Morpho-mechanistic screening criteria for the echocardiographic detection of rheumatic heart disease.

INTRODUCTION: Screening echocardiography, guided by the current World Heart Federation (WHF) criteria, has important limitations that impede the establishment of large-scale rheumatic heart disease (RHD) control programmes in endemic regions. The criteria misclassify a significant number of normal cases as borderline RHD. Prior attempts to simplify them are limited by incorporation bias due to the lack of an externally validated, accurate diagnostic test for RHD. We set out to assess novel screening criteria designed to avoid incorporation bias and to compare this against the performance of the current WHF criteria. METHODS: The performance of the WHF and the morpho-mechanistic (MM) RHD screening criteria (a novel set of screening criteria that evaluate leaflet morphology, motion and mechanism of regurgitation) as well as a simplified RHD MM 'rule-out' test (based on identifying a predefined sign of anterior mitral valve leaflet restriction for the mitral valve and any aortic regurgitation for the aortic valve) were assessed in two contrasting cohorts: first, a low-risk RHD cohort consisting of children with a very low-risk RHD profile. and second, a composite reference standard (CRS) RHD-positive cohort that was created using a composite of two criteria to ensure a cohort with the highest possible likelihood of RHD. Subjects included in this group required (1) proven, prior acute rheumatic fever and (2) current evidence of predefined valvular regurgitation on echocardiography. RESULTS: In the low-risk RHD cohort (n=364), the screening specificities for detecting RHD of the MM and WHF criteria were 99.7% and 95.9%, respectively (p=0.0002). The MM rule-out test excluded 359/364 cases (98.6%). In the CRS RHD-positive cohort (n=65), the screening sensitivities for the detection of definite RHD by MM and WHF criteria were 92.4% and 89.2%, respectively (p=0.2231). The MM RHD rule-out test did not exclude any cases from the CRS RHD-positive cohort. CONCLUSION: Our proposed MM approach showed an equal sensitivity to the WHF criteria but with significantly improved specificity. The MM RHD rule-out test excluded RHD-negative cases while identifying all cases within the CRS RHD-positive cohort. This holds promise for the development of a two-step RHD screening algorithm to enable task shifting in RHD endemic regions.

Modified Duke/European Society of Cardiology 2015 clinical criteria for infective endocarditis: time for an update?

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of infective endocarditis (IE) is based on the modified Duke/European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2015 clinical criteria. The sensitivity of the criteria is unknown in South Africa, but high rates of blood culture negative endocarditis (BCNIE), coupled with a change in the clinical features of IE, may limit the sensitivity. METHODS: The Tygerberg Endocarditis Cohort study prospectively enrolled patients with IE between November 2019 and June 2021. A standardised protocol for organism detection, with management of patients by an Endocarditis Team, was employed. Patients with definite IE by pathological criteria were analysed to determine the sensitivity of the current clinical criteria. RESULTS: Eighty consecutive patients with IE were included of which 45 (56.3%) had definite IE by pathological criteria. In patients with definite IE by pathological criteria, 26/45 (57.8%) of patients were classified as definite IE by clinical criteria. BCNIE was present in 25/45 (55.6%) of patients and less than three minor clinical criteria were present in 32/45 (75.6%) of patients. The elevation of Bartonella serology to a major microbiological criterion of the modified Duke/ESC 2015 clinical criteria would increase the sensitivity (57.8% vs 77.8%; p=0.07). CONCLUSION: The sensitivity of the modified Duke/ESC 2015 clinical criteria is lower than expected in patients with IE in South Africa, primarily due to the high rates of Bartonella-associated BCNIE. The elevation of Bartonella serology to a major microbiological criterion, similar to the status of Coxiella burnetii in the current criteria, would increase the sensitivity. The majority of patients with definite IE by pathological criteria had less than three minor criteria present.

Interscallop separations of the posterior mitral valve leaflet: a solution to the 'borderline RHD' conundrum?

OBJECTIVE: The World Heart Federation (WHF) criteria incorporate a Doppler-based system to differentiate between 'physiological' and 'pathological' mitral regurgitation (MR)-a sole criterion sufficient for the diagnosis of WHF 'borderline' rheumatic heart disease (RHD). We have identified that interscallop separations (ISS) of the posterior mitral valve (MV) leaflet, can give rise to pathological MR in an otherwise-normal MV. We aimed to establish and compare the prevalence of ISS-related MR among South African children at high and low risk for RHD. METHODS: A prospective cross-sectional echocardiographic study of 759 school children (aged 13-18) was performed. Cases with MR≥1.5 cm underwent a second comprehensive study to determine the prevalence of RHD according to the WHF guideline and establish the underlying mechanism of MR. RESULTS: Of 400 high-risk children, two met criteria for 'definite RHD' (5 per 1000 (95% CI 1.4 to 18.0); p=0.5) and 11 for 'borderline RHD' (27.5 per 1000 (95% CI 15.4 to 48.6)). Of 359 low-risk children, 14 met criteria for borderline RHD (39 per 1000 (95% CI 23.4 to 64.4)). Comprehensive echocardiography identified an underlying ISS as the mechanism of isolated pathological MR in 10 (83.3%) high-risk children and 11 low-risk children (78.5%; p>0.99). CONCLUSIONS: ISS are a ubiquitous finding among South African schoolchildren from all risk profiles and are regularly identified as the underlying mechanism of WHF pathological MR in borderline RHD cases. A detailed MV assessment with an emphasis on ascertaining the underlying mechanism of dysfunction could reduce the reported numbers of screened cases misclassified as borderline RHD.