title: Childhood acute rheumatic fever in Ankara, Turkey.
abstract: Patients with acute rheumatic fever (ARF) admitted to a tertiary hospital in Ankara between January 1999 and July 2002 were studied cross-sectionally to verify the clinical profile and were followed during the acute period. All patients were investigated for throat culture, streptococcal serologic study, C-reactive protein, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and telecardiograms, electrocardiograms and echocardiographic study were done. During the study period, 129 attacks of ARF were observed: 118 were initial attacks and 11 were recurrences. Age on admission was 11.2 +/- 2.73 years (mean +/- SD, range: 6-21 years). Polyarthritis alone was present in 42 cases (33%), carditis alone in 33 (25%), combined carditis and polyarthritis in 36 (28%), combined carditis and chorea in 15 (12%) and chorea alone in 3 (2%). Nineteen (14%) patients with isolated arthritis and pure chorea had silent mitral and/or aortic regurgitation. Carditis was a dominant presenting manifestation, but appeared to be mild or moderate. The present study indicates that ARF is still a significant problem in Turkey. The observation that 8.5% of the attacks were recurrent reaffirms the need for more effective secondary prevention programs.
authors.affiliation: Section of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozer
authors.forename: Olgu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hallioğlu
authors.forename: Süheyla
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozkutlu
authors.forename: Alpay
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Celiker
authors.forename: Dursun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Alehan
authors.forename: Tevfik
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Karagöz
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001168:Arthritis / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012008:Recurrence; D012213:Rheumatic Fever / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology