Acute rheumatic fever: a single center experience

Abstract

Aims: Acute rheumatic fever continues to be a serious public health issue globally and in our country. The aim was to evaluate the socioeconomic, clinical characteristics, and echocardiographic findings of patients diagnosed with acute rheumatic fever in the Sancaktepe district of Istanbul province, and to compare them with Turkiye and global data. Methods: The study was conducted retrospectively by reviewing the hospital records of 22 patients who presented to the pediatric cardiology outpatient clinic of Sancaktepe Training and Research Hospital and were diagnosed with acute rheumatic fever between March 2018 and October 2021. Demographic and socio-economic data, complaints, physical examination findings, clinical and laboratory features, initial echocardiographic findings at presentation, and follow-up data of the patients were identified. Results: Out of the 22 patients diagnosed with acute rheumatic fever, 13 (59.1%) were male, with a mean age of 131.9 months ±32.9. The patients were followed up for an average of 23.2±11.5 months. Most patients (36.3%) presented during the winter months. The average number of individuals living in the patients’ households was found to be 5.8±1. It was observed that 95% of the mothers and 45.5% of the fathers had completed primary education, none of the mothers were employed, and all employed fathers received minimum wage. A family history of acute rheumatic fever was present in 18.8% of the patients. When echocardiographic findings were evaluated, valve involvement was detected in 90.9% of the patients. While single valve involvement was observed in the majority (72.7%) of patients, mitral valve involvement was most common (81.8%). During the follow-up period, complete resolution was observed in 45.5% of patients with mild mitral regurgitation and 66.6% of patients with mild aortic valve regurgitation. Conclusion: While the majority of the data in the study are consistent with the literature, attention has been drawn to the challenges associated with the low socioeconomic status of our patient population. With the increase in socioeconomic status in our country, as in developed countries around the world, the incidence of disease may decrease.