Lung function in children and adolescents with antecedents of acute rheumatic fever

Static lung volumes, CO-lung transfer, airway resistance, maximal expiratory flows and lung elastic properties were studied in 29 children and adolescents 1–10 years after recovery from acute rheumatic fever. There were essentially no changes in lung function even in the subjects with a residual valvular disease. The only abnormality was a tendency for the elastic lung recoil at TLC to be low, which is interpreted as probably reflecting a decrease in inspiratory muscle force.Abbreviations ARF acute rheumatic fever - VC vital capacity - TGV thoracic gas volume - Raw airway resistance - P-V pressure-volume - TLC total lung capacity - MEFV maximal expiratory flow-volume - T_LCO CO-lung transfer - FRC functional residual capacity