Rheumatic Heart Disease is a disease where it can damage the heart valves, such as leaks or strictures, particularly mitral valve (mitral stenosis) caused by rheumatic fever. This disease is very dangerous because it caused the valves of the heart valve in the course of the disease process that begins with a throat injury.Symptoms of Rheumatic Heart Disease :
- Joint inflammation : including swelling, tenderness, and redness over multiple joints. The joints affected are usually the larger joints in the knees or ankles. The inflammation "moves" from one joint to another over several days.
- Small nodules or hard, round bumps under the skin.
- A change in your child's neuromuscular movements (this is usually noted by a change in your child's handwriting and may also include jerky movements).
- Rash (a pink rash with odd edges that is usually seen on the trunk of the body or arms and legs).
- Fever.
- Weight loss.
- Fatigue.
- Stomach pains.
Diagnosis of Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD)
Besides the presence of signs and symptoms that appear directly on the physical, the doctor will usually perform some lab tests that indicate, for example, routine blood tests, Asto, CRP and throat culture. The most accurate survey is echocardiography do to see the status of valves and heart muscle
Treatment of RHD
The best treatment for rheumatic heart disease is prevention. Antibiotics can usually treat strep throat (a Streptococcus bacterial infection) and stop acute from developing. Antibiotic therapy has sharply reduced the incidence and mortality rate of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease.
Prevention of Rheumatic Heart Disease
There is no guaranteed way to prevent such problems, but still, you can do plenty of things to substantially reduce the chance of such bacterial infection and the subsequent rheumatic complications. For example, Personal hygiene can play a very important role in this regard. The basic idea is to eliminate the chance of getting affected with a strep throat. Besides that, if strep throat still occurs, you must seek immediate medical help from experts. Any delay in treatment can be very dangerous for your heart health.
Complications Rheumatic Heart Disease
The list of complications that have been mentioned in various sources for Rheumatic heart disease includes:
- Endocarditic is inflammation of the inner lining of the heart.
- Bacterial endocarditic is the infection and inflammation of the inner layers of the heart, most commonly the valves cause by bacteria.
- Heart failure a syndrome classified by myocardial malfunction, heart failure can lead to deficient pump performance reduced cardiac output and to frank heart failure and abnormal circulatory congestion. Congestion of systemic venous flow may end up in tangential edema and hepatomegaly; congestion of pulmonary circulation may cause pulmonary edema, an acute, life-threatening emergency.
Nursing Diagnosis for Rheumatic Heart Disease
1. Risk for Decreased Cardiac Output
2. Hyperthermia
3. Imbalanced Nutrition, Less Than Body Requirements
4. Acute Pain
