Clinical Characteristics, Echocardiographic Features And Short-Term Outcomes of Children with Rheumatic Heart Diseas

Objective: To find out the clinical characteristics, echocardiographic features and short-term outcomes in children with rheumatic heart diseases (RHD). Study Design: Prospective longitudinal study Place and Duration of Study: The department of pediatric cardiology, “Children’s Hospital & Institute of Child Health, Multan” from Sep 2021-Feb 2022. Methodology: A total of 73 children of both genders aged 4 to 18 years with RHD were included. Clinical characteristics, presenting complaints and echocardiographic features were noted. Duration of stay among children admitted and managed as well as in-hospital outcomes in terms of mortality were recorded Results: Out of 73 children with RHD, 44(60.3%) were boys. Mean age was 11.78±3.62 years. Breathlessness, feeling of rapid ponding of heart-beat and orthopnea were the most frequent presenting complaints in 50(68.5%), 46(63.0%) and 41(56.2%) children respectively. Primary prophylaxis for ARF/RHD was reported in 6(8.2%) children. Echocardiographic assessment revealed mitral regurgitation in 71(97.3%), mitral stenosis 27(37.0%), aortic regurgitation 68(93.2%), left ventricular systolic dysfunction 50(68.5%) and pulmonary hypertension in 51(69.9%) children. Mean duration of hospital stay among admitted children was 12.57±2.77 days. Mortality was noted in 2(2.7%) children. Conclusion: Majority of the children with RHD are diagnosed late that exposes them to increased risk of undiagnosed valvular disorders. Palpitation, orthopnea and breathlessness were the most frequent presenting clinical features of RHD. Mitral regurgitation and aortic regurgitation were the most common echocardiographic findings.