Myocardial dysfunction in chagasic patients with no apparent heart disease.

BACKGROUND The Tei index simultaneously evaluates the ventricular systolic and diastolic functions. It has a good correlation with hemodynamic data and has enabled the detection of initial ventricular function alterations of different etiologies. OBJECTIVE To study initial biventricular function alterations in chagasic patients with no apparent heart disease, using the Tei index. METHODS Forty eight individuals were evaluated. Group 1 was comprised of 25 patients diagnosed with Chagas' disease with no apparent heart disease and normal echocardiogram; group 2 was comprised of 23 healthy individuals with negative serological tests for Chagas' disease. RESULTS The Tei index was significantly higher in the group of chagasic patients with no apparent heart disease when compared to that of the control group: left ventricular Tei index (0.48 +/-0.11 vs. 0.36 +/- 0.06, p < 0.001) , right ventricular Tei index (0.34 +/- 0.10 vs. 0.26 +/- 0.07, p = 0.001). The left and right ventricular Tei indexes were considered abnormal in 48% and 28% of the chagasic patients, respectively. CONCLUSION Chagasic patients with no apparent heart disease present early alterations of the right and left ventricles.