Follow-up of rheumatic carditis treated with steroids.

Objective: To present the long-term follow-up of children hospitalised for severe rheumatic carditis who were treated with corticosteroids.

Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of the outcome of 242 patients with severe rheumatic carditis after discharge from two public hospitals in Niteroi, Brazil. We followed up 118 patients for 4 years or more, with an average of 7.