Rheumatic heart disease in childhood: comparative study between Japan and Thailand.

This report showed the comparative study of the rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in Japan and Thailand. At first, there is remarkable difference about the incidence of the rheumatic heart disease. The incidence of the rheumatic heart disease in Thailand was one hundred times that in Japan. Secondly, there is particular difference about the course of mitral stenosis in childhood. In Japan common pattern of rheumatic heart disease was slight mitral insufficiency and mitral stenosis was seldom. In Thailand mitral stenosis was observed in 5% on rheumatic heart disease, and mitral stenosis developed early following an attack of rheumatic fever. These differences were supposed due to the socio-economic state in each country.