title: New diagnostic serum biomarkers for Chagas disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chagas disease (CD) is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in many regions of Latin America, and its importance has increased in other regions of the world owing to the global migration phenomenon.
  
  
  METHODS
  This article evaluates the application of heart failure, inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers in the clinical management of CD through a detailed review of the medical literature. Through this, the reader is shown that the identification of biomarkers is necessary not only to improve understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease, but also for prognostic stratification and therapeutic monitoring.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The poor prognosis of CD cardiomyopathy when compared with non-inflammatory cardiomyopathies as well as the lack of effective drugs for its treatment elucidates the need for new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. The use of biomarkers in CD may allow us to improve the prognosis and target individuals at higher risk who need more intensive and earlier treatment.
authors.affiliation: University of São Paulo, Heart Institute , Cardiomyopathy Unit, InCor, Av. Enéas C. Aguiar, 44, 05403-000 São Paulo-SP , Brazil +55 11 30695346 fabio.fernandes@incor.usp.br.
authors.forename: Fábio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: João Marcos
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Barbosa-Ferreira
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mady