부산대학교 도서관

Background Although uncommon, cases of rheumatic fever do exist in Europe and should not be a disease considered extinct in developed countries. Aim of the case report Our rare case intends to draw attention to this much-forgotten disease. Case Report We present a case of a 23 year old woman who went to her ophthalmologist for a routine checkup. She had no relevant medical history except recurring tonsillitis. She was diagnosed with ret inal edema and was advised to undergo a full medical checkup with her family physician (FP). The FP requested an echocardiogram which revealed severe rheumatic mitral stenosis, NYHA Class II-III with orthopnea and dyspnea on exertion. She underwent balloon valvuloplasty with symptomatic (NYHA class I) and echocardiography success. Status after rheumatic mitral valvuloplasty: mild stenosis plus mild regurgitation. Conclusions Our case report creates an awareness to the importance of antistreptococcal prophylaxis and to emphasize the need of earlier diagnosis, thus avoiding many of the latter stages of the disease. The Family Doctor should not forget to diagnose rheumatic fever in young patients in Europe, avoiding the cardiac complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]