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REVIEW article
Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. Heart Valve Disease
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2025.1537104
This article is part of the Research Topic Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine: 10th Year Anniversary View all 3 articles
Rheumatic Heart Valve Disease: Navigating the Challenges of an Overlooked Autoimmune Disorder
Provisionally accepted
Adrien Lupieri 1*
Prabhash Kumar Jha 1
Victor Nizet 2
Walderez Ornelas Dutra 3
Maria Nunes 4
Robert Levine 5
Elena Aikawa 6*- 1 Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
- 2 Department of Pediatrics and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
- 3 Departamento de Morfologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
- 4 School of Medicine, Hospital das Clínicas, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Mato Grosso, Brazil
- 5 Cardiac Ultrasound Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- 6 Center for Interdisciplinary Cardiovascular Sciences, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Despite being a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among young people, affecting predominantly women, rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains neglected and understudied. This autoimmune condition arises from a complex continuum that begins with repeated Group A Streptococcal (GAS) pharyngitis, leading to acute rheumatic fever (ARF) that eventually results in damage to the heart, mainly affecting the mitral valve. While RHD has been nearly eradicated in high-income countries, it continues to be a significant and active health issue in low-and middleincome countries. The resolution of this disease faces several challenges, including the difficulty of diagnosis and the lack of access to preventive measures in resource-poor communities.
Keywords: acute rheumatic fever, Rheumatic Heart Disease, autoimmune disease, neoangiogenesis, Lymphangiogenesis
Received: 29 Nov 2024; Accepted: 03 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lupieri, Jha, Nizet, Dutra, Nunes, Levine and Aikawa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Adrien Lupieri, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Elena Aikawa, Center for Interdisciplinary Cardiovascular Sciences, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, 02115, Massachusetts, United States
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