clinicaltrials.org Identifier: NCT02432885.

BackgroundChagas’ heart disease is an important public health problem in South America. Several aspects of the pathogenesis are not fully understood, especially in its subclinical phases. On pathology Chagas’ heart disease is characterized by chronic myocardial inflammation and extensive myocardial fibrosis. The latter has also been demonstrated by late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). In three clinical phases of this disease, we sought to investigate the presence of LGE, myocardial increase in signal intensity in T2-weighted images (T2W) and in T1-weighted myocardial early gadolinium enhancement (MEGE), previously described CMR surrogates for myocardial fibrosis, myocardial edema and hyperemia, respectively.MethodsFifty-four patients were analyzed. Sixteen patients with the indeterminate phase (IND), seventeen patients with the cardiac phase with no left ventricular systolic dysfunction (CPND), and twenty-one patients with the cardiac phase with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (CPD). All patients underwent 1.5 T CMR scan including LGE, T2W and MEGE image sequences to evaluate myocardial abnormalities.ResultsLate gadolinium enhancement was present in 72.2 % of all patients, in 12.5 % of IND, 94.1 % of the CPND and 100 % of the CPD patients (p < 0.0001). Myocardial increase in signal intensity in T2-weighted images (T2W) was present in 77.8 % of all patients, in 31.3 % of the IND, 94.1 % of the CPND and 100 % of the CPD patients (p < 0.0001). T1-weighted myocardial early gadolinium enhancement (MEGE) was present in 73.8 % of all patients, in 25.0 % of the IND, 92.3 % of the CPND and 94.1 % of the CPD (p < 0.0001). A good correlation between LGE and T2W was observed (r = 0.72, and p < 0.001).ConclusionsIncrease in T2-weighted (T2W) myocardial signal intensity and T1-weighted myocardial early gadolinium enhancement (MEGE) can be detected by CMR in patients throughout all phases of Chagas’ heart disease, including its subclinical presentation (IND). Moreover, those findings were parallel to myocardial fibrosis (LGE) in extent and location and also correlated with the degree of Chagas’ heart disease clinical severity. These findings contribute to further the knowledge on pathophysiology of Chagas’ heart disease, and might have therapeutic and prognostic usefulness in the future.

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BackgroundThere is increasing evidence to suggest that not all individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have equal risk for developing cardiovascular disease. We sought to compare the yield of testing for pre-clinical atherosclerosis with various approaches.Methods98 asymptomatic individuals with T2DM without known coronary artery disease (CAD) were enrolled in a prospective study and underwent carotid ultrasound, exercise treadmill testing (ETT), coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring, and coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA).ResultsOf 98 subjects (average age 55 ± 6, 64 % female), 43 (44 %) had coronary plaque detectable on CTA, and 38 (39 %) had CAC score >0. By CTA, 16 (16 %) had coronary stenosis ≥50 %, including three subjects with CAC = 0. Subjects with coronary plaque had greater prevalence of carotid plaque (58 % vs. 38 %, p = 0.01) and greater carotid intima media thickness (0.80 ± 0.20 mm vs. 0.70 ± 0.11 mm, p = 0.02). Notably, 18 of 55 subjects (33 %) with normal CTA had carotid plaque. Eight subjects had a positive ETT, of whom five had ≥ 50 % coronary stenosis, two had <50 % stenosis, and one had no CAD. Among these tests, CAC scoring had the highest sensitivity and specificity for prediction of CAD.ConclusionAmong asymptomatic subjects with T2DM, a majority (56 %) had no CAD by CTA. When compared to CTA, CAC was the most accurate screening modality for detection of CAD, while ETT and carotid ultrasound were less sensitive and specific. However, 33 % of subjects with normal coronary CTA had carotid plaque, suggesting that screening for carotid plaque might better characterize stroke risk in such patients.