Extra Heart Beat

When my mom was 7 years old, she was told to have had rheumatic fever.  She had a fever and had pain in the joints of her right knee, making it difficult to walk.  She also said that she was on bed rest for about a week.  Since then she has had an extra heart breat.  My mom recently went to a few different doctors and had an EKG and ultrasound done of her heart.  One doctor mentioned to her that she didn't have rheumatic fever because according to him, rheumatic fever affects the right side of her heart, and as a child the left side of my mom's heart was affected.  The doctor however failed to tell her what exactly it was she did have.  Other doctors that she went to told her that nothing is wrong with her heart.  She doesn't have any other diseases or sicknesses.  She isn't on any medication.  She smokes regularly.  I'm really trying to figure out what could have been wrong with my mom, and what could happen in the future because of it.  Any information would help.  Whether she had rheumatic fever or not, we don't know.

[Brooke_38]

Hello...

When somebody is diagnosed with Rheumatic Fever, permanent heart damage  can occur . Rheumatic fever commonly damages the heart valves (rheumatic carditis) and can interfere with normal blood flow through the heart.

Complications that are generally seen later in life from this inflammatory process, is scaring of the valves. I'm not sure what you mean by left sided vs right sided problems of the heart.

Her symptoms are classic of rhematic fever, which is the result of untreated step throat. The "extra heart beat" could be the result of a premature beat. Smoking can also cause abnormal beats, this is something that she should really try and give up.