How to recognize and cure rheumatic heart diseases

General description

Primarily rheumatic heart defects are accompanied by hemodynamic significant disorders of the heart valves .Secondary signs are changes in the chambers of the heart. Autoimmune antibodies are the cause of the disruption of the connective tissue of the valves in the valves.

After such disorganization, the mitral valve flaps are no longer able to close the valve opening. The increased blood flow to the systole increases the left atrium, that

Here the is of great importance for the inherited and constitutional predisposition of to the disease. Rheumatism in children is infectious-allergic in nature, it is impossible without previous streptococcal infection( pharyngitis, scarlet fever, sore throat).

Species, Forms and Classification

By the number of affected valves, rheumatic malformations are classified into isolated and combined .In the first case, violations are observed only in one valve, in the second - at once in several.

By the nature of the valve changes are divided into:

• Insufficiency - incomplete closure of the valve, as a result of which part of the blood again flows into the heart, from which it came. There is an additional load on this organ and an increase in its mass. All this is the cause of fatigue of the heart.

  It is characterized by dizziness, palpitations, faintness, shortness of breath and swelling in the legs. The patient feels weakness and fatigue, and when physical work there are pains in the left side of the chest.

• Stenosis - jointing valve leaflets. The hole between the chambers becomes smaller, which prevents the normal passage of blood. This deviation is most often observed in adults and elderly people.

  Symptoms are the same as those with insufficiency, but night attacks of suffocation, weight loss, coughing with phlegm or blood, an unhealthy blush on the cheeks are added. Slow physical development and growth are observed in children.

• The combined vice is a combination of insufficiency and stenosis.

Depending on the affected heart, the heart is isolated:

• Rheumatic myocarditis is an inflammation of the muscle of the heart, most often not causing serious complications.
• Rheumatic endocarditis - the inner shell was inflamed. Often is the cause of mitral valve insufficiency.
• Rheumatic pericarditis - the outer membrane becomes inflamed. Characteristic for severe rheumatic heart disease.
• Pancarditis is the most complex case in which all layers of the heart are inflamed and it is not able to contract normally. It causes serious complications and circulatory disorders, and can lead to cardiac arrest.

Diagnostic Methods

To determine the disease, it is required to conduct more than one study, but first the doctor conducts an examination and a questioning of the patient. These are the first steps in diagnosis, here physicians pay attention to unnatural pallor of the skin , reaching in some places on the face before cyanosis, dyspnea and swelling.

Heart listening is performed to identify arrhythmia and extraneous noise, the nature of which is determined by further research. The survey is needed for to indicate the possible causes of rheumatism and the subsequent defects of , the patient tells the doctor about the infectious diseases and illnesses of close relatives.

Among the instrumental studies of , the easiest is an electrocardiogram( ECG) that checks the heart rate and identifies the type of arrhythmia, blockade, signs of ischemia. With the help of phonocardiography( FCG), the presence of noises in the heart and their relation to vices are determined. The size of the heart is checked using a chest X-ray.

The echocardiogram ( EchoCG, in another way - ultrasound of the heart) is the main survey due to which the hypothesis of the presence of a defect is often confirmed or disproved.

With the help of it, a decrease in the contractility of the heart and a violation in its structure is diagnosed.

Most of the described types of diagnostics can be performed on a primary examination, when the diagnosis is not yet confirmed, or in dispensary groups with an already detected rheumatic malformation.

The treatment regimens used

Because the reason for the heart condition is rheumatism, conservative( non-surgical) treatment is aimed at reducing the risk of complications of this disease, as well as on cardiac rhythm correction and prevention of deficiency. To take measures is recommended immediately after the detection of rheumatism. During the febrile period, the patient is treated permanently, strict bed rest is needed.

is prescribed for antibacterial and anti-inflammatory drugs .After the last rheumatic attack, mandatory prevention of relapse occurs within the next five years.

All patients with acquired defects are referred to for admission to the cardiac surgeon , which determines the actual time for surgery.

Patients with stenosis do commissurotomy, accompanied by the separation of valve flaps;this ensures normal blood flow. If the operation is insufficient, the operation reduces to prosthetics of the affected valves. Combined malformation is treated by replacing the damaged valve with an artificial one, occasionally instead of doing prosthetics together with commissurotomy.

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Forecasts

Minor transformations in the valve apparatus without disturbances in the myocardium initially remain in the compensation phase and do not affect the patient's ability to work.

The transition to the phase of decompensation and forecasts are determined by many circumstances: infections, overstrain, repeated attacks, pregnancy and childbirth. The increasing damage to the valves is the cause of the development of insufficiency, and the most severe decompensation often leads to death.

The prognosis for mitral stenosis is also unfavorable - it becomes as the cause of the blood stagnation in a small circle and insufficient circulation.

For rheumatic vaginas it is recommended to abandon bad habits and try to reduce the physical activity of , to observe a special diet, to engage in physiotherapy exercises and to undergo treatment courses at cardiological resorts.

Learn more about rheumatic heart disease from the video:

The heart is one of the main organs of a person, and even minor disturbances of his work lead to serious consequences. Rheumatism and its accompanying heart defects can develop unexpectedly, after the transferred infectious diseases, but in the greatest risk group are people located to cardiological diseases genetically .

To avoid complications, it is necessary to consult a doctor at the first suspicion. Modern methods of diagnosis and treatment can partially or completely get rid of the acquired rheumatic malformation.