NOVEL BIOMARKERS AND ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC FINDINGS IN ACUTE RHEUMATIC FEVER PATIENTS

Abstract

Aim: Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is an inflammatory disease that develops after Group A Streptococcal (GAS) tonsillopharyngitis in genetically susceptible individuals. We aimed to examine the clinical, laboratory, and echocardiographic findings of the patients diagnosed and followed up with ARF. Methods: 55 patients under the age of 18 who were hospitalized and followed up with the diagnosis of ARF between January 2017 and January 2019 were included in this retrospective study. All cases were diagnosed with ARF according to the 2015 revised Jones criteria according to the intermediate-risk group. Gender, age, time of admission, physical examination findings, laboratory findings, echocardiographic findings, and data meeting major and minor diagnostic criteria of all patients diagnosed with ARF were recorded. Echocardiography and electrocardiography were performed on all patients. Inflammatory biomarkers were calculated using laboratory parameters. The data before the treatment and at the 8th week of the treatment were compared. Results: 31 (56.4%) of the patients were female and 24 (43.6%) were male, the mean age was 13.70±2.44 years (7-18 years). The highest number of patients was in the 9-14 age group. The most frequent hospital admission season was winter. Arthritis and carditis were the most common major criteria. Post-treatment body weight, height, body mass index, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure values of the patients were statistically significantly higher than before treatment (p