rheumatic heart disease starts in early childhood to make its presence felt in younger days. a lot of work days are lost ,some even remain uneducated because of frequent illness associated with rheumatic heart disease.
the disease process takes form of frequent sore throat infections followed by swelling of joints and limbs.if untreated the disease matures into a fulminant heart disease . it usually affects the mitral valve. in some cases the aortic valve is affected too.
the mitral valve disease is in form of mitral stenosis .in early stages the valve leaflets are not involved in the disease process.
the disease is restricted to the commissures only insuch a situation the mitral commissurotomy can be carried out.balloon mitral commissurotomy is the minimally invasive procedure carried out in the cath lab through femoral vein route.
at times the mitral valve leaflets are not pliable and during the process the mitral valve my get ruptured inadvertantly.then the open mitral valvotomy should be carried out in emergency .if not intervened in time the condition of patient deteriorates quickly.
the other valve affected in this disease process is the aortic valve too.
at times in chronic conditions the tricuspid valve is also involved though it is most of the time functional involvement and not physical .necessating the tricuspid valve repair in form of annuloplasty.
