Chagas’ Disease: Update on Current Diagnosis

Purpose of Review: Chagas’ disease has become an emerging health problem due to increased migration. In the present review, we have summarized the usefulness of non-invasive imaging tools for the diagnosis of cardiac involvement in Chagas’ disease, with emphasis on modern technologies. M-mode, bidimensional (2-D), and three-dimensional (3-D) echocardiographies may allow the evaluation of left ventricular (LV) regional and global contractile function, right ventricle (RV) impairment, evidence of aneurysms and thrombi, and assessment of diastolic function in any stage of the disease. Recent Findings: New modalities such as strain and speckle-tracking imaging have brought non-invasive indices to the understanding of the mechanisms of cardiac dyssynchrony. The assessment of cardiac autonomic denervation using 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (123I-MIBG), LV, and RV systolic function and the study of LV mechanical dyssynchrony by gated cardiac blood pool are available in current nuclear imaging for patients with Chagas’ disease. The findings of myocardial fibrosis by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), mainly in inferolateral regions, are a marker of subclinical involvement and worse prognosis in Chagas’ disease, even in patients with preserved ventricular function. Summary: The detection and quantification of early signs of heart involvement by new technologies should be useful for risk stratification and in the clinical decision process for new therapeutic methods and could improve the natural history of the disease.

Duke Scholars

Author Salvador Borges-Neto Radiology, Nuclear Medicine