Clinical features of definite cases of acute rheumatic fever
| Feature | All cases | All cases (non-chorea) | First episodes | First episodes (non-chorea) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of cases | 555 | 397 | 337 | 238 |
| Number of people | 367 | 277 | 337 | 238 |
| Carditis | 292 (55) | 255 (66) | 174 (55) | 153 (67) |
| Cardiac failure | 57 (11) | 57 (15) | 29 (9) | 29 (13) |
| Pericarditis | 21 (4) | 20 (5) | 9 (3) | 8 (4) |
| Arthritis | ||||
| Total | 284 (55) | 272 (72) | 182 (58) | 174 (78) |
| Polyarthritis | 217 (42) | 209 (55) | 148 (47) | 143 (64) |
| Monoarthritis | 67 (13) | 63 (17) | 34 (11) | 31 (14) |
| Chorea | 158 (28) | — | 99 (31) | — |
| Erythema marginatum | 3 (1) | 3 (1) | 3 (1) | 3 (1) |
| Nodules | 3 (1) | 3 (1) | 3 (1) | 3 (1) |
| Arthralgia | 149 (29) | 133 (36) | 72 (23) | 62 (28) |
| Prolonged PR on ECG | 115 (35) | 110 (41) | 71 (34) | 69 (41) |
| Mean (SD)2-150 | Mean (SD)2-150 | |||
| Peak temperature (°C) | — | 38.3 (0.8) [305] | — | 38.3 (0.7) [186] |
| Peak ESR (mm/h) | — | 88 (32) [325] | — | 87 (32) [192] |
| Peak CRP (IU) | — | 144 (117) [71] | — | 119 (93) [47] |
| Peak WCC (× 109/l) | — | 12.8 (4.6) [323] | — | 13.0 (4.5) [187] |
| Peak ASOT (IU) | — | 569 (406) [336] | — | 592 (443) [197] |
| Peak ADBT (IU) | — | 1822 (1030) [275] | — | 1967 (1043) [162] |
Numbers in parentheses represent the percentage of people for whom the information was available who had that feature.
↵2-150 Numbers in square brackets represent the number of cases for which the information was available for that feature. Temperature, acute phase reactants, and streptococcal serology results are presented only for the non-chorea cases as these are often normal in chorea.
ECG, electrocardiogram; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; CRP, C reactive protein; WCC, white blood cell count; ASOT, antistreptolysin O titre; ADBT, anti-DNase B titre.