Clinical assessment, neuroimaging and immunomarkers in Chagas disease study (CLINICS): Rationale, study design and preliminary findings.

ABSTRACT: Chagas disease (CD) is an important cause of cardiomyopathy and stroke in Brazil. Brain infarcts and atrophy seem to occur independently of cardiomyopathy severity and cognitive impairment is understudied.

Objective

Compare the prevalence of brain magnetic resonance imaging abnormalities between patients with or without CD; determine if inflammatory biomarkers are increased in CD; and determine the efficacy of aspirin in reducing the rate of microembolization in these patients.

Methods

500 consecutive patients with heart failure will undergo a structured cognitive evaluation, biomarker collection and search for microembolic signals on transcranial Doppler. The first 90 patients are described, evaluated with cognitive tests and brain magnetic resonance imaging to measure N-ace

SUBMITTER: Oliveira-Filho J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5618967 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jul-Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature