STREPTOCOCCAL INFECTION LEADING TO CARDIAC AND RENAL INVOLVEMENT IN THALASSÆMIA

Abstract

The hitherto unexplained benign pericarditis peculiar to thalassæmia, especially after splenectomy, has been found, in a remarkably high proportion of cases, to be associated with raised antistreptolysin O (A.S. O) titres. The frequencies of arthralgia, arthritis, and a mitral valvular lesion compatible with rheumatic disease, and of proliferative glomerulonephritis, are unusually high among thalassæmic patients, and A.S. O titres were frequently raised in a large number of these patients, with cardiac and renal involvement, especially after splenectomy. It is suggested that thalassæmic diseases are associated with increased susceptibility to streptococcal infection which is enhanced by splenectomy. This leads to the well-known streptococcal infection sequelæ, " thalassæmic pericarditis " included. © 1971.