Secondary Cardiac Damage in Rheumatic Fever Clinical Trial
Official title:
Prevalence of Secondary Cardiac Damage in Rheumatic Fever Patients and Adherence to Penicillin Secondary Prophylaxis
According to American Heart Association criteria, patients who have had Rheumatic Fever (RF)
should be treated with antibiotic prophylaxis. Continuous prophylaxis is recommended in
patients with well-documented histories of RF and in those with evidence of rheumatic heart
disease.
There is a limited data regarding adherence of patients to treatment and efficacy of
treatment.
In this study, patients with RF who are older than 21 years will be collected from a
computerized database of 'Maccabi Healthcare Services', one of the biggest Israeli Health
Funds. Patients will be assigned to the study after obtaining informed consent.
Previous adherence to antibiotic prophylaxis will be examined according to computerized
database of drugs which were issued to the patient since RF diagnosis.
Past history of cardiac involvement, including past Echocardiograms, will be collected from
computerized database. In addition, the current cardiac state will be assessed by an
experienced cardiologist, including a full new Echocardiogram examination.
n/a