CORRELATION BETWEEN THE SEVERITY OF CARDITIS AND THE LEVEL OF ACUTE PHASE REACTANTS AND ANTI-STREPTOLYSIN 0 TITER IN ACUTE RHEUMATIC FEVER: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY IN SHIRAZ

In order to find the correlation between the severity of carditis in acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) and anti-streptolysin O (ASO) titers, we performed a retrospective study in Shiraz on one-hundred and four patients. The mean age of the patients was 11 years. Fever was seen in 85.5%, arthralgia in 95.2%, arthritis in 81.7%, carditis in 82.5%, chorea in 3.8%, and subcutaneous nodules in 0.9% of patients. Mitral regurgitation was the most frequent valvar involvement (79.6%). Sixteen patients (15.4%) had severe carditis. The ESR level was ≥20 Wintrobe units in 98.0%, the CRP was elevated in 83.0%, and the ASO titer was ~400 Todd units in 91.0% of patients. There was no significant statistical difference between those patients with mild and severe carditis concerning the level of ESR, CRP, and ASO titers. There was also no significant statistical difference between the level of these parameters and the presence or absence of carditis, and the patient's age (≤8 years or >8 years old).