Investigations Prevalance of Rheumatic Heart Disease in Rural Areas of İstanbul, Turkey

In order to. determine the prevalance of rheumatic heart disease (RHD), a survey was conducted in the Silivri, Çatalca, and Küçükçekmece districts of İstanbul. The randomly chosen sample consisted of 7265 people 7 years of age or older (3687 male and 3578 female). All subjects were screened by cardiac auscultation, and those having cardiac murmurs, pathological heart sounds, and arrhythmia were invited to our institute for further evaluation, and their conditions were diagnosed with the help of teleroentgenogram, ECG, and echocardiography. Of the 7265 subjects surveyed. 15 had RDH and 10 had congenital heart disease (CHD). Based on these findings the prevelance of RHD was found to be 206 in 100.000 (108 in males and 307 in females), white the prevalance of CHD was observed as 138 in 100.000 (in males 54, in females 224). These findings suggest that the prevelance of RHD has significantly diminished in the past two decades. presumably due to rises in the standart of living and of qualified medical aid.