Rheumatic Fever AND Rheumatic Heart Disease — A Preventable Legacy of Group A Strep

The answer first

Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is a delayed, autoimmune, non-suppurative complication of group A streptococcal (GAS) pharyngitis that occurs two to three weeks after the throat infection and attacks the heart, joints, brain, skin and subcutaneous tissues. Repeated GAS exposures trigger recurrent ARF, and recurrent ARF causes progressive valvular damage — predominantly mitral regurgitation acutely and mitral stenosis chronically — defining rheumatic heart disease (RHD). RHD remains a leading cause of acquired heart disease in young people in low- and middle-income countries and in Indigenous populations of high-income countries, and is fundamentally a disease of health-system failure: primary prevention with antibiotics for GAS pharyngitis and secondary prevention with benzathine penicillin G prevent nearly all of it. ^{[1] [2]}

A physician-level answer rests on four pillars: ^[1]

1. Apply the 2015 revised Jones criteria with echocardiography. Diagnosis requires evidence of preceding GAS plus two major (carditis with clinical or echo findings, polyarthritis, chorea, erythema marginatum, subcutaneous nodules) or one major plus two minor criteria (fever, elevated ESR/CRP, prolonged PR), stratified by low- versus moderate/high-risk population; the 2015 revision added subclinical carditis on echo as a major criterion and monoarthritis as a major criterion in high-risk populations. ^{[1] [5]}
2. Treat the acute episode and prevent recurrence. Aspirin 80 to 100 mg/kg/day in four to five divided doses for arthritis and mild carditis; corticosteroid (prednisone 1 to 2 mg/kg/day) for severe carditis with heart failure; bed rest during acute illness; and immediate commencement of secondary prophylaxis with benzathine penicillin G 1.2 million units intramuscularly every 4 weeks (or every 3 weeks in high-risk populations). ^{[3] [9]}
3. Manage established RHD by valve and by complication. Mitral stenosis by percutaneous balloon mitral valvotomy when valve morphology is favourable; mechanical versus bioprosthetic valve by age and anticoagulation feasibility; atrial fibrillation by rate, rhythm and anticoagulation; heart failure by guideline-directed therapy; and infective endocarditis prophylaxis for high-risk subsets. ^{[2] [6]}
4. Co-manage pregnancy, screening and the health system. Mitral stenosis is the dominant pregnancy risk in RHD and may require balloon mitral valvotomy in the second trimester; echocardiographic screening detects subclinical RHD in endemic regions; and ongoing secondary prophylaxis is the single most effective intervention to halt disease progression. ^{[7] [8] [12]}

DWE high-yield: "Jones 2015 lowered the diagnostic threshold in high-risk populations." Subclinical echocardiographic carditis is now a major criterion; monoarthritis or polyarthralgia can substitute for polyarthritis; and a first episode of ARF in an endemic population can be diagnosed with lower thresholds because the consequence of missing ARF (lifelong RHD) outweighs the cost of treatment. ^{[1] [11]}

References13ShowHide

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