A best evidence topic in cardiac surgery was written, according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was: in young patients with rheumatic aortic regurgitation compared to non-rheumatics is a Ross operation associated with increased incidence of autograft failure? The pulmonary autograft with its inherent advantages of viable autologous transplant, central laminar flow, freedom from...

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS The long-term results after surgical repair of rheumatic mitral valve remain controversial in literature. Our aim was to determine the predictive factors which impact the long-term results after isolated rheumatic mitral valve repair and to evaluate the effect of those factors on reoperation and late mortality. METHODS One hundred and four patients with rheumatic valve d...

doi:10.2471/BLT.07.046680 For a disease to be suitable for screening as a tool of preventive medicine, it must satisfy the following criteria: (1) the evidence of an obvious burden of the disease, (2) an initial latent stage of the condition, (3) which can be detected by appropriate tests, (4) and treated by adequate therapy, and finally (5) to prove that intervention at an early stage can impr...

Mild aortic valve disease. RHEUMATIC MITRAL VALVE DISEASE. Sir William Broadbent (4) stated 100 years ago that “The age of the patient at the time when the lesion is acquired is the most important consideration in prognosis. . . .” This was confirmed in the study of Goldschlager et al. (5) and also in the current era by the seminal study of Bonow et al. (6). More recently, Spagnuolo et al. (7) ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW To give an overview of the current hypotheses of the pathogenesis of rheumatic fever and group A streptococcal autoimmune sequelae of the heart valve and brain. RECENT FINDINGS Human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) derived from rheumatic heart disease have provided evidence for crossreactive autoantibodies that target the dominant group A streptococcal epitope of the group A ca...

enterococci are normal inhabitants of gastrointestinal tract, being responsible for 5 to 18% of infective endocarditis and the incidence appears to be increasing. eleven patients with enterococcal endocarditis were studied. in a case series group, 10 men (average 57 years) and one woman (37 years) were studied. two patients had rheumatic heart disease, 5 patients arteriosclerotic disease and on...

Background In the context of endemic left-sided rheumatic heart disease, tricuspid valve disease requiring surgical intervention merits closer scrutiny in order to analyse surgical outcomes with presently employed techniques. Aims To evaluate the results of simultaneous tricuspid valve surgery for severe functional tricuspid regurgitation in rheumatic heart disease at the time of left-sided val...

BACKGROUND Valvular heart disease has been a significant cause of heart disease worldwide. In Ethiopia, it particularly affects young individuals and constitutes the major cause of cardiovascular disease. Factors associated with choice of treatment for advanced valvular heart disease are variable. The objective of this study is to review surgery done for Ethiopian patients with valvular heart d...

A total of 39 titles related to rheumatic fever or rheumatic heart disease in Malaysia were found with online literature search dating back to their inceptions and through 2014. Additional publications from conference journals were included. Nine papers were selected based on clinical relevance and future research implications. There were no population-based studies on the incidence or prevalen...