TEMPORAL EVOLUTION OF MORTALITY FROM CARDIOVASCULAR RHEUMATIC DISEASE IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL

Introduction: Rheumatic disease is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular mortality in underdeveloped and developing countries.Improvements in primary health care and access to cardiology services have enabled many patients with rheumatic fever to avoid developing long-term cardiovascular sequelae, receiving specialized follow-up and undergoing early interventions when necessary.Objective: To describe the temporal evolution of deaths from cardiovascular disease in rheumatic diseases in southern Brazil from 2004 to 2023.Methodology: This is an ecological study with data collected from the DA-TASUS platform of the Ministry of Health on deaths from cardiovascular disease caused by rheumatic diseases that occurred in the South region of Brazil from 2004 to 2023, evaluated by year of occurrence, state, sex, and age group.Results: CRD claimed 4,987 lives in the period analyzed, with 55% of these deaths occurring between 2004 and 2013.The state of Paran accounted for the absolute majority in the two decades evaluated, followed by Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina.In both decades, Paran was the state with the most deaths, followed by Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, respectively.A linear downward trend was observed in the number of deaths in Paran, while in the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul there was an upward trend in the number of deaths from 2004 to 2023.Women accounted for 62.5% of the total number of victims in the period, being the most affected gender in all three states.In PR, there was a reduction in female mortality, which was not found in RS and SC.Regarding men, there was a reduction in deaths in the states of PR and SC, while in RS there was an increase between the decades.The age group with the highest number of deaths was 60-69 years, followed by 50-59 years and the population over 80 years.In PR and SC, the most affected age group was 60-69 years, while in