title: Ventricular function in Chagas' heart disease.
abstract: Invasive and noninvasive methods used to evaluate ventricular function in Chagas's disease are reviewed. The traditional indices of overall ventricular performance reflect the interaction of preload, contractility, afterload and heart rate. Therefore, they are unable to distinguish changes in contractility from modifications of loading conditions. The role of ventricular function as a predictor of mortality in chronic Chagas' heart disease is discussed. Ventricular function abnormalities in patients with indeterminate and digestive forms of Chagas' disease are especially emphasized. Finally, the evidence of early impairment of diastolic performance in digestive forms of Chagas' disease are especially emphasized. Finally, the evidence of early impairment of diastolic performance in patients with Chagas' disease is presented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Maciel
authors.forename: O C
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: de Almeida Filho
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Marin-Neto
mesh_terms: D002598:Chagas Cardiomyopathy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006334:Heart Function Tests; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D016276:Ventricular Function / Q000502:physiology*; D017725:Ventricular Pressure