Marae Investigates: Rheumatic Fever

Marae Investigates: Rheumatic Fever

The World's leading rheumatic heart disease surgeon says many New Zealand children face the risk of an early death if they’re not screened for heart disease caused by rheumatic fever.
 
Dr Kirsten Finucane is operating on one child a week at Starshhip Hospital whose hearts have been badly damaged by rheumatic fever.  She told TVNZ’s Marae Investigates programme “It’s a nasty disease it damages the valves quite severely and its quite hard work to get the valves repaired and good enough.”
 
This is the first time Dr Finucane has spoken out publically over the continuing rise of the preventable third world disease rampant amongst Maori and Pacific Island children.
 
“Its just trying to get across the message to people what a devastating thing it is once we end up with a child that’s actually got damaged valves and needs surgery and will need ongoing cardiac follow-ups for the rest of their lives. It’s a big deal.” said Dr Finucane.
 
Dr Finucane allowed Marae Investigate’s cameras to film her performing open heart surgery on a 13 year old Northland boy whose heart disease was only picked up by chance through a Heart Foundation echocardiogram survey.  His rheumatic fever had gone undiagnosed.
 
While the graphic footage may have shocked some, Marae Investigates Producer Raewyn Rasch said the programme and the patient’s family had chosen to air it to bring home the harsh realities of the damage rheumatic fever can have.
 
The patient’s Kaitaia GP, Dr Lance O’Sullivan also watched the surgery.  He told Marae Investigates, “I came down here to see it so I could actually burn into my heart what were trying to stop, which is, kids needing to get on the operating table. We shouldn’t be operating on these kids we should be preventing it happening in the first place.” said Dr O’Sullivan.
 
Dr O’Sullivan says the rise of rheumatic heart disease in poor communities has been ignored by health authorities for 30 years.
 
Recently, the Government announced it will spend $24 million dollars over five years on a prevention programme that revolves around throat swab screening.  But doctors argue that won’t pick up those who have already developed heart disease and a programme of heart screening is also needed in high risk areas.
 
The Ministry of Health says at this stage it’s unclear what role echocardiography will play in addressing the complications of rheumatic fever but research is being undertaken to help determine this.

ENDS

© Scoop Media