aetiology
Last reviewed 01/2018
Rheumatic fever in 99% of cases.
This is the most common valve lesion caused by rheumatic fever. It is four times as frequent in females as in males.
About half of patients with mitral stenosis have no history of rheumatic fever or chorea. In these cases the acute illness was probably mild.
Congenital lesions of the mitral valve are rare.