Clinical Outcomes in 3343 Children and Adults With Rheumatic Heart Disease From 14 Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Two-Year Follow-Up of the Global Rheumatic Heart Disease Registry (the REMEDY Study).

BACKGROUND: There are few contemporary data on the mortality and morbidity associated with rheumatic heart disease or information on their predictors. We report the 2-year follow-up of individuals with rheumatic heart disease from 14 low- and middle-income countries in Africa and Asia. METHODS: Between January 2010 and November 2012, we enrolled 3343 patients from 25 centers in 14 countries and followed them for 2 years to assess mortality, congestive heart failure, stroke or transient ischemic attack, recurrent acute rheumatic fever, and infective endocarditis. RESULTS: Vital status at 24 months was known for 2960 (88.5%) patients. Two-thirds were female. Although patients were young (median age, 28 years; interquartile range, 18-40), the 2-year case fatality rate was high (500 deaths, 16.9%). Mortality rate was 116.3/1000 patient-years in the first year and 65.4/1000 patient-years in the second year. Median age at death was 28.7 years. Independent predictors of death were severe valve disease (hazard ratio [HR], 2.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.80-3.11), congestive heart failure (HR, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.70-2.72), New York Heart Association functional class III/IV (HR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.32-2.10), atrial fibrillation (HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.10-1.78), and older age (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.02 per year increase) at enrollment. Postprimary education (HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.54-0.85) and female sex (HR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.52-0.80) were associated with lower risk of death. Two hundred and four (6.9%) patients had new congestive heart failure (incidence, 38.42/1000 patient-years), 46 (1.6%) had a stroke or transient ischemic attack (8.45/1000 patient-years), 19 (0.6%) had recurrent acute rheumatic fever (3.49/1000 patient-years), and 20 (0.7%) had infective endocarditis (3.65/1000 patient-years). Previous stroke and older age were independent predictors of stroke/transient ischemic attack or systemic embolism. Patients from low- and lower-middle-income countries had significantly higher age- and sex-adjusted mortality than patients from upper-middle-income countries. Valve surgery was significantly more common in upper-middle-income than in lower-middle- or low-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with clinical rheumatic heart disease have high mortality and morbidity despite being young; those from low- and lower-middle-income countries had a poorer prognosis associated with advanced disease and low education. Programs focused on early detection and the treatment of clinical rheumatic heart disease are required to improve outcomes.

Characteristics, complications, and gaps in evidence-based interventions in rheumatic heart disease: the Global Rheumatic Heart Disease Registry (the REMEDY study).

AIMS: Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) accounts for over a million premature deaths annually; however, there is little contemporary information on presentation, complications, and treatment. METHODS AND RESULTS: This prospective registry enrolled 3343 patients (median age 28 years, 66.2% female) presenting with RHD at 25 hospitals in 12 African countries, India, and Yemen between January 2010 and November 2012. The majority (63.9%) had moderate-to-severe multivalvular disease complicated by congestive heart failure (33.4%), pulmonary hypertension (28.8%), atrial fibrillation (AF) (21.8%), stroke (7.1%), infective endocarditis (4%), and major bleeding (2.7%). One-quarter of adults and 5.3% of children had decreased left ventricular (LV) systolic function; 23% of adults and 14.1% of children had dilated LVs. Fifty-five percent (n = 1761) of patients were on secondary antibiotic prophylaxis. Oral anti-coagulants were prescribed in 69.5% (n = 946) of patients with mechanical valves (n = 501), AF (n = 397), and high-risk mitral stenosis in sinus rhythm (n = 48). However, only 28.3% (n = 269) had a therapeutic international normalized ratio. Among 1825 women of childbearing age (12-51 years), only 3.6% (n = 65) were on contraception. The utilization of valvuloplasty and valve surgery was higher in upper-middle compared with lower-income countries. CONCLUSION: Rheumatic heart disease patients were young, predominantly female, and had high prevalence of major cardiovascular complications. There is suboptimal utilization of secondary antibiotic prophylaxis, oral anti-coagulation, and contraception, and variations in the use of percutaneous and surgical interventions by country income level.

Characteristics and Risk Factors of Yemeni Patients Presenting with Myocardial Infarction with Nonobstructive Coronary Arteries (MINOCA).

Background: Myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary artery (MINOCA) is a syndrome, which requires both clinical documentation of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) (abnormal cardiac biomarker, ischemic symptoms, and electrocardiography changes) and detection of nonobstructive coronary arteries. The purpose of this study is to determine the incidence of and characteristics of patients with MINOCA in the Yemeni population. Methods: Consecutive patients admitted between January and June 2019 at Al-Thawra Hospital, Sana'a (Yemen), with STEMI diagnosis were enrolled in this study. Demographic, clinical, echocardiographic, and coronary angiography characteristics of patients were noted. Results: MINOCA was identified in 63 patients (25%) out of 249 admitted with STEMI diagnosis at Al-Thawra Hospital. The mean age of MINOCA patients was similar to obstructive coronary group; however, they were more often females and less frequently with diabetes and family history of coronary artery disease. Other risk factors like smoking, arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, and oral tobacco were similar. Conversely, the percentage of Khat chewers was significantly higher in the MINOCA patients (P < 0.01) as compared to obstructive group. Conclusions: The relatively high incidence of MINOCA in our country and the long list of multiple potential causes of MINOCA should open further working diagnosis after coronary angiography and further efforts for defining the cause of myocardial infarction in each individual patient in Middle East countries.