Electrocardiogram in Chagas disease

• Published in: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Main Authors: Bruno Oliveira de Figueiredo Brito, Antônio Luiz Pinho Ribeiro
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT)
• Subjects: Chagas disease; Electrocardiogram; Heart failure; Stroke; Death; Prognosis; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0184-2018; https://doaj.org/article/7b60d955abe348ca8fd3f536e8e07be7

Abstract Since the initial descriptions of Chagas cardiomyopathy (ChCM), the electrocardiography has played a key role in patient evaluations. The diagnostic criterion of chronic ChCM is the presence of characteristic electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities in seropositive individuals, regardless of the presence of symptoms. However, these ECG abnormalities are rarely specific to ChCM and, particularly among the elderly, can be caused by other simultaneous cardiomyopathies. ECG abnormalities can predict the occurrence of heart failure, stroke, and even death. Nevertheless, most prognostic studies have included Chagas disease (ChD) populations and, not exclusively, ChCM. Thus, more studies are required to evaluate the efficacy of ECG in predicting reliable prognoses in established chronic ChCM. This review exclusively discusses the role of the 12-lead ECG in the clinical evaluation of chronic ChD.