Does rheumatic heart disease require surgery?

Written by Wang Lei
Cardiology
Updated on September 28, 2024
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Patients with rheumatic heart disease primarily have involvement of valvular lesions, with the most common being accumulation in the mitral valve, leading to mitral stenosis. In the early stage of the disease, mitral stenosis often has no clinical symptoms and can only be detected through physical examinations, such as auscultation, which may reveal mitral valve murmurs. For patients with asymptomatic rheumatic heart disease, conservative treatment is primarily advised, which includes rest and reducing cardiac load to avoid surgery. Additionally, for severe rheumatic heart disease, mitral stenosis can be very serious, affecting the patient's cardiac function and causing symptoms such as chest tightness and fatigue after activity, and even paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea and inability to lie flat at night. In such cases, surgical treatment is required, such as mitral valvuloplasty or prosthetic valve replacement surgery. Thus, surgery is necessary in the late stages of rheumatic heart disease.

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Written by Zhang Yue Mei
Cardiology
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Can rheumatic heart disease be cured?

There are many clinical treatment methods for rheumatic heart disease, which can improve the quality of life and clinical symptoms of patients with rheumatic heart disease through dietary therapy, but cannot cure it, as rheumatic heart disease involves pathological changes in the valves. Currently, surgery is commonly used in the clinic to treat rheumatic heart disease, to improve the patient's quality of life, enhance cardiac comfort, and improve heart function. Therefore, patients with rheumatic heart disease should not overly rely on folk remedies for a cure, need to pay attention to rest, avoid overexertion to prevent increasing the cardiac burden, and treatment should be under the guidance of a doctor, using different medications according to individual characteristics.

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Written by Di Zhi Yong
Cardiology
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Rheumatic heart disease can be relieved by massaging which areas?

Since rheumatic heart disease is a type of valvular disease, especially mitral regurgitation or mitral stenosis, these can lead to rheumatic heart disease. Pathological murmurs can also be heard in the precordial area. The treatment of rheumatic heart disease is primarily pharmacological. If the condition is severe, surgical treatment can be used, but massage is not recommended. Because sometimes massage can exacerbate symptoms and does not alleviate the patient's condition, I personally suggest that it is better not to massage. In treating rheumatic heart disease, if the condition is severe, or the defect area is relatively large, sometimes it is advisable to consider surgical treatment for the patient, but pharmacological treatment can also relieve symptoms.

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Written by Zhang Yue Mei
Cardiology
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Is rheumatic heart disease hereditary?

Rheumatic heart disease is not hereditary, and it is not a genetic disease; it is not directly related to genetics. It is mainly due to an abnormal immune response caused by streptococcal infection, which leads to damage to the heart valves, resulting in stenosis and insufficiency of the heart valves. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of rheumatic heart disease. Very rare rheumatic streptococcal infections can be reduced by using effective antibiotics to control the streptococcal infection. Common diseases that cause streptococcal infections include tonsillitis and upper respiratory tract infections. Once tonsillitis or an upper respiratory tract infection occurs, effective antibiotics should be used to control the infection as soon as possible.

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Written by Wang Lei
Cardiology
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Does rheumatic heart disease require surgery?

Patients with rheumatic heart disease primarily have involvement of valvular lesions, with the most common being accumulation in the mitral valve, leading to mitral stenosis. In the early stage of the disease, mitral stenosis often has no clinical symptoms and can only be detected through physical examinations, such as auscultation, which may reveal mitral valve murmurs. For patients with asymptomatic rheumatic heart disease, conservative treatment is primarily advised, which includes rest and reducing cardiac load to avoid surgery. Additionally, for severe rheumatic heart disease, mitral stenosis can be very serious, affecting the patient's cardiac function and causing symptoms such as chest tightness and fatigue after activity, and even paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea and inability to lie flat at night. In such cases, surgical treatment is required, such as mitral valvuloplasty or prosthetic valve replacement surgery. Thus, surgery is necessary in the late stages of rheumatic heart disease.

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Written by Jia Qiu Ju
Cardiology
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Do rheumatic heart disease joints feel cold?

Rheumatic heart disease does not cause cold joints during an attack. The main clinical symptoms are primarily heart failure or arrhythmias. However, due to the underlying rheumatic heart disease, there is rheumatic fever. If it is in the acute phase of rheumatic fever, cold joints, swelling, and pain may occur. It is necessary to conduct further tests including rheumatic factor, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, etc., to clarify the specific cause of the cold joints. Treatment can be directed towards the symptoms that appear. The main focus during an attack of rheumatic heart disease should be on managing heart failure and arrhythmias, maintaining heart function, reducing the burden on the heart, and controlling common arrhythmias, such as episodes of atrial fibrillation, among others.