Description of the patients’ population
| Characteristics | All | Males | Females | P values |
| Age | ||||
| Children (<15 years)* | 8 (15%) | 3 (21%) | 5 (12%) | |
| Adults | 46 (85%) | 11 (79%) | 35 (88%) | 0.41* |
| Location of the healthcare facility | ||||
| Butaro | 20 (37%) | 4 (29%) | 16 (40%) | |
| Kirehe | 20 (37%) | 5 (36%) | 15 (37%) | |
| Rwinkwavu | 14 (26%) | 5 (36%) | 9 (23%) | 0.67* |
| Income level—floor is made of dirt at home | ||||
| No | 9 (21%) | 0 | 9 (26%) | |
| Yes | 34 (79%) | 8 (100%) | 26 (74%) | 0.17* |
| Marital status | ||||
| Single | 20 (59%) | 6 (60%) | 14 (58%) | |
| Married | 12 (35%) | 4 (40%) | 8 (33%) | |
| Divorced | 2 (6%) | 0 | 2 (8%) | 1.00* |
| Occupation | ||||
| Farmer | 20 (41%) | 5 (42%) | 15 (40%) | |
| In school | 14 (29%) | 2 (17%) | 12 (32%) | |
| Professional | 3 (6%) | 0 | 3 (8%) | |
| Unemployed/out of school | 12 (24%) | 5 (43%) | 7 (19%) | 0.40* |
| Preoperative diagnosis and operation | ||||
| Symptoms (NYHA) preoperation | n=48 | n=12 | n=36 | |
| Stage II | 8 (17%) | 5 (42%) | 3 (8%) | |
| Stage III | 25 (52%) | 3 (25%) | 22 (61%) | |
| Stage IV | 15 (31%) | 4 (33%) | 11 (31%) | 0.02* |
| Single valve | n=28 | n=6 | n=23 | |
| Pure MR | 20 (69%) | 4 (67%) | 16 (69.6%) | |
| Pure MS | 4 (13.8%) | 1 (17%) | 3 (13%) | |
| Mixed MR+MS | 2 (10.3%) | 0 | 3 (13%) | |
| Pure AR | 2 (6.9%) | 1 (17%) | 1 (4.4%) | 0.65* |
| ≥2 valves | n=25 | n=8 | n=17 | |
| Mixed MR+TR | 12 (48%) | 1 (13%) | 11 (64.7%) | |
| Mixed MR+AR | 4 (16%) | 4 (50%) | 0 | |
| Mixed MS+TR | 4 (16%) | 0 | 4 (23.5%) | |
| Mixed MR+MS+TR | 3 (12%) | 1 (13%) | 2 (11.8%) | |
| Mixed MS+TR+AR | 2 (8%) | 2 (25%) | 0 | <0.01* |
| Location of the surgical site | ||||
| Rwanda | 40 (82%) | 12 (92%) | 28 (78%) | |
| Sudan | 6 (12%) | 1 (8%) | 5 (14%) | |
| South Africa | 1 (2%) | 0 | 1 (3%) | |
| India | 2 (4%) | 0 | 2 (6%) | 0.87* |
| Number of valves replacement | n=54 | n=14 | n=40 | |
| 1 | 30 (56%) | 7 (50%) | 23 (58%) | |
| 2 | 22 (41%) | 5 (36%) | 17 (42%) | |
| 3 | 2 (4%) | 2 (14%) | 0 | 1.0* |
| Postoperation | ||||
| Symptoms (NYHA) postoperation | n=53 | n=13 | n=40 | |
| Stage I | 41 (77%) | 11 (85%) | 30 (75%) | |
| Stage II | 10 (19%) | 2 (15%) | 8 (20%) | |
| Stage IV | 2 (4%) | 0 | 2 (5%) | 1.00* |
*Fisher’s exact test.
AR, aortic regurgitation; MR, mitral regurgitation; MS, mitral stenosis; NYHA, New York Heart Association; TR, tricuspid regurgitation.