title: Poststreptococcal reactive arthritis in children: a retrospective study.
abstract: The duration of treatment and appropriate guidelines for antibiotic prophylaxis for children with poststreptococcal reactive arthritis (PSRA) have not been determined. The authors performed a retrospective chart review of 40 children with PSRA and examined their clinical features at initial evaluation and at 6, 12, and 24 months. At baseline, 18% (n = 7) had a finding noted on the echocardiogram. Although most patients developed cardiac findings early on in the course of their disease, 2 patients with a normal baseline echocardiogram may have developed findings after 12 months of follow-up. The mean duration of prophylaxis was 22 months. During the follow-up period, there was improvement in Physician's Global Assessment, number of patients with arthralgia, tender and swollen joints, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, anti-streptolysin O, and anti-DNAse B antibody titers. The authors conclude that marked improvement in clinical features and laboratory values was seen over time. Patients may benefit with long-term cardiac follow-up.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School-UMDNJ, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA. lnmoorthy@mac.com
authors.forename: Lakshmi Nandini
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Moorthy
authors.forename: Sunanda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gaur
authors.forename: Margaret G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: Yanetsi Flores
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Landa
authors.forename: Mandvi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tandon
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Lehman
mesh_terms: D016918:Arthritis, Reactive / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy