Prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in a major referral cardiology clinic in Ethiopia: A retrospective cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) remains one of the major causes of death and disability in developing countries. This preventable, treatable but not curable form of cardiovascular disease is needlessly killing scores of children and youth mainly due to the misunderstanding of the burden of the disease in these countries. We sought to describe the prevalence of RHD at one of the major referral cardiology clinics in Ethiopia.

Methods

This was a retrospective cross-sectional chart review of all patients referred for a cardiopathy at the Tikur Anbessa Referral Cardiac Clinic from June 2015 to August 2018. We excluded records of patients with a non-cardiac diagnosis and those without a clear diagnosis. A predesigned and tested EXCEL form was used to collect the data. The

SUBMITTER: Asmare MH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7886207 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature