Goa holds meet on heart ailments

Prof. N K Ganguly, Director General of ICMR, highlighted the challenges in the control of rheumatic heart diseases in India. Mortality is about 16 per cent with death occurring at the age of 2 to 4 years after registration. Although penicillin prophylaxis has brought down recurrences, new cases keep occurring.

Another aspect is the ban on injectable penicillin by some states that leads to frequent rheumatic fever recurrences and valvular damage, Ganguly said.

Professor K.K. Talwar stressed upon the need for collaboration between clinicians and scientists in designing and executing the strategies for the prevention of these diseases.

Dr Madeline Cunningham, who is from the University of Oklahoma in the US, presented experimental data on how the blood lymphocytes enter and damage the cellular lining of heart valves.