CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE IN WOMEN IN IRAQ

Stimulated by the world-wide interest in cardiovascular diseases, the authors made a study of 1001 consecutive admissions to a female medical ward in Baghdad, Iraq, and found that 146 patients were in congestive failure on admission, and an additional 197 patients were suffering from primary cardiovascular disease without failure. Of the group in failure, 47.9% had rheumatic heart disease; none of these patients had been on chemoprophylaxis. Bilharziasis was associated with a considerable number of cases of hypertension and with a small percentage of cases of cor pulmonale. The authors feel that prevention of rheumatic fever and bilharziasis should constitute the corner-stone of any effective control programme of cardiovascular disease at this stage of medical development in Iraq.