A nationwide contemporary epidemiological portrait of valvular heart diseases

The spectrum of valvular heart diseases (VHDs) has evolved during the past decades in the developed countries. However, there are few epidemiological data on VHD and large contemporary population-based studies are lacking. In this issue of the journal, Andell et al present the findings of a nationwide study in Sweden that includes a population of about 10 million people.1 The authors used nationwide registers to identify all patients with first diagnosis of VHD at Swedish hospitals between 2003 and 2010. The cases diagnosed in the years 2000, 2001 and 2002 were excluded, therefore allowing to estimate the incidence rates of VHDs. The incidence of each VHD was then stratified for age and sex.

Andell et al should be commended for this elegant and important study that provides a contemporary and comprehensive portrait of the epidemiology spectrum of VHD within a large European country.1 Previous epidemiology studies...