sent in consultation over a time span of more than thirty years.
The aim of this chapter has been to demonstrate the wide spectrum of amyloidosis and reveal its histologic, histochemical, immunohistochemical, and electron microscopic charcteristics.
