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Time to use ultrasound and not stethoscopes for rheumatic heart disease screening

Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine volume 5, pages E1–E3 (2008)Cite this article

Response to: Carapetis JR et al. (2008) Evaluation of a screening protocol using auscultation and portable echocardiography to detect asymptomatic rheumatic heart disease in Tongan schoolchildren. Nat Clin Pract Cardiovasc Med 5: 411–417 [doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1185]

Carapetis and colleagues recently reported important practical data regarding the evaluation of a screening rheumatic heart disease (RHD) using clinical cardiac auscultation and portable echocardiography in Tonga.1 Their findings emphasize that clinical screening is not sensitive, compared with echocardiography, leaving many “silent” cases of RHD undiagnosed.

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References

  1. Carapetis JR et al. (2008) Evaluation of a screening protocol using auscultation and portable echocardiography to detect asymptomatic rheumatic heart disease in Tongan schoolchildren. Nat Clin Pract Cardiovasc Med 5: 411–417

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  2. Marijon E et al. (2007) Prevalence of rheumatic heart disease detected by echocardiographic screening. N Engl J Med 357: 470–476

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  3. WHO (2004) Rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease: report of a WHO Expert Consultation, Geneva, 29 October–1 November 2001. Geneva: World Health Organization

  4. Steer AC et al. (1999) Rheumatic heart disease in school children in Samoa. Arch Dis Child 1999 81: 372

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Cardiologie, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, 20 Rue Leblanc, Paris, 75908, Cedex 15, France

    Eloi Marijon, Muriel Tafflet & Xavier Jouven

Authors
  1. Eloi Marijon
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  2. Muriel Tafflet
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  3. Xavier Jouven
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Correspondence to Eloi Marijon.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Marijon, E., Tafflet, M. & Jouven, X. Time to use ultrasound and not stethoscopes for rheumatic heart disease screening. Nat Rev Cardiol 5, E1–E3 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpcardio1300

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpcardio1300

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