BACKGROUND We report the use of positron emission tomography (PET) using 18F-FDG for the diagnosis of carditis in children with rheumatic heart disease (RHD). MATERIAL AND METHODS Thirty-six children aged 6-17 years (seventeen males and nineteen females) with isolated rheumatic significant mitral regurgitation (MR) underwent FDG-PET scanning of the heart after fasting for 6 h within a period ...

Rheumatic carditis is the most serious major manifestation of acute rheumatic fever in children. Cardiac Troponin-T (cTnT) is established as a new specific marker of myocardial damage or injury. The present work was carried out to study the value of cTnT as a diagnostic marker of myocardial injury in children with rheumatic carditis, and to compare it to established parameters of myocardial inj...

Leucocyte-platelet thrombi, involving the smaller branches of the coronary blood vessels, have been found in the hearts of patients with active rheumatic fever and rheumatic carditis. A consistent correlation has been observed between the existence of these vascular lesions and the presence of typical Aschoff bodies. It is suggested that these cellular thrombi may play a role in the pathogenesi...

CD18 hypomorph mice expressing reduced levels of the common beta2 integrin chain develop aggravated Lyme carditis, compared to that developed by wild-type (WT) mice, upon infection with the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. The enhancement of Lyme carditis in these mice is characterized by increased macrophage infiltration, correlating with augmented expression of the monocyte/macrophage chemoat...

BACKGROUND Lyme disease is an infection that is estimated to affect over 300,000 people in the United States annually. Typically, it presents with erythema migrans (EM), an annular rash at the site of tick attachment, within 3 to 30 days of inoculation. Untreated patients may progress to early disseminated disease. A further complication, Lyme carditis is rare but may occur several weeks later....

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of occurrence and long term evolution of subclinical carditis in patients with acute rheumatic fever. DESIGN Valvar incompetence was detected by clinical examination and Doppler echocardiographic imaging during the acute and quiescent phases of rheumatic fever. Patients were followed prospectively and submitted to repeat examinations at one and five years ...