Medical Journal of The Islamic Republic of Iran (MJIRI)

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Doppler echocardiography (DE) is known to be a valuable tool for detecting subclinical forms of valvular regurgitation (VRJ in theacutephase of rheumatic fever (RF). Previous studies have mostly dealt with the acute phase problem with only short-term follow-up. In this study, 24 children between 4-15 years of age (mean age II.X±2.7 years) with RF without clinically diagnosed carditis (most with arthritis) who had two or more DE studies in the course of follow-up (more than 12 months) were assessed utilizing DE. Twenty-one patients had positive DE findings in one or more valve(s) (g7.5%). VR disappeared within I -X months (mean 4.4±2.3mo.) in 9(42.8%) and persisted in 12 (57.2%) patients during 12-60 months follow-up, whereas DE in children with normal heart structure was rarely associated with left-sided VR (P<0.001). Therefore DE can be a more valuable tool for detection of acute and late phase disease, and follow-up and prevention of RF, and since endocarditis may be the only significant finding of organic cardiac involvement, it may be accepted as a major diagnostic criterion.

Keywords: Duppler ochocardiography, valvular regurgitation, rheumatic fever.

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