Rheumatic fever is currently the major cause of acquired heart disease among children in South Africa.1 The incidence of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is not declining. Recent figures quote the incidence of rheumatic fever as 0.6 0.7/1 000 population in the USA and Japan compared with 15 21/1 000 population in Asia and Africa.2 In a study conducted in 1975 in Sow...

BACKGROUND The periodontal disease during pregnancy of women with rheumatic valve disease imply infective endocarditis risks and higher rate of preterm birth and low birth weight. OBJECTIVE To study the periodontal disease rate of women with rheumatic valve disease during pregnancy. METHODS We studied 140 pregnant women who included 70 patients with rheumatic valve disease and 70 healthy wo...

One hundred and eleven patients with rheumatic carditis of the first attack were treated with steroid hormone. In the cases, in which the steroid hormone therapy started within 2 weeks from the onset of the disease, all except one did not reveal a residual valvular heart disease after 2 years from the treatment. It was suggested that early diagnosis and the earliest start of steroid hormone the...

Rheuniatic fever is a recurrent disease which frequently can be prevented. Infection with group A streptococci precipitates both initial and recurrent attacks; therefore, prevention of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease depends upon the control of streptococcal infections. This may be accomplished, one by prevention of streptococcal infections in rheumatic subjects, and, two by early a...

the patient was a 19 year-old woman with the diagnosis of resistant hypertension, although she was under treatment of three classes of anti-hypertensive drugs (beta blocker, angiotensin receptor blocker, diuretic) for more than one year. in physical examination there was only a significant difference between the systolic blood pressure of upper and lower extremities (200 vs. 120 mmhg), without ...