[Environmental effects on the course of active rheumatism in a migrant Siberian population]

To characterize antistreptococcal immune response in healthy subjects with cryoglobulinemia and rheumatic manifestations as well as a rheumatism course in population who came to Siberia to build and operate Baikal-Amur railway.

Siberian migrants were examined. Among them there were 203 patients with rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease, and 1275 healthy subjects. 65 patients had active rheumatism, 106 healthy subjects had rheumatic manifestations and cryoglobulinemia with adaptation cryoglobulinemia syndrome. All the patients underwent examination of the cardiovascular system, standard laboratory tests and tests for antistreptolysine-0, antistreptokinase, antistreptohyaluronidase, streptococcal antigen, microbiological tests. The diagnosis of rheumatic fever was established on the basis of Kisel-Jones-Nesterov and revised Jones criteria.

The adaptation cryoglobulinemia syndrome in healthy persons was associated with cardialgia, arthralgia, lumbalgia, myalgia, lymphadenopathy and Raynaud's phenomenon. Patients with rheumatic fever and adaptation cryoglobulinemia syndrome were predisposed to chronicity of primary rheumatic carditis, development of compound and combined valvular defects, arrhythmia and hemodynamic disturbances.

The presence of the adaptation cryoglobulinemia syndrome aggravates the course of rheumatic fever and promotes its chronicity.