Wamkelekile, Welkom
Largest global study of patients with rheumatic heart disease
14 June 2016
Rheumatic heart disease kills 233 000 people annually, despite being almost entirely preventable.
The recently launched INVICTUS programme will conduct the biggest global study of patients with the disease. The goal is to test the efficacy of a drug, rivaroxaban, to prevent stokes and other embolic events in patients with rheumatic heart disease.
INVICTUS co-leaders are Professor Bongani Mayosi (in picture), designate dean of UCT’s Faculty of Health Sciences, and head of the Department of Medicine at UCT and Groote Schuur Hospital, and Professor Stuart Connolly of McMaster University in Canada.
INVICTUS was launched at the World Congress of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Health 2016 from 4 to 7 June. The programme aims to build a registry of 20 000 patients with rheumatic heart disease across the world.
Story Staff reporter. Photo Michael Hammond.
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