Chronic rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is the persistence of valvar dysfunction following an episode of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) or ARF recurrence. Once the inflammatory markers normalize, any persistent valve dysfunction should be termed chronic RHD. Background and Epidemiology ARF,…
Introduction The clinical course of both acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) may be complicated by acute life-threatening conditions. This chapter will focus on: (1) the clinical evaluation, diagnosis, and management of acute heart failure (AHF); (2)…
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 asymptomatic, period of progressive valvular heart disease, typically manifesting clinically…