Academic Editor: Jerome L. Fleg
Background: Chagas cardiomyopathy (CC) increases cardiovascular
mortality associated with congestive heart failure (CHF), ventricular arrhythmias
(VA), and sudden cardiac death (SCD). Different imaging techniques have been
tested to assess disease progression and cardiac risk in individuals with Chagas
disease (ChD). In this systematic review, we evaluated the accuracy in detecting
cardiac complications in CC patients using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and
speckle tracking echocardiography (STE). Methods: A search was done on
PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase for studies in humans over 18 years of age with ChD.
Demographic data, research methodology, imaging parameters, and cardiac outcomes
were extracted, and study quality was assessed, resulting in a narrative
description. Results: Twelve studies with 1124 patients were analyzed.
One study discovered a contractility pattern by STE. Four studies assessed the
identification of Early Cardiac Impairment (ECI) and VA risk, respectively, while
three studies evaluated the risk of SCD. Global Longitudinal Strain (GLS)
identified patients with ECI (–18.5