Rheumatic fever in Nigerian children. A prospective study of 66 patients
E. O. Okoroma, I. N. Ihenacho and C. H. Anyanwu
Sixty-six Nigerian children with rheumatic fever were studied between 1975
and 1979. Equal numbers of patients had acute and chronic disease. Carditis
was the most common major manifestation, being present in 98% of the cases,
whereas subcutaneous nodules, erythema marginatum, and chorea were
relatively rare. Twelve patients died within two years of the disease's
appearance and eight have become unavailable for follow-up. Our findings
resemble those from other tropical countries, in contrast with results from
temperate countries: rheumatic fever manifests differently and rheumatic
carditis runs a more fulminant course in a person from a tropical area.
