Medical Dictionary
Main Entry:
Asch·off body Pronunciation:
'ä-"shof- Function:
noun : one of the tiny lumps in heart muscle that are typical of rheumatic heartdisease and consist of swollen collagen, cells, and fibrils;
also : one of the similar but larger lumps found under the skin especially in rheumatic fever or polyarthritis called also
Aschoff nodule Aschoff, Karl Albert Ludwig (1866–1942) German pathologist. One of the foremost pathologists of his time, Aschoff undertook noteworthyinvestigations into cholelithiasis, thrombosis, scurvy, and appendicitis. He also made a classic histopathological study of myocarditis, and in 1904 in an article on myocarditis associated with acuterheumatic fever he presented his classic description of the inflammatory nodule (now known as the Aschoff body or nodule) that is characteristic of this rheumatic condition. Aschoff is also known forhis later work on phagocytic cells, which he grouped into the reticuloendothelial system.
[ah-shawf] 
