Valvular heart disease for non-cardiac surgery – anaesthetic management

Abstract

The incidence of heart disease ranges from 0.7% in the 18–44 age group and up to 13.3% in individuals 75 years or older.¹ In developed countries, the prevalence of valvular heart disease is estimated at 2.5%.¹

A more recent review of the current evidence for the global burden of rheumatic fever (RF) and RHD estimates that 15.6–19.6 million people have rheumatic heart disease (RHD) (2.4 million children aged 5–14 years).² With the decline in RHD and the ageing population in the developed world, there has been a change in the disease patterns of valve lesions over the last fe decades. Western populations are experiencing greater numbers of degenerative valve disease.

In the developing world, however, RHD remains an important cause of valve pathology.