Rheumatic heart disease

  Rheumatic heart disease, referred to as rheumatic heart disease, is a cardiac lesion caused by rheumatic fever activity that involves the heart valves. It manifests as stenosis and/or incomplete closure of one or more of the mitral, tricuspid, and aortic valves. In the early stages of the disease, there are often no obvious symptoms, but in the later stages, the disease is characterized by cardiac failure such as shortness of breath, fatigue, cough, edema of the lower extremities, and coughing up pink foamy sputum. The disease mostly occurs in winter and spring, in cold, wet and crowded environments, and the age of first occurrence is mostly 5 to 15 years old, and recurrence is mostly within 3-5 years after the first occurrence.  Rheumatic heart disease is a partial manifestation of the metaplasia caused by group A beta hemolytic streptococcal infection and is an autoimmune disease. The pathological changes in the heart area occur mainly in the heart valve area. The mitral valve is the most commonly involved site. Valve lesions, whether stenosis, incomplete closure, or both, require surgical treatment for repair or replacement of the diseased valve when significant clinical symptoms are present.