Doppler tissue imaging to assess systolic function in Chagas' disease

• Published in: Arquivos brasileiros de cardiologia 2003-01, Vol.80 (1), p.36-40
• Main Authors: Barros, Márcio Vinícius Lins, Ribeiro, Antonio Luiz Pinho, Machado, Fernando Santana, Rocha, Manoel Otávio da Costa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS; Case-Control Studies; Chagas Disease - complications; Chagas Disease - diagnostic imaging; Chagas Disease - physiopathology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Doença de Chagas; Doppler tissular; Echocardiography, Doppler - methods; ecocardiografia; Electrocardiography; Female; Heart Ventricles; Humans; Male; Myocardial Contraction - physiology; Prospective Studies; Systole - physiology; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left - diagnostic imaging; Ventricular Function, Left - physiology
• ISSN: 0066-782X; 1678-4170
• DOI: 10.1590/s0066-782x2003000100004

To assess the usefulness of Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) for evaluating the systolic function of chagasic patients with and without electrocardiographic abnormalities, in comparision with echocardiographic study. We studied 77 patients divided into 3 groups as follows: group 1 - control; group 2 - chagasic patients with normal electrocardiographic findings; and group 3 - chagasic patients with abnormal electrocardiographic findings. The following parameters were assessed: left ventricular dimensions and ejection fraction, left atrial dimensions and diastolic function on echocardiography. Systolic velocity and regional isovolumic contraction time (IVCTr) of the septal, anterior, lateral, posterior and inferior left ventricular walls were assessed on DTI. Left ventricular cavitary dimensions, ejection fraction and DTI systolic wave showed significant differences between groups 1 and 3 and between groups 2 and 3, which were not found between groups 1 and 2. IVCTr allowed a statistically significant discrimination among the 3 groups. DTI allowed discrimination among the different groups assessed, being superior to echocardiography in identifying early abnormalities of contractility, and, therefore, potentially useful for detecting incipient myocardial alterations in chagasic patients with normal electrocardiographic findings.