Comparative Clinical Characteristics of Rheumatic Heart Disease Patients Undergoing Surgical Valve Replacement

Cureus. 2019 Jun 12;11(6):e4889. doi: 10.7759/cureus.4889.

Abstract

Background To assess the prevalence patterns of isolated/mixed rheumatic valvular lesions and associated risk factors among rheumatic heart disease (RHD) patients undergoing surgical valve replacement. Methods An analytical cross-sectional design was used. Purposive sampling was used to select 87 RHD patients who underwent a first-time valve replacement for mitral, aortic, or both valves between April 1 and October 20, 2016, at Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore, Pakistan. Patients with systemic hypertension, diabetes mellitus type-II, congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, non-rheumatic valvular degeneration, positive test for hepatitis C, or undergoing concomitant coronary artery bypass graft or a 'redo' valve replacement procedure were excluded. A proforma was used to collect preoperative data on patients' demographics, laboratory investigations, electrocardiogram (ECG), and transthoracic echocardiography reports. Results Age (mean ± S.D.) was 32.79 ± 13.06 years, which was divided into four quartile-based groups. Forty-six (52.9%) cases were males. The majority (56.3%) of patients underwent mitral valve replacement. Mitral regurgitation (MR, 80%) was the most common lesion. Of 71 available ECGs, atrial fibrillation was observed in 46.5% cases. Increasing age group was negatively correlated with MR severity (τc = -0.188, p-value = 0.033) and positively with aortic stenosis (AS) severity (τc = 0.141, p-value = 0.010). No significant elevations were observed for anti-streptolysin O titer, C-reactive protein, and leukocyte count, though the erythrocyte sedimentation rate was abnormally high in 46.94% cases. Conclusions MR was the most common lesion. MR was more severe in younger patients whilst AS was more severe in older cases. There is little evidence of ongoing residual inflammation.

Keywords: atrial fibrillation; echocardiography; inflammation; rheumatic heart disease; valve lesions; valve replacement.