Acute severe mitral regurgitation during first attacks of rheumatic fever: clinical spectrum, mechanisms and prognostic factors.

Background And Aim Of The Study: The study aim was to describe the clinical spectrum and mechanism of acute severe mitral regurgitation (MR) observed during first episodes of rheumatic fever (RF), and to identify prognostic factors related to the short-term outcome.

Methods: Since 1990, 44 patients (mean age 9.2 +/- 0.