The most common valvular lesions in rheumatic heart disease are

Heart disease is actually divided into many types. There may be a type of heart disease that you have never heard of. This type of heart disease is called rheumatic heart disease. It is caused by valvular disease. No matter what kind of heart disease it is, it should not be underestimated, because when it occurs, it is likely to endanger the patient's life. Therefore, heart disease patients should always maintain a good attitude. So what is the most common valvular disease of rheumatic heart disease?

What is the most common valvular disease in rheumatic heart disease? Rheumatic heart disease, abbreviated as rheumatic heart disease, is a heart disease mainly caused by rheumatic activity. It is a relatively common cardiovascular disease. Rheumatic heart disease mainly involves lesions of the heart valves, including lesions of the mitral valve, tricuspid valve, aortic valve and pulmonary valve. For example, massage can cause stenosis, reflux, insufficiency, etc. Rheumatic fever in the acute stage can cause a series of heart diseases such as myocarditis. After the valve is scarred, it will enter the chronic stage and cause rheumatic heart disease. Among these four valves, the probability of lesions in each half of the membrane is different. Compared with the tricuspid valve and pulmonary valve, lesions in the mitral valve and aortic valve are relatively common. The best treatment for rheumatic heart disease is surgery, and blood pressure changes must be controlled at ordinary times.

Rheumatic heart disease, also known as RHD, refers to heart valve disease caused by rheumatic fever activity affecting the heart valves. It manifests as stenosis and/or insufficiency of one or more valves in the mitral valve, tricuspid valve, and aortic valve. Clinically, stenosis or insufficiency often exist at the same time, but one of them is usually predominant. There are often no obvious symptoms in the early stages of the disease, but in the later stages, there are manifestations of heart decompensation such as palpitations, shortness of breath, fatigue, cough, lower limb edema, and coughing up pink foamy sputum.

Due to lesions in the heart valves, the heart may have problems transporting blood. For example, valve stenosis increases the resistance to blood flow. In order to pump out enough blood, the heart has to work harder to dilate and contract. This increases the intensity of the heart's work, reduces its efficiency, and makes the heart easily fatigued, which can eventually lead to cardiac hypertrophy. For example, when the mitral valve stenosis reaches a certain degree, the left atrial pressure increases, leading to increased pressure in the pulmonary veins and pulmonary capillaries, resulting in pulmonary congestion. Pulmonary congestion can easily cause the following symptoms: ① dyspnea; ② cough; ③ coughing up blood, and some people may also experience hoarseness and difficulty swallowing. Common heart valve diseases in clinical practice are as follows:

1. Mitral regurgitation

Patients with rheumatic mitral regurgitation often have only mild symptoms. Symptoms worsen when there is rheumatic activity, infective endocarditis, or chordae tendineae rupture. 75% of patients with mitral regurgitation develop atrial fibrillation, which can increase left atrium pressure. Excessive left ventricular volume is another important cause of mitral regurgitation and palpitations and shortness of breath in patients. In the later stages of the disease, there may be pulmonary edema, hemoptysis, and right heart failure.

2. Aortic stenosis

Patients with aortic valve stenosis may be asymptomatic during the compensatory period, while patients with severe stenosis of the valve orifice often experience fatigue, dyspnea (exertional or paroxysmal), angina pectoris, dizziness or syncope, and even sudden death.

(1) Angina pectoris: Angina pectoris occurs in 20% to 60% of patients, and the pain increases with age and the severity of the valve orifice. The presence of angina pectoris indicates that aortic valve stenosis is already quite serious. Angina pectoris can occur after exertion or at rest, indicating that it is not necessarily related to exertion and physical activity.

(2) Dizziness or syncope: About 30% of patients experience dizziness or syncope, which can last from as short as 1 minute to as long as more than half an hour. Some patients also have Adams-Stokes syndrome or arrhythmia. Dizziness or syncope often occurs after labor or when the body is bent forward, and sometimes is induced at rest by sudden changes in body position or sublingual nitroglycerin for the treatment of angina pectoris.