Asymptomatic coronary artery disease in chagasic patients with heart failure: prevalence and risk factors .

BACKGROUND Concomitant asymptomatic coronary artery disease in patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy in heart failure is controversial in the medical literature, as both diseases are prevalent in some regions of Brazil. OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of coronary artery disease (lesions > 50%) in a specific population of patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy in HF functional class III and IV, who had no previous coronary events. METHODS Coronary angiography was performed in 61 consecutive patients with Chagasic cardiomyopathy, in heart failure functional class III and IV, to exclude coronary artery disease. These patients were part of the Cell Therapy Study in Heart Diseases protocol, which required the coronary angiography to be carried out before stem cells were injected. Risk factors for atherosclerosis also analyzed in this population were: age, arterial hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, smoking and overweight. RESULTS mean age was 51.6 + 9.6 years and 65.5% (n = 40) of them were males. The prevalence of coronary disease in this population was 1.6% (1). The prevalence of risk factors were: arterial hypertension 18% (11), smoking 59% (36), diabetes 1.6% (1) and dyslipidemia, 6.5% (4). CONCLUSION The prevalence of asymptomatic coronary artery disease in patients with severe heart failure due to Chagas disease is low and among the risk factors for coronary heart disease, smoking was the most prevalent.