New Study Details Severe Clinical Outcomes of Children with Rheumatic Heart Disease and Underlines Urgency of Preventing RHD

Dr. Craig Sable and a team of scientists recently published a new paper on the consequences of allowing Rheumatic Heart Disease to progress in children. The paper, based on a registry of over 600 children in Uganda who had symptoms of RHD, is some of the most compelling data we’ve ever published that captures the extreme severity of RHD. Children who had access to surgery did very well, over 95% were alive 8 years later. Unfortunately, less than 15% were able to receive surgery and of the group that did not receive surgery, barely half were alive 8 years later. Of those that died, the average time from diagnosis to death was 8 months! 

The study builds on a previous report published in November 2021 in The New England Journal of Medicine, which our team was proud to be a part of. That study proved that penicillin, which is widely available and affordable, works to prevent the progression of early echo detected Rheumatic Heart Disease. While we wish we could conduct surgery on every child with RHD, the reality is that we cannot. Our better hope, then, is to prevent the progression of RHD in the first place.  

RHD affects 40.5 million people globally and results in over 306,000 annual deaths. Millions of children are needlessly suffering from preventable and curable RHD. Heart Healers International is a leader in the fight to save them.

Take a look at the new study, published in February 2022. And if you’re able to pitch in a donation to support our work with children who have Rheumatic Heart Disease please click here and make a donation.