From the editor's desk

Abstract

This issue contains useful information on patterns of disease presentation in Africa. Grimaldi and colleagues (page 204) document the pattern of structural heart disease causing heart failure in patients presenting to a tertiary hospital in Kampala. Many were young and suffered from rheumatic heart disease (RHD) and congenital heart disease (CHD). One suspects this was a highly selected group as the patients were identified during NGO missions, presumably aimed at identifying suitable candidates for surgery. Nonetheless the article reflects the importance of RHD as a cause of disability and death in the young in Uganda, as in many other parts of Africa, and emphasises the need for efforts to improve primary and secondary prevention of this eminently preventable disease.