Rheumatic fever (RF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD), its most clinically consequence, resulting from untreated throat Streptococcus pyogenes infection in susceptible children, are considered as models of autoimmune post-infectious disease. This Research Topic compiled clinical and scientific data and brings interesting viewpoints of clinicians and basic researchers. The ensemble of data and ...

BACKGROUND Rheumatic heart disease (RHD), caused by acute rheumatic fever (ARF), is a major health problem in Australian Aboriginal communities. Progress in controlling RHD requires improvements in the delivery of secondary prophylaxis, which comprises regular, long-term injections of penicillin for people with ARF/RHD. METHODS/DESIGN This trial aims to improve uptake of secondary prophylaxis...

Objectives: To determine the community based prevalence of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in the rural population of the district of Rahim Yaar Khan in Pakistan. Subjects and methods: A representative sample of the rural population of Rahim Yaar Khan district was selected. RHD was screened for by physical examination and the diagnosis was confirmed with echocardiographic Doppler studies. Sociode...

BACKGROUND Molecular variant RHD allele analysis is best complemented by detailed characterization of the associated D phenotype. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS Variant D types were characterized using molecular typing, RHD sequencing, extended serologic D antigen investigations, and flow cytometric D antigen quantification. RESULTS We discovered three novel weak D types termed weak D Types 45.1,...

The major events leading to both rheumatic fever (RF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) are reviewed. Several genes are involved in the development of RF and RHD. The inflammatory process that results from S. pyogenes infection involves the activation of several molecules such as VCAM and ICAM, which play a role in the migration of leukocytes to the heart, particularly to the valves. Specific c...

background: pragmatics is appropriate use of language across a variety of social contexts  that  provides accurate interpretation   of   intentions.   the   occurrence    of   the right hemisphere lesions can interfere with pragmatic abilities, and particularly with the processing of nonliteral speech acts. methods: since the objective of this study was to assess different  aspects of pragmatic...

BACKGROUND Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains a major disease burden in low-resource settings globally. Patient registers have long been recognised to be an essential instrument in RHD control and elimination programmes, yet to date rely heavily on paper-based data collection and non-networked data-management systems, which limit their functionality. OBJECTIVES To assess the feasibility an...

BACKGROUND Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains a major public health problem worldwide. Although early diagnosis by echocardiography may potentially play a key role in developing active surveillance, systematic evaluation of simple approaches in resource poor settings are needed. METHODS AND RESULTS We prospectively compared focused cardiac ultrasound (FCU) to a reference approach for RHD s...