Acquired Heart Disease

Rheumatic Heart Disease

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Diagnosis

The first step in diagnosing rheumatic heart disease is establishing that your child recently had a strep infection. The doctor may order a throat culture and/or a blood test to check for the presence of strep antibodies. However, it is likely that signs of the strep infection may be gone by the time you take your child to the doctor. In that case, the doctor will need you to try to remember if your child recently had a sore throat or other symptoms of a strep infection.

The doctor will do a physical examination and check your child for signs of rheumatic fever, including joint pain and inflammation. The doctor also will listen to your child's heart to check for abnormal rhythms or murmurs that may signify that the heart has been strained.

In addition, there are a couple of tests that may be used to check the heart and assess damage, including:

• Chest X-ray -- This allows your child's doctor to check the size of the heart and to see if there is excess fluid in the heart or lungs.

• Echocardiogram -- This test uses sound waves to measure the heart's size and shape and creates an image of the heart.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Children's Hospital.
Last updated May 8, 2007