Mitral valve replacement in children and adolescents with rheumatic heart disease

To our knowledge, no documented hemodynamic studies in larger series of young patients undergoing valve replacement for rheumatic valvular disease have been reported previously. It seems to us that the natural history of rheumatic heart disease in India often follows a rapid and fulminant course which makes an aggressive surgical approach mandatory. An operative mortality of 22 % was seen in this series. Pronounced cardiac disability together with the poor general condition and the low nutritional status contributed in no small measure to this figure. Patients have been followed for periods ranging from 6 months to 6 years following corrective surgery. A remarkable absence of thrombo-embolic phenomena was a striking feature in the follow-up. There has been no evidence of rheumatic reactivation in any of these patients. This communication reinforces the beneficial results of valve replacement even at this young age when severe mitral incompetence exists refractory to medical treatment.