Inflammatory status in patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis: Guilty before and after balloon mitral valvuloplasty

• Published in: The Egyptian heart journal 2016-06, Vol.68 (2), p.83-87
• Main Authors: Abdel Rahman, Mohamed Ahmed, Omar, Alaa Mabrouk Salem, Amin, Mohammed, Rifaie, Osama
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Balloon mitral valvuloplasty; High sensitivity C-reactive protein; Rheumatic mitral stenosis
• ISSN: 1110-2608; 2090-911X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ehj.2016.02.005

We studied the inflammatory status, suggested by high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) in patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis (MS) before, immediately after, and 1-month after balloon mitral valvuloplasty (BMV). We studied 31 BMV candidates [35.6±12.8years, 20 (65%) females, and 9 (29%) had atrial fibrillation rhythm]. Mitral valve area (MVA) and hsCRP were measured before, immediately after BMV, and 1month after BMV in 13 patients. In addition, hsCRP was measured in 15 controls. hsCRP was significantly higher in MS patients than control, significantly increased after BMV, and dropped 1month after BMV to values comparable to basal but still higher than normal. hsCRP showed a trend for correlation with MVA after BMV (r=0.384, p=0.07), and the absolute increase in MVA (d-MVA) correlated significantly with the absolute increase in hsCRP (d-CRP) (r=0.523, p=0.01). 21 patients had successful BMV and 10 patients had unsuccessful BMV. The increase in hsCRP post compared to pre-BMV was attenuated in patients with unsuccessful BMV, and receiver operator characteristic curve suggested that hsCRP >3.6 before BMV and d-CRP