Key result
Global rheumatic heart disease cases rose slightly from 1990 to 2021, but mortality rates declined.
Observational
Yes
Despite declining mortality rates, the global incidence and prevalence of rheumatic heart disease continue to rise, highlighting the need for targeted interventions addressing risk factors like high blood pressure and BMI.
Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a chronic valvular disorder caused by acute rheumatic fever. It mostly affects the mitral valve and leads to thickening. The present study employs the GBD (Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2021) to analyze the global burden of RHD. The study investigates trends in incidence, prevalence, disability-adjusted life-years, and mortality from 1990 to 2021 across regions and 204 countries and territories, exploring difference with sex, age, and sociodemographic index. Two-sample Mendelian randomization identified high systolic blood pressure and high body mass index as causal risk factors for RHD. Although there was a slight increase in age-standardized prevalence and incidence rates, there was a decline in mortality and disability-adjusted life-year rates. Projections indicate a persistent upward trend in the incidence of the condition from 2022 to 2050. The findings emphasize the persistent global burden of RHD and underscore the necessity for targeted interventions.
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Zou et al. (2026) conducted an observational in Rheumatic heart disease (RHD). High systolic blood pressure and high body mass index was evaluated on Trends in incidence, prevalence, disability-adjusted life-years, and mortality. Global age-standardized prevalence and incidence rates of rheumatic heart disease slightly increased from 1990 to 2021, while mortality and disability-adjusted life-year rates declined.
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