Primordial Prevention Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) are predominantly diseases of social, environmental, and economic poverty. Primordial prevention, defined as improving socioeconomic and living conditions, and…

Introduction Heart disease is the highest indirect (nonobstetric) cause of mortality for pregnant women in both high-income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Valvular heart disease is an…

Introduction New cases of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) have almost disappeared from most high-income countries (HICs), where rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is now a remnant of the past and usually…

Introduction Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains the most common cause of multivalvular heart disease worldwide, and a major cause of cardiac morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries. The…

Introduction Until recently, the diagnosis and evaluation of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) was purely clinical in resource-poor settings where RHD has remained endemic. The advent of portable echocardiographic technology, however,…

Introduction Chronic ambulatory heart failure (HF) is usually the most common clinical manifestation of advanced rheumatic heart disease (RHD) . HF in RHD patients typically develops after a chronic, often…

INTRODUCTION Initial management of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is based on establishing the diagnosis, eradication of the streptococcal organism, curtailment of normal physical activities, management of fever, joint manifestations, carditis…

Introduction The diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) relies on a combination of clinical evaluation and laboratory studies. Diagnosis is usually made using the clinical criteria first formulated by T….

Acknowledgments Research grants to MWC: (a) HL35280 and HL56267 from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and National Institute of Mental Health Bench to Bedside; (b) grants from the Oklahoma…

Introduction Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is an immune-mediated, nonsuppurative consequence of group A β-hemolytic streptococcus (GAS) infection. Although episodes of ARF can result in significant disability, the major impact of…