What is Rheumatic Heart Disease? Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a long-term heart condition caused by damage to the heart valves following rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever itself is an inflammatory reaction that can occur after an untreated throat infection caused by group A streptococcus bacteria. Over time, repeated episodes of rheumatic fever can lead to…
What is Ebstein anomaly? Ebstein’s anomaly is a rare congenital heart defect affecting the tricuspid valve, which separates the right atrium (right collecting chamber) from the right ventricle (right pumping chamber). It occurs in approximately 1 in 20,000 live births. Anatomical Features: In Ebstein’s anomaly, the tricuspid valve leaflets are displaced downward into the right…
What is a mitral valve prolapse? Mitral valve prolapse, also called MVP, is a relatively common condition where the mitral valve (the inlet valve to the left sided pumping chamber) does not work correctly. In this condition the two flaps of the mitral valve, called the leaflets, don’t close smoothly or evenly. This is due to…
What is pectus carinatum? Pectus carinatum is a disorder where the front chest bone (called the sternum), instead of being on the same level of the chest ribs, is pushed forward so that the middle part of the chest is more evident. In this condition there might be other areas of the chest (the ribs) which…
What is pectus excavatum? Pectus excavatum, also referred to as sunken chest, is a deformity in the structure of the anterior wall of the chest in which there is an abnormal shape of the sternum (the front chest bone) and the rib cage. This results in a caved-in or sunken appearance of the anterior part of…
Whats is POTS? POTS is a syndrome (a combination of different symptoms) caused by a malfunction of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is a complicated network of nerves that controls some vital bodily functions and which works in an automatic mode out of our voluntary control. For example when we stand up…