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Dr. Swank did not have the science of the endothelium in his time, but modern researchers have since connected hypercoagulation and clotting proteins as evidence of endothelial dysfunction and a break down of the blood brain barrier, and activation of the coagulation cascade. This research comes decades after Dr. Swank's discoveries, but confirms what he saw as "blood vessel fragility." We now know that endothelial dysfunction and a break in the BBB will affect the blood through out the body. Once the coagulation cascade is activated, it is systemic. And these extravasated red blood cells will leak and appear throughout the body. Just like Jeff's petechiae--and the break in his blood brain barrier.

The disruption of integrity of the walls of brain blood microvessels rapidly activates the coagulation cascade.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3268209/

The coagulation cascade plays a major role in the development of an inflammatory response in MS.
http://circres.ahajournals.org/content/ ... 57.extract#

Coagulation activation and endothelial dysfunction parameters were shown to be reduced at 1 month and stable up to 12-month follow-up, and they were furthermore associated with a good clinical outcome. Endovascular procedures performed by a qualified staff are well tolerated; they can be associated with other currently adopted treatments. Correlations between inflammation, coagulation activation and neurodegenerative disorders are here supported by the observed variations in plasma levels of markers of coagulation activation and endothelial dysfunction.

Experimental evidences coming
from the literature here reported may
open new therapeutic perspectives for
MS patients. In fact, it is already possible
to interfere with the coagulation
system at various levels of the cascade,
and clinical trials trying to transfer the
promising results on EAE to humans are
needed