Objective To investigate the changes of clinical and laboratory manifestations of rheumatic fever (RF) in recent ten years by reviewing the medical data of 315 patients with RF. Methods Three hundred and fifteen in-patients and out-patients with RF during 1985-1995 (group A) and 1997-2007(group B) were selected. Their manifestations were compared. Results Male/female ratio was about 1:2. Carditis and polyarthritis were common manifestations. Compared with group A, the rate of low-grade fever and carditis increased and the rate of heart failure, positive rate of C reaction protein and antistreptolysin O decreased in group B. In group B, 61.4% patients fulfilled the updated Jones diagnostic criteria. 76.2% fulfilled the 2002-2003 WHO criteria. The sensitivity and specificity of peripheral blood lymphocyte procoagulant activity (PCA) for the diagnosis of rheumatic carditis was 79.1% and 71.4% respectively. That of the anti-streptococcal group A polysaccharide (ASP) antibodies was 70.3% and 70% respectively. Five to ten years follow-up clinical data were available for 35 cases since Dec. 1997. The recurrent rate of RF was 62.8%. Only 1/3 cases received regular secondary prevention. Recurrence rate of patients with regular secondary prevention was significantly lower than that of patients without regular secondary prevention. Conclusion Mild earditis has been increasing during last ten years. PCA and ASP are valuable tests for diagnosing rheumatic carditis. More emphasis should be paid to atypical cases, early diagnosis and regular secondary prevention in order to improve prognosis.

Objective To investigate the surgical technique and outcomes of replacement of chordae tendineae in mitral valve repair, and evaluate the value of real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography in the perioperative period. Methods Thirty-one patients with mitral valve prolapse underwent mitral valve repair using chordae tendineae replacement concomitant with implantation of valveplasty ring. A 4-0 Goretex sutures was used for reconstruction of artificial chordae. Realtime three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography was performed in all the patients during the preoperative, intraoperatire, and postoperative periods. The length of the chordae tendineae under the A1 section of the anterior leaflet and the P1 section of the posterior leaflet were measured and considered the normal length of chordae tendineae by real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography preoperatively. These pre-determined normal chordal lengths helped intraoperatively to approximate the length of the artificial chordae used and postoperatively to gauge the success of the procedures. The same values were used again postoperatively to gauge the success of intervention. Full flexible valveplasty rings were used in all the patients.Results There was no operative death. The mean cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and aortic cross clamp time were ( 142. 0 ±31.2 ) min and (98.0 ± 22.5 ) min, respectively. One patient' s intraoperative echocardiography upon termination of CPB showed persistent severe mitral regurgitation and was converted to mitral valve replacement. This patient was not included in the study group. The mean number of artificial chordae per patient was (2.0 ± 1.5 ) , range from 1 to 3. The mean preoperatively measured normal chordal length was ( 21.0 ± 2.5 ) mm, and the mean postoperative artificial chordal length was ( 20.0 ± 2.2 )mm. The difference was not significant. The follow-up interval was from 3 to 30 months and the follow-up rate was 98%. During the follow-up period, there was no late death. Trace mitral regurgitation (MR) was detected in 15 patients, mild and moderate MR were detected in 1 for each. No severe MR was detected. The freedom from reoperation was 100% during follow-up.There were no documented artificial chordae ruptures. Conclusion Conclusion Artificial chordal replacement with Gore-tex suture in mitral valve repair in this group of patients with mitral valve prolapse appears to have satisfactory early and mid-term results. Real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography plays a critical role in this technique. Real-time threedimensional transesophageal echocardiography can exactly predict the length of artificial chordae, which is helpful to improve the outcomes of mitral valve repair. However, longer term follow-up and larger series are required to validate our findings.

Objective:To summarize the experience and early outcomes of transapical mitral valve-in-valve procedure with J-Valve in patients with bioprostheses degeneration.Methods:The clinical data of 29 patients who underwent mitral transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation with J-Valve from April 2020 to March 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. There were male 16 and female 13 patients with average age (72.0±11.6) years. Patients underwent previous mitral valve replacement with bioprostheses of Hancock Ⅱ in 17, Edwards SAV in 7, Edwards Perimount in 3, Balmedic in 1, Mosaic in 1. The size of mitral bioprostheses included 25 # for 8 patients, 27 # for 17 patients, and 29 # for other 4 patients. The operations were performed in the hybrid operation room. Under X-ray fluoroscopy and TEE monitoring, the retro-preseted J-valve was implanted into the mitral bioprosthetic valve via the intercostal space and apical puncture. Results:One patient was converted urgently to mediate sternotomy, and the transcatheter mitral valve was reset after opening left atrium on cardiopulmonary bypass due to the migration of transcatheter valve. twenty eight patients were successfully completed transcatheter mitral valve-in-valve procedure with technical success achieving in 96.6% . Among the 28 patients who successfully were completed valve-in-valve procedure, 1 died and 27 were discharged in well condition. The mean mitral transvalvular gradient was (7.6±2.2)mmHg(1 mmHg=0.133 kPa), no death or other major complications occurred during the follow-up.Conclusion:The application of J-Valve interventional valve in patients with bioprosthesis degeneration can achieve favourable early outcomes, even if the patient was replaced with a small bioprosthesis in the previous operation, the hemodynamic effect was still satisfactory.