A Retrospective Study on Drug and Dietary Patterns in Patients With Severe Rheumatic Valvular Heart Disease in Eastern India

Background India has a high prevalence of rheumatic valvular heart diseases. Empirical treatment in rheumatic heart disease curtails morbidity and mortality. Less is known about the drug and dietary management of severe rheumatic heart disease at the pretertiary care level, which forms the building stone in the management of rheumatic heart disease. The present study was carried out to evaluate the drug and dietary patterns of patients with severe rheumatic valvular heart disease at a pretertiary care level, which is the backbone of the management of rheumatic heart disease. Methodology This cross-sectional study was carried out in a tertiary care center in Eastern India between May 2020 and May 2022 across 1,264 study subjects. The drug and dietary patterns of the patients with severe rheumatic valvular heart disease during their index visit to the cardiac department were studied and analyzed. Patients aged less than 18 years; patients with mild or moderate rheumatic valvular heart diseases; patients with coexisting end-stage organ disease (chronic liver disease and chronic kidney disease), malignancy, and sepsis; and patients not willing to participate in the study were excluded. Results Most of the patients were on diuretic therapy, and diuretic therapy was overprescribed across the patients with mitral regurgitation, aortic stenosis, and aortic regurgitation. Most of the patients across each spectrum of rheumatic valvular heart disease were lacking the cornerstone therapy such as beta-blockers in mitral stenosis and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) in mitral and aortic regurgitation. The recommended injectable benzathine penicillin prophylaxis was prescribed in a very small number of patients (5%), and most of the patients were on oral penicillin prophylaxis (95%) in spite of its reported high failure rate in prophylaxis. Empirical rationale prescriptions in severe rheumatic valvular heart disease were lacking in the pretertiary care level in Eastern India. Conclusion Each spectrum of severe valvular heart disease was lacking the cornerstone therapy such as beta-blockers in mitral stenosis and ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) in mitral and aortic regurgitation along with recommended injectable benzathine penicillin prophylaxis. Diuretics and digoxin were overprescribed across the spectrum of rheumatic heart disease. Improvement of this essential gap in the treatment of severe rheumatic heart disease would bring down morbidity and improve mortality in the future.