RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To describe clinical presentation, electrocardiographic, and echocardiographic characteristics of carditis at the time of diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) over a 13-year period. STUDY DESIGN: A single-center retrospective chart analysis was conducted involving all consecutive patients diagnosed with ARF between 2003 and 2015. Patient age, sex, clinical characteristics, recent medical history for group A streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis and antibiotic treatment, and laboratory, echocardiographic, and electrocardiographic findings were recorded. RESULTS: Of 98 patients (62 boys, mean age 8.81 ± 3.04 years), 59 (60.2%) reported a positive history of pharyngotonsillitis; 48 (49%) had received antibiotic (mean duration of treatment of 5.9 ± 3.1 days), and, among these, 28 (58.3%) had carditis. Carditis was the second most frequent finding, subclinical in 27% of patients. Mitral regurgitation was present in 49 of 56 patients (87.5%) and aortic regurgitation in 36/56 (64.3%) no stenosis was documented. CONCLUSIONS: ARF is still present in high-income countries and can develop despite primary prophylaxis, especially when given for a short course. Our findings highlight the need for 10 days of antistreptococcal treatment to prevent ARF. Echocardiography is important because 27% of cases with carditis were subclinical.
Assuntos
Miocardite/diagnóstico , Miocardite/epidemiologia , Febre Reumática/diagnóstico , Adolescente , Antibacterianos/uso terapêutico , Insuficiência da Valva Aórtica/diagnóstico por imagem , Artrite/microbiologia , Bloqueio Atrioventricular/diagnóstico , Sedimentação Sanguínea , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Coreia/microbiologia , Países Desenvolvidos , Ecocardiografia Doppler em Cores , Eletrocardiografia , Eritema/microbiologia , Feminino , Hemoglobinas/análise , Humanos , Itália/epidemiologia , Masculino , Insuficiência da Valva Mitral/diagnóstico por imagem , Faringite/epidemiologia , Estudos Retrospectivos , Febre Reumática/tratamento farmacológico , Febre Reumática/epidemiologia , Estações do Ano , Tonsilite/epidemiologiaRESUMO
Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is a non-suppurative complication of pharyngeal infection with group A streptococcus. Signs and symptoms of ARF develop 2 to 3 weeks following pharyngitis and include arthritis, carditis, chorea, subcutaneous nodules, and erythema marginatum. In developing areas of the world, ARF and rheumatic heart disease are estimated to affect nearly 20 million people and remain leading causes of cardiovascular death during the first five decades of life. ARF still represents one of the quintessential examples of a pathogenic trigger culminating in autoimmune manifestations. In this review, we will focus on the pathogenesis and etiology of ARF and its complications, along with diagnostic and treatment approaches to both ameliorate and prevent long-term sequelae of this potentially debilitating disease.