Rheumatic fever

Rheumatic fever care at Mayo Clinic

Your Mayo Clinic care team

Mayo Clinic cardiologists treat people with all types of heart disease, including people with heart damage caused by rheumatic fever. Mayo doctors trained in pediatric cardiology, cardiovascular diseases, cardiovascular surgery and other areas work together as a multidisciplinary team to provide coordinated, comprehensive care. This collaborative approach means that care providers can often evaluate you and develop a treatment plan within 2 to 3 days.

Healthcare professionals at Mayo Clinic provide care for you as a whole person. They take the time to get to know you and work with you to provide exactly the care you need.

Advanced diagnosis and treatment

Rheumatic fever can cause permanent damage to the heart valves, causing them to narrow or leak. Doctors in the Valvular Heart Disease Clinic have knowledge and experience treating people with heart valve disease.

Surgical experience

Heart valve damage might require heart valve surgery to repair or replace a heart valve. Mayo Clinic heart surgeons have helped develop new surgical techniques to treat heart valve conditions. When possible, surgeons use minimally invasive heart surgery, which uses smaller surgical cuts.

Expertise and rankings

Mayo Clinic doctors trained in treating children with heart conditions (pediatric cardiologists), doctors trained in heart disease (cardiologists) and doctors trained in heart surgery (cardiovascular surgeons) have extensive experience evaluating and treating people with all types of heart conditions. Pediatric cardiologists at Mayo Clinic's campus in Minnesota work with other Mayo doctors who have experience treating rheumatic fever.

Mayo doctors evaluate and treat nearly 30 people a year with rheumatic fever.

With Mayo Clinic's emphasis on collaborative care, specialists at each of the campuses — Minnesota, Arizona and Florida — interact very closely with colleagues at the other campuses and the Mayo Clinic Health System.

Nationally recognized expertise

Mayo Clinic campuses are nationally recognized for expertise in cardiology and cardiovascular surgery:

• Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Mayo Clinic in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona, and Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, are ranked among the Best Hospitals for heart and heart surgery by U.S. News & World Report.
• Mayo Clinic Children's in Rochester is ranked the No. 1 hospital in Minnesota, and the five-state region of Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2024-2025 "Best Children's Hospitals" rankings.

Learn more about Mayo Clinic's cardiovascular medicine and cardiovascular surgery departments' expertise and rankings.

Locations, travel and lodging

Mayo Clinic has major campuses in Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona; Jacksonville, Florida; and Rochester, Minnesota. The Mayo Clinic Health System has dozens of locations in several states.

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Costs and insurance

Mayo Clinic works with hundreds of insurance companies and is an in-network provider for millions of people.

In most cases, Mayo Clinic doesn't require a physician referral. Some insurers require referrals or may have additional requirements for certain medical care. All appointments are prioritized on the basis of medical need.

Learn more about appointments at Mayo Clinic.

Please contact your insurance company to verify medical coverage and to obtain any needed authorization prior to your visit. Often, your insurer's customer service number is printed on the back of your insurance card.