Rheumatic Heart Disease in Children and Adolescents

Rheumatic heart disease has largely disappeared from clinical practice in high-income countries, but it remains a leading cause of acquired heart disease among children and adolescents worldwide. A recent review article summarizes the shifts that have occurred in recent years in terms of epidemiology, understanding of the disease, and diagnostics. The most significant shift concerns the disease model itself: the condition is now understood as a preventable chronic disease with a detectable early stage.