Medical Emergencies · single question
A patient has a history of childhood rheumatic fever. Which statement is true?
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Correct answer: D. It can affect both the heart and the joints
- A. Rheumatic heart disease with valvular damage is the major long-term consequence — and is the reason for prophylaxis if a prosthetic valve is later placed.
- B. Post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis is a separate entity; rheumatic fever primarily targets heart and joints.
- C. It follows group A beta-hemolytic STREPTOCOCCAL infection, a bacterial cause.
- D. Correct. Acute rheumatic fever is an autoimmune sequela of group A streptococcal pharyngitis. The Jones criteria include carditis, migratory polyarthritis, chorea, erythema marginatum and subcutaneous nodules — 'it licks the joints but bites the heart.'
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