Case of rheumatic heart disease in medicolegal autopsy

Authors : Sankappa P Sinhasan, Sankappa P Sinhasan, Subhashini R, Subhashini R, Ramachandra V Bhat, Ramachandra V Bhat

DOI : 10.18231/j.ijfmts.2020.008

Volume : 5

Issue : 1

Year : 2020

Page No : 31-34

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) still remains one of the leading causes of death in children and young adults. It is a major public health problem owing to the issues of overcrowding, poor hygiene and low adherence to secondary prophylaxis. We present a case report of adolescent orphanage girl died in suspicious manner and found to have RHD on histopathological study of her heart. This case highlights importance of early diagnosis of the disease that would have possibly avoided preventable cause of death in teenage girl. The interesting findings we noticed in this case report is presence of myxoid area of left ventricle which showed extensive collection of Anitschkow cells and chronic inflammatory cells, and we didn’t get reference of similar findings in the literature search of rheumatic heart disease. The heart with pericardium together weighted 620 gm which is maximum weigh we encountered in our experience. 

Keywords: RHD, Anitschkow Cells, Aschoff bodies, Autopsy.


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