Comparative Clinical Characteristics of Rheumatic Heart Disease Patients Undergoing Surgical Valve Replacement

Background To assess the prevalence patterns of isolated/mixed rheumatic valvular lesions and associated risk factors among rheumatic heart disease (RHD) patients undergoing surgical valve replacement. Methods An analytical cross-sectional design was used. Purposive sampling was used to select 87 RHD patients who underwent a first-time valve replacement for mitral, aortic, or both valves between April 1 and October 20, 2016, at Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore, Pakistan. Patients with systemic hypertension, diabetes mellitus type-II, congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, non-rheumatic valvular degeneration, positive test for hepatitis C, or undergoing concomitant coronary artery bypass graft or a 'redo' valve replacement procedure were excluded. A proforma was used to collect preoperative data on patients' demographics, laboratory investigations, electrocardiogram (ECG), and transthoracic echocardiography reports. Results Age (mean ± S.D.) was 32.79 ± 13.06 years, which was divided into four quartile-based groups. Forty-six (52.9%) cases were males. The majority (56.3%) of patients underwent mitral valve replacement. Mitral regurgitation (MR, 80%) was the most common lesion. Of 71 available ECGs, atrial fibrillation was observed in 46.5% cases. Increasing age group was negatively correlated with MR severity (τ_c = -0.188, p-value = 0.033) and positively with aortic stenosis (AS) severity (τ_c = 0.141, p-value = 0.010). No significant elevations were observed for anti-streptolysin O titer, C-reactive protein, and leukocyte count, though the erythrocyte sedimentation rate was abnormally high in 46.94% cases. Conclusions MR was the most common lesion. MR was more severe in younger patients whilst AS was more severe in older cases. There is little evidence of ongoing residual inflammation.