A Comparison of the Effect of Prednisone and Acetylsalicylic Acid on the Incidence of Residual Rheumatic Heart Disease

Abstract

IN 1955 the Cooperative Rheumatic Fever Study, sponsored jointly by the Research Council of Great Britain and the American Heart Association, presented its findings.¹ This report showed that with the prescribed dosages of ACTH and cortisone, the incidence of residual rheumatic heart disease was essentially the same in patients given steroid therapy as in those treated with acetylsalicylic acid. Subsequent studies suggested that the incidence of residual heart disease was decreased with larger doses of steroids given over a longer period.^{2 3 4 5} However, none of these reports included observations on a concurrent parallel group of patients treated with acetylsalicylic acid. The . . .