Heart Valve Disease, an Ignored Issue

Ivanhoe Newswire
Thursday, August 24, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Since the near eradication of rheumatic disease in developed nations, there has been little concern over the risk and burden of heart valve disease. Now, new research from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., reveals the disease may be more prevalent than otherwise thought, and they say it's a condition that needs attention.

To address the concern, researchers, under the leadership of Vuyisile T. Nkomo, M.D., reviewed nearly 12,000 echocardiograms performed for earlier studies. In addition, they analyzed data from another 16,501 individuals in and around Olmsted County, Minn., who were diagnosed with valve disease.

After reviewing this massive amount of data, researchers uncovered a problem that had long been ignored. Valve disease, it seems, places a significant burden on the population of the United States, affecting approximately 5 million adult Americans. The condition affects men and women equally, although women appear to go undiagnosed more often. This, researchers say, could have serious consequences for women with valve disease.

Researchers also discovered the problem of valve disease increases with age, and, as the baby boomer population ages, more and more people will be vulnerable. "We predict ... that the number of U.S. patients with valve disease will double in the next 20 years," write the researchers.

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SOURCE: The Lancet, published online Aug. 21, 2006