title: Predictors of recurrence in Sydenham's chorea: Clinical observation from a single center.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Sydenham's chorea is the most common cause of acquired chorea in children and is the major manifestation for acute rheumatic fever. Despite being known as a benign, self-limiting condition, recurrences and persistence of symptoms can be seen. In this study, we aimed to evaluate retrospectively the clinical and laboratory features of patients with Sydenham's chorea and the rate and the course of recurrences, and to assess the risk of recurrences.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was a retrospective study conducted in a tertiary hospital. Patients with Sydenham's chorea who were admitted to our outpatient clinics between January 2013 and June 2015 were included. Both newly diagnosed and follow-up patients were enrolled during this period. We retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of the patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 90 patients with female predominance. The mean age of onset was 11±2.4years. Complete remission was maintained in 77 patients (85.6%) at 1-6months and 4 patients had symptoms at more than 12months. Patients were followed for 6months to 9years. The recurrence rate was 16%. When we compared recurrent patients with the non-recurrent group, complete remission in 6months, the presence of persistent chorea, and regular use of prophylaxis were significantly different between the 2 groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sydenham's chorea is still an important health problem and has high morbidity in patients with recurrent and persistent chorea. The irregular usage of antibiotic prophylaxis, failure to achieve remission within 6months, and prolongation of symptoms for more than 1year are risk factors for recurrence of chorea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Ankara Pediatric & Pediatric Hematology Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Dıskapı, Ankara 06110, Turkey. Electronic address: esragurkas@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Esra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gurkas
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Ankara Pediatric & Pediatric Hematology Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Dıskapı, Ankara 06110, Turkey.
authors.forename: Zeynep S
authors.initials: ZS
authors.lastname: Karalok
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Ankara Pediatric & Pediatric Hematology Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Dıskapı, Ankara 06110, Turkey.
authors.forename: Birce D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Taskin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Ankara Pediatric & Pediatric Hematology Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Dıskapı, Ankara 06110, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ummu
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Aydogmus
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Ankara Pediatric & Pediatric Hematology Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Dıskapı, Ankara 06110, Turkey.
authors.forename: Alev
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guven
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Ankara Pediatric & Pediatric Hematology Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Dıskapı, Ankara 06110, Turkey.
authors.forename: Aydan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Degerliyurt
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Ankara Pediatric & Pediatric Hematology Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Dıskapı, Ankara 06110, Turkey.
authors.forename: Omer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bektas
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Ankara Pediatric & Pediatric Hematology Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Dıskapı, Ankara 06110, Turkey.
authors.forename: Cahide
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002819:Chorea / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D014421:Turkey
keywords: Recurrence; Rheumatic fever; Sydenham’s chorea