Problem of Mitral Valve Disease

The problem of mitral valve disease today is inseparably linked with the spectacular success of the surgical treatment of mitral stenosis. However, this brilliant approach to the problem should not obscure the fact that in the final analysis the main concern still lies with the unsolved mysteries of rheumatic fever. The mitral problem will be resolved not by a surgical technique but by exact knowledge of the underlying mechanisms of rheumatic fever and the discovery of means for its specific treatment and prevention. In fact, at the present time newer approaches to the prevention of rheumatic fever and its recurrences merit as much emphasis and need as careful evaluation as the surgical aspects of the problem. If our present attack on this aspect of the problem proves successful and if it is true, as we believe, that the incidence of rheumatic fever is declining in this country, the peak of