Clinical and Echocardiographic Profile of Rheumatic Heart Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Rheumatic Heart disease (RHD) is the leading cause of acquired heart disease and more prevalent in developing countries. The objective of the study was to determine the clinical and echocardiographic profiles of patients with rheumatic heart disease (RHD).

Materials and Methods: All patients above the age of 12 years of either gender diagnosed with Rheumatic heart disease from January 2018 to December 2019 at tertiary care hospital, Hyderabad were enrolled in the study. Detailed patient data was obtained from the hospital records. Information regarding gender, age, Electrocardiogram findings, clinical and echocardiographic manifestations was obtained.

Results: Throughout the two-year study period, a total of fifty patients with RHD were studied. The mean age of the population was 33.71 years. Females (64%) outnumbered males and 60% were rural population. The clinical features observed were fever (80%), joint pain (64%), palpitation (60%), breathlessness (90%) and chest pain (50%), tachycardia (60%), raised JVP (10%), hypertension (20%). The common echocardiographic findings observed were mitral stenosis (50%), mitral regurgitation (24%) and pulmonary hypertension (36%), left atrial enlargement (56%), and right atrial enlargement (16%) whereas the majority of the patients (70%) have ejection fraction between 40-50% and thrombus was identified in 15 (30%) patients respectively.

Conclusion: Common clinical findings observed were breathlessness and fever while the common echocardiographic findings were mitral stenosis and regurgitation, pulmonary hypertension, and left atrial enlargement. Population-based screening by echocardiography could be a potential route for early screening of rheumatic heart disease.