Rheumatic heart disease questions and answers

Condition analysis:
yes it is necessary for you to continue the acitrom indefinitely till your treating physician decides to withdraw. it cannot be taken during the pregnancy, if you are planning for pregnancy discuss this with the doctor well six months in advance so that he can change to alternative treatment which will not affect you as well as your baby.

Instructions:
Treatment of acute rheumatic fever includes antibiotics to treat the strep infection and additional medications to ease the inflammation of the heart and other symptoms. Usually aspirin is given in large doses until the joint inflammation goes away; rarely, steroids are needed. Once the acute illness has gone away, patients need to take penicillin, or an equivalent antibiotic, for many years to prevent recurrences. This is a very important treatment because the risk of heart valve damage increases if rheumatic fever recurs.

Most often the valve leak caused by the disease is mild and does not need treatment. If the leak is severe enough to strain and enlarge the heart, surgery may be needed to eliminate the leak. This surgery may involve repair of the damaged valve. Sometimes the valve is too badly damaged to repair, in which case it must be replaced by an artificial valve.