RHEUMATIC HEART DISEASE & IT’S TREATMENTS

What is Rheumatic heart disease? :-Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disorder which can adversely impact the heart valve of patients. Any heart valve disorder that develops due to rheumatic fever is known as rheumatic heart disease. It mostly occurs due to strep throat infection in younger children between the age group of 5 to 15.

Symptoms of Rheumatic Heart Disease :-
Patients with an underlying rheumatic heart disease may experience the following symptoms.

• Severe chest pain
• Heart palpitations
• Fainting (syncope)
• Breathing problems when lying down
• Red or swollen joints
• Stroke
• Fatigue
• Fever caused due to heart valve disorder

One should immediately contact a cardiac surgeon to diagnose the exact health condition.

How Do Rheumatic Fever Affect Heart Valves?
Heart consists of four valves which regulate flow of oxygenated blood through the heart. Healthy valves control the flow of blood in such a way that it cannot return in backward direction. Rheumatic heart disease damages these valves and affects the normal pumping action of heart. Heart may enlarge and fail to work efficiently due to stress. This condition may result in a stroke or heart attack.

Treatment Options for Rheumatic Heart Disease
It is important to treat rheumatic heart disease on time. Otherwise, it may lead to life-threatening complications.

Antibiotics – Cardiac surgeons may recommend antibiotics like penicillin for treating throat infections. This treatment may be continued up to 10 years to prevent the recurrence of rheumatic fever.
Blood Thinners – Deteriorated valves may result in stroke. Therefore, cardiac surgeons usually provide blood-thinning medications to minimize the risk of stroke and other heart problems.
Surgery – A heart valve surgery can be performed for repairing or replacing the diseased valves. Cardiologists usually suggest a heart valve surgery when medications do not provide relief and patient’s condition is serious.

How it is diagnosed? :-The first step in diagnosing rheumatic heart disease is establishing that your child recently had a strep infection. The doctor may order a throat culture, a blood test, or both to check for the presence of strep antibodies. However, it is likely that signs of the strep infection may be gone by the time you take your child to the doctor. In that case, the doctor will need you to try to remember if your child recently had a sore throat or other symptoms of a strep infection.

The doctor will do a physical examination and check your child for signs of rheumatic fever, including joint pain and inflammation. The doctor also will listen to your child’s heart to check for abnormal rhythms or murmurs that may signify that the heart has been strained.
How to Prevent Rheumatic Heart Disease?
Rheumatic heart can be prevented by controlling the prevalence of rheumatic fever. It can be accomplished by following the enumerated steps.

Throat Infection – Throat infection in a child must be treated on time. It reduces the possibility of rheumatic heart disease in future.

Practicing Hygiene – Parents should make sure that their children maintain a good hygiene. Parents should teach their children basic things like covering mouth while coughing and washing hands before eating anything. These simple measures can help children stay healthy.

Medications – Patients suffering from rheumatic fever must take prescribed medicines on a regular basis. They must also attend follow-up sessions to ensure a good health.

Rheumatic heart disease can be treated in the above mentioned ways but the best treatment option can be decided only by your doctor. The complete health of a person is taken into consideration before deciding on the treatment type. Also, the cost of treatment will vary as per the procedure selected. The heart valve surgery cost will definitely be more than antibiotics. Hence, a patient needs to ask questions to his surgeon before opting in for the suggested treatment procedure.