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Echocardiographic parameters associated with pulmonary congestion in Chagas cardiomyopathy

Marselha Marques Barral1, Maria Carmo Pereira Nunes, Marcia Melo Barbosa

  • 1Postgraduate Course of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. mbarral@terra.com.br

Revista Da Sociedade Brasileira De Medicina Tropical
|June 22, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Pulmonary congestion in Chagas cardiomyopathy often appears mild, despite left ventricular systolic dysfunction. This study found that pulmonary congestion correlates with Doppler echocardiographic measures of both left and right ventricular dysfunction.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Radiology

Background:

  • Chagas cardiomyopathy often presents a discrepancy between pulmonary congestion and cardiomegaly.
  • The underlying mechanisms for this discrepancy, particularly with left ventricular systolic dysfunction, remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the characteristics of pulmonary congestion in Chagas dilated cardiomyopathy.
  • To determine if pulmonary congestion correlates with Doppler echocardiographic parameters.

Main Methods:

  • Studied 55 patients with Chagas dilated cardiomyopathy.
  • Utilized chest X-rays to grade pulmonary congestion and Doppler echocardiography to assess cardiac function.
  • Plasmatic brain natriuretic peptide levels were also obtained.

Main Results:

  • 80% of patients showed mild pulmonary congestion on chest X-rays.
  • Multivariate analysis revealed correlations between pulmonary congestion and left ventricular ejection fraction, right ventricular TEI index, and color M-mode velocity.

Conclusions:

  • Pulmonary venous changes are common but typically mild in Chagas dilated cardiomyopathy.
  • The degree of pulmonary congestion is associated with Doppler-derived left and right ventricular dysfunction and color M-mode velocity.
Abstract

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