[Study of 728 cases of children with acute articular rheumatism, divided into 2 similar groups observed at an interval of 10 years].

A group of 364 children treated for acute rheumatic fever between 1955 and 1961 was compared with a similar group of 364 cases matched for age between 1965 and 1972, treated in the same fashion. In the second group an increase was found in the percentage of first attacks compared with relapses, indicating an improvement from prophylaxis. Cardiac involvement on admission, in first attacks, is equally common in both groups but more severe in the first group: in relapses, the severity of cardiac involvement increases with the number of previous attacks. The course of the carditis with corticosteroid treatment is the same in both groups. The reduced severity of the cardiac involvement in first attacks in the recent group suggests a role played by earlier diagnosis, antibiotic therapy previous to hospitalization, or variations in the epidemic nature of the disease.