Acute rheumatic fever in adults.
Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) in 53 adults was characterized by a severe, febrile migratory polyarthritis involving primarily large joints in the lower extremities, with evidence of an antecedent streptococcal infection. Carditis, present in only eight (15%) of the adults, was mild and transient. The characteristic abnormality in laboratory findings was an erythrocyte sedimentation rate (Westergren) greater than 100 mm/hr. Response to high-dose aspirin therapy was prompt and dramatic in all patients. Mild andevanescent abnormalities of both renal function and hepatic function (not aspirin-mediated) were detected in 51% and 64%, respectively. A common disorder in San Antonio, ARF has distinctive symptoms. It can be readily diagnosed and promptly treated. In the adult, it is almost exclusively a syndrome of events severe but transient in the joints, and mild and transient in the heart, kidneys, and liver.
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000175:diagnosis; D001241:Aspirin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000503:physiopathology; D008099:Liver / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012213:Rheumatic Fever / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D012214:Rheumatic Heart Disease / Q000175:diagnosis; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000150:complications; D013781:Texas
D001241:Aspirin