Talk:Rheumatic fever
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carditis is the inflammation of all three layers of the heart - pericardium, myocardium and endocardium, and it is a common finding in Rheumatic Fever.--82.24.195.140 11:53, 18 July 2006 (UTC)Schwing.
–--82.24.195.140 11:53, 18 July 2006 (UTC)I am working on revising this article to better fit with the template Wikipedia:WikiProject Clinical medicine#Template. Also, subacute bacterial endocarditis while technically a subset of carditis is not related to rheumatic fever except as a possible sequelae. --DocJohnny 23:06, 31 December 2005 (UTC)
Still needs editing to remove repetition. --DocJohnny 00:20, 1 January 2006 (UTC)
[edit] ASOT
Diagnostic approach is probably useful to add, e.g. echocardiography, acute and convalescent antistreptolysin titres. Do we still use digoxin for congestive heart failure? JFW | T@lk 06:20, 1 January 2006 (UTC)
- Good point. I never use digoxin on new patients, but it is mentioned in all the rheumatic fever articles. --DocJohnny 06:50, 1 January 2006 (UTC)
Two questions, is it contagous once someone has long term rheumatic fever? Is it contagous when your pregnant?
[edit] critique
Nice work. I don't recognize anything wrong. Two questions arose in my own mind as I read it:
- First paragraph on incidence seems confusing to me: statistical whipsaw. Each sentence seems to void the previous one. I would recommend a clearer statement of when rheumatic fever was at its height, what the approximate incidence was then, what the approximate incidence is now, whether there are major regional variations (Europe vs NA vs underdeveloped countries), whether antibiotic use in last 50 years was responsible for decreased incidence, and whether currently the incidence seems to be still diminishing or re-increasing.
- Clarify carditis. How is carditis different from myocarditis? Does it simply mean "myocarditis and/or pericarditis" or something more distinct? I think myocarditis is by far the more familiar term if they are synonymous. alteripse 19:36, 1 January 2006 (UTC)
- Myocarditis refers to myocytes, the myocardium proper. Carditis refers to a pancarditis, which would include endocarditis, myocarditis, and pericarditis, which are more specific regional and histological terms.
