The relationship between mitral valve prolapse and acute rheumatic fever in pediatric patients

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a clinical syndrome of which mitral regurgitation and congestive heart failure are the late sequelae. It can be usually diagnosed by echocardiography. In this study, we reevaluated the patients with acute rheumatic fever (ARF) who were followed-up regularly for aspects of MVP. Physical examination, echocardiography and Doppler study were performed for all the patients. One hundred twenty-seven cases of polyarthritis (54.7%), and 105 cases of valvular involvement (45.3%) were diagnosed. Echocardiography demonstrated MVP in 46.8% with isolated mitral insufficiency, in 38.2% with combined valvular defect and in 12.6% with only polyarthritis. One hundred healthy children comprised the control group. Statistical analyses revealed a significant difference in favor of valvular involvement between the groups.