RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Parasite persistence after acute infection with Trypanosoma cruzi is an important factor in the development of Chagas disease (CD) cardiomyopathy. Few studies have investigated the clinical effectiveness of CD treatment through the evaluation of cardiological events by long term follow-up of treated children. Cardiological evaluation in children is challenging since features that would be diagnosed as abnormal in an adult's ECG may be normal, age-related findings in a pediatric ECG trace. The objective was to evaluate cardiac involvement in patients with Chagas disease with a minimum follow-up of 6 years post-treatment. METHODOLOGY: A descriptive study of a cohort of pediatric patients with CD treated with benznidazole (Bz) or nifurtimox (Nf) was conducted. Children (N = 234) with at least 6 years post CD treatment followed at the Parasitology and Chagas Service, Buenos Aires Children's Hospital (Argentina) were enrolled. By convenience sampling, children who attended a clinical visit between August 2015 and November 2019 were also invited to participate for additional cardiovascular studies like 24-hour Holter monitoring and speckle-tracking 2D echocardiogram (STE). Benznidazole was prescribed in 171 patients and nifurtimox in 63 patients. Baseline parasitemia data was available for 168/234 patients. During the follow-up period, alterations in routine ECG were observed in 11/234 (4.7%, 95% CI [2-7.4%]) patients. In only four patients, with complete right bundle branch block (cRBBB) and left anterior fascicular block (LAFB), ECG alterations were considered probably related to CD. During follow-up, 129/130 (99%) treated patients achieved persistent negative parasitemia by qPCR. Also decrease in T.cruzi antibodies titers was observed in all patients and negative seroconversion occurred in 123/234 (52%) patients. CONCLUSIONS: A low incidence of cardiological lesions related to CD was observed in patients treated early for pediatric CD. This suggests a protective effect of parasiticidal treatment on the development of cardiological lesions and highlights the importance of early treatment of infected children. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04090489.
Assuntos
Cardiologia , Cardiomiopatia Chagásica , Doença de Chagas , Nitroimidazóis , Tripanossomicidas , Trypanosoma cruzi , Adulto , Humanos , Criança , Nifurtimox/uso terapêutico , Parasitemia/epidemiologia , Tripanossomicidas/uso terapêutico , Doença de Chagas/parasitologia , Nitroimidazóis/uso terapêutico , Cardiomiopatia Chagásica/tratamento farmacológico , Cardiomiopatia Chagásica/parasitologiaRESUMO
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Controlled trials for secondary prevention of sudden death--Antiarrhythmics Versus Implantable Defibrillators (AVID), Canadian Implantable Defibrillator Study (CIDS), and Cardiac Arrest Study Hamburg (CASH)--have been published and subanalyses of them provide useful clinical information on the outcome during the follow-up of this population. RECENT FINDINGS: Results from a meta-analysis showed a significant risk reduction (RR) of 25 to 27% of total mortality (P < 0.001) and 50 to 52% of arrhythmic death (P < 0.001). Compared with amiodarone, patients treated with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) in AVID had a maximal benefit in survival when the ejection fraction (EF) was between 20 and 34%. In CIDS, the group of higher risk (older than 70 years, EF less than 3.5%, and New York Heart Association class III-IV) presented a 50% RR of mortality. It has been demonstrated that the imbalance in beta-blocker use cannot explain the better survival in the ICD patients. After 3 years the recurrence of arrhythmia was 64% in the ICD group of the AVID trial. Patients enrolled after an episode of ventricular tachycardia were more likely to have appropriate therapy during follow-up. Older age, lower blood pressure, history of atrial fibrillation, diabetes, congestive heart failure, and prior pacemaker were parameters used for high-risk stratification. Conversely, inducibility of ventricular tachyarrhythmias on electrophysiology did not predict death. SUMMARY: Patients with ICD after ventricular tachyarrhythmias have a 28% RR in total mortality. Individuals with EF between 20 to 34% received the highest benefit with ICD therapy.