Understanding rheumatic fever

Through a comprehensive review of the recent findings on rheumatic fever, we intend to propose a new physiopathologic model for this disease. A Medline search was performed for all articles containing the terms rheumatic fever or rheumatic heart disease in title or abstract from 1970 to 2011. Best evidence qualitative technique was used to select the most relevant. The scientific interest on rheumatic fever has notably diminished throughout the twentieth century as evidenced by the comparison of the proportion of articles in which RF was a subject in 1950 (0.26%) and today (0.03%) [Pubmed]. However, RF remains a major medical and social problem in the developing world and in the so-called hotspots, where it still causes around 500.000 deaths each year, not too different from the pre-antibiotic era. The role of genetic factors in RF susceptibility is discussed. Familiar aggregation, similarity of disease patterns between siblings, identical twin, and HLA correlation studies are evidence for a genetic influence on RF susceptibility. The suspect-involved genes fall mainly into those capable of immunologic mediation. Molecular mimicry explains the triggering of RF, but an intense and sustained inflammation is needed to cause sequels. Also, RF patients vary greatly in terms of symptoms. It is likely that a genetic background directing immune response towards a predominantly Th1 or Th2 pattern contributes to these features. The recent findings on rheumatic fever provide important insight on its physiopathology that helps understanding this prototype post-infectious autoimmune disease giving insights on other autoimmune conditions.