[Silent enemy in acute rheumatic fever: subclinical carditis]

Routine use of Doppler echocardiography for the initial diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) might allow early detection and, hence, prevention of rheumatic recurrences. This study sought to determine the incidence of subclinical carditis in ARF patients.

The study included 80 patients (64 migratory polyarthritis, 16 rheumatic chorea) who were diagnosed with ARF according to the Jones criteria, 1992 update. Rheumatic carditis was defined as the presence of the following findings on Doppler echocardiography: mitral and aortic regurgitant jets in at least two planes, the length of the jets >1 cm, and peak flow velocities of >2.5 m/sec for both mitral and aortic regurgitations persisting throughout systole and diastole, respectively. The patients diagnosed with subclinical carditis were re-evaluated at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months.

Echocardiography revealed subclinical carditis in 25 patients (31.3%; 13 girls, 12 boys; mean age 11.4±2.5 years) with ARF. Of 64 patients with migratory polyarthritis, 34 (53.1%) had clinical carditis and 17 (26.6%) had subclinical carditis. The incidences of clinical and subclinical carditis among 16 patients with rheumatic chorea were 31.3% (n=5) and 50% (n=8), respectively. Of 20 patients who completed one-year follow-up, persistence of subclinical carditis was observed in 11 cases (55%).

Clinicians should be attentive to the presence of cardiac involvement among patients with suspected ARF. Considering the high incidence of subclinical carditis, echocardiographic evidence of carditis should be used as a diagnostic criterion.