User talk:Pathophysiology

Complications

Carditis, one of the major complications of rheumatic fever, is inflammation of the heart. Starting at the same occurrences as joint pain and fever, pericardial inflammation shows no symptoms at first. Chest pain is caused by the sac surrounding the heart to be inflamed. As well, deposits of calcium cause the valves to thicken and become fibrotic. Eventually, the valves become scarred. The valve likely to be damaged is the mitral valve, in between the left atrium and left ventricle. The valve can become leaky, causing mitral valve regurgitation, and will become narrow, causing mitral valve stenosis. This compels the heart to pump harder to circulate the blood. In this case, the heart will start beating quickly; increased blockaged; and inflammation that is not corrected will lead to heart failure, causing a more serious condition, rheumatic heart disease.