ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN WITH RHEUMATIC HEART DISEASE AT MOI TEACHING AND REFERRAL HOSPITAL (MTRH), ELDORET, KENYA (Published)
This study sought to determine the echocardiographic profile of paediatric patients with RHD at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), Eldoret, Kenya. It employed a cross sectional study carried out between October 2009 and October 2010 in the general peadiatric wards, paediatric outpatient clinic and cardiology clinic at the MTRH. The study subjects were children with RHD aged 3 to 15 years, in total, Eighty four children (28 boys and 56 girls) with RHD were enrolled. Consecutive sampling was done. Data was collected in a structured questionnaire and analyzed using Genstat discovery. From the study findings, most new patients presented in NYHA class 3 and 4. Mitral regurgitation alone was the commonest lesion, followed by mitral regurgitation + aortic regurgitation. New patients had echocardiographic evidence of severe valvular disease and complication implying late presentation. Since most of the new patients had severe disease at diagnosis, emphasis should be put on early detection and primary prevention
Keywords: Echocardiographic, children, paediatric, profile