VALVE DISEASE: Worldwide perspective of valve disease

Evaluation of the effect of mitral stenosis severity on the left ventricular systolic function using isovolumic myocardial acceleration

“…Mitral stenosis (MS) still leads to significant morbidity and mortality worldwide [1]. The presence of impaired left ventricular (LV) systolic function, determined by M-mode and/or two--dimensional (2D) echocardiography (ECHO), is noted in 25-30% of the patients with MS [2][3][4][5][6].…”

Children’s heart disease in sub-Saharan Africa: Challenging the burden of disease

“…(32,33) The typical age affected is 5 to 18 years. (32,33,34) There is widespread evidence that in developing nations RHD occurs at a younger age than in developed countries, and also progresses more rapidly, though this may reflect more frequent attacks of ARF, (33,35,36,37,38,39,40,41) as without intervention, the sequence of events is predictable: after the initial infection with Lancefield group A β-haemolytic streptococci 3% of patients develop ARF approximately 19 days later. (42) At reinfection, the incidence increases sharply to more than 75% of patients.…”

Cardiac imaging in valvular heart disease

“…Moderatesevere AR has a prevalence of 0.5% and may be caused by disruption of the leaflets (degenerative, congenital bicuspid or rheumatic), dilatation of the root, or a combination of these [1,2,6]. AR creates not only volume overload but also an increase in afterload and therefore increased systolic wall stress, which often causes significant eccentric hypertrophy.…”

“…Degenerative thickening of the aortic valve (AV) is present in 25% of people over the age of 65 years, and 3% of people over the age of 75 years have severe AS [1,[6][7][8]. The second most common cause of AS is a congenital bicuspid valve, which occurs with an overall prevalence of 0.5-1.0%.…”