Rheumatic heart disease and percutaneous mitral commissurotomy across the world.

摘要

We read with great interest the article by McCann and colleagues published in issue 3 volume 17 of the Journal [1]. Using baseline clinical and echocardiographic data from patients who underwent percutaneous mitral commisurotomy (PMC), the authors presented evidence that rheumatic mitral stenosis is more severe in Indigenous Australians than in non-Indigenous Australians, but that despite this, PMC remains efficient and safe. To date, most papers regarding rheumatic heart disease (RHD) have focused on prevalence or pathophysiology and few data are available regarding the variability in presentation of RHD worldwide.