[Heart defects in rheumatoid arthritis patients (the results of a multiyear prospective clinico-echocardiographic study)]. / Poroki serdtsa u bol'nykh revmatoidnym artritom (rezul'taty mnogoletnego prospektivnogo kliniko-ékhokardiograficheskogo issledovaniia).

The analysis of life-time diagnosis of valvular heart disease in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients has been made basing on a long-term clinico-echocardiographic investigation. Within 18-year follow-up valvular disease was revealed in 17 out of 214 RA patients (7.9%). Only 3 patients developed the disease in childhood prior to RA diagnosis. In 8 patients the diagnosis of valvular disease was established in the presence of RA, in 6 RA patients the disease was determined during the follow-up period. Mitral stenosis, aortal stenosis, combined mitral valve incompetence, combined aortal defect, mitral defect and tricuspid incompetence, combined mitral defect and pulmonary artery valvular incompetence were detected in 2, 2, 3, 1, 1, and 1 patients, respectively. Valvular disease occurs more frequently in progredient seropositive RA uncontrollable by on-going therapy. The authors emphasize the value of a prospective clinical echocardiographic examination of RA patients in early diagnosis of valvular disease in them. Frequent valvular lesions in RA patients dictate the need of persistent antirheumatic therapy to inhibit the activity and prevent progression of the disease.

[Causes of diagnostic errors in ventricular pre-excitation syndrome associated with mitral valve prolapse]. / Prichiny diagnosticheskikh oshibok pri sochetanii sindromov prezhdevremennogo vozbuzhdeniia zheludochkov i prolabirovaniia mitral'nogo klapana.

Clinical appearance and misdiagnosis in 27 patients having associated preexcitation syndrome and mitral prolapse have been analyzed. Misdiagnosis of myocardial infarction, rheumatic and congenital heart disease, infectious-allergic myocarditis were most typical errors in this condition identification: in 9, 3 and 2 patients, respectively.