Strept throat is one of those things that we all get at least once in our lives. I, for one, have had it several times. Not a big deal right? One just goes to the doctor for antibiotics and that's that. Did you know that antibiotics that one is prescribed for strept throat are not actually for your throat but to protect your heart? Left untreated, the group A streptococcus virus can cause inflammation of the kidneys and rheumatic fever leading to joint pain and potentially damage to the valves of the heart. That is what happened to Digna. Digna is a twenty-one year old woman who had untreated strept throat at one time. It had infected the mitral valve of her heart causing it to narrow significantly. This narrowing of the mitral valve causes increased pressure in the heart which in turn, has caused Digna's heart to enlarge significantly. Digna's enlarged heart Upon coming into our clinic abo...