Mechanism of Death in Rheumatic Heart Disease in Different Age Periods

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
In a series of 8676 consecutive autopsies performed from 1936 to 1950 inclusive, 509 were classified as rheumatic heart disease. 103 cases of calcific aortic stenosis and 72 cases of doubtful origin were excluded. Rheumatic heart disease was classified as incidental, contributory, or directly responsible for death in each case. The group in which rheumatic heart disease was directly responsible for death was subdivided into 4 causes of death: heart failure, embolic phenomena, bacterial endocarditis, and rheumatic activity. Results indicate that with increasing age, rheumatic heart disease is more often only an inactive incidental lesion; its role as a direct cause of death becomes progressively less significant. Old rheumatic heart disease contributes significantly to the patient''s death usually in the middle decades. Rheumatic activity was significant only in the early decades of life. The incidence curve for bacterial endocarditis showed an early peak in the younger group of patients and a later peak in older patients. The cases in which embolism was responsible for the death of the patient were most frequent between 40 and 70 years of age when nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis occurred most frequently.

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit: