title: Effects of rheumatic mitral valvular disease and mitral valve replacement on growth and development.
abstract: The effects of rheumatic mitral valvular disease and mitral valve replacement on the growth and development of 37 Southern Chinese children were studied. The stature and body weight were measured before and after operation. All the patients had their skeletal maturity and cortical bone growth assessed after operation, but only 10 patients were similarly assessed before operation. At the time of operation the stature and body weight of all patients were generally retarded. The surgery which corrected the haemodynamic abnormality resulted in increases in the growth rates in stature and body weight but there was no evidence of a catch-up growth with subsequent return to normal dimensions. The patients who are skeletally immature had retarded bone ages and impaired growth of cortical bone. The general trend, though less marked, also showed a reduction in cortical bone in the skeletally mature patients. Surgery appears, at least partially, to alleviate the adverse effects of the disease on the growth and development of patients.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000601:surgery*; D012214:Rheumatic Heart Disease / Q000601:surgery*