Management of Rheumatic Heart Diseases in Burundi

Background: The surgical management of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Burundi is almost impossible because of the absence of the technical plateau. Aim: To describe the therapeutic and evolutionary aspects of RHD in Burundi. Patients and methods: This is a retrospective and analytical study of patients' records in surgical indication and/or operated for RHD by facilitation of “Maison du Bon Samaritain du Burundi (MBSB)” from February 2015 to February 2017. Results: Among 89 patients consulting for RHD, 45 (50.56%) were operated. The average age of the patients was 25 years. Females predominated with 64.04% of cases. The age of most of patients was between 4 and 40 years with 74 cases (83.14%). All patients had been received at the heart failure stage including 83 (93.25%) at stage III or IV according to the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification. The ejection fraction was ≤ 50% in 61 patients (68.53%). Pulmonary arterial hypertension was recorded in 79 patients (88.76%). On chest X-ray, cardiomegaly was found in 85 patients (95.50%). Electrical abnormalities were dominated by dilatation of the left atrium in 48 cases (53.93%). Isolated valvular lesions were the most numerous with 67 cases (75.28%). The operative management was mainly valvular replacement (93.47%) with an operative success of 100% six months after the intervention. Conclusion: The diagnosis of RHD was late. Young people were more vulnerable. The postoperative prognosis at six months was good.