Kata Kunci

Abstrak

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a heart disorder that occurs as a complication of rheumatic fever. Progressive valvular disease usually develops after one episode of acute rheumatic fever (DRA), although it is usually only identified in 3050% of cases. Rheumatic fever itself originates from an infection caused by group A Streptococcus (SGA), which then triggers an autoimmune inflammatory process in the heart, joints, subcutaneous tissue, and central nervous system. Disorders of the heart are caused by autoimmune cross-reactivity between bacterial and cardiac antigens. Patients with RHD are generally not aware of their condition, so the majority of patients go to the doctor after RHD becomes more severe and has caused complications. The most common complications of RHD are heart failure, arrhythmias, pulmonary hypertension, stroke, systemic embolic events, infectious endocarditis, and pregnancy-related complications. Until recently, screening and active case finding were almost exclusively carried out in the research arena and focused mainly on school-age children. Active echocardiography performed for finding cases of mild to moderate disease plays an important role in increasing patient life expectancy and health status by detecting RHD at an early stage.