Novel Physiotherapies in the Setting of Chagas Heart Disease: A Summarized Review of Functional Evaluation

Abstract

Introduction: Chagas disease remains a public health problem in Latin America and currently in non-endemic countries. The cardiac form is the most severe and exercise training has been shown to be effective in the treatment of these patients. However, a review of the clinical findings of pre-training assessment is necessary to guide the exercise prescription. Objective: to describe the cycle of the disease and the physiotherapeutic evaluation and of patients with Chagas disease, focusing on the patient with cardiopathy.Methods: a literature search in MEDLINE/Pubmed, Scientific Electronic Library Online, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature and Web of Science databases performed between November 2017 and January 2018.Results: In the anamnesis, drug therapy and functional class of the New York Heart Association should be investigated. In the maximum exercise testing, the presence of ventricular arrhythmias, the peak of oxygen uptake and the slope of increase of ventilation relative to carbondioxide production may assist in the functional evaluation, risk stratification and prognosis establishment. Field tests, such as the Six-Minute Walk Test and Incremental Shuttle Walk Test, are inexpensive and effective in functional assessment. Respiratory evaluation has received special attention in recent years by the prevalence of inspiratory muscle weakness. Finally, quality of life is a crucial point in the evaluation of the chagasic patient, mainly due to the stigmatizing nature of the disease.Conclusion: The peculiarities of Chagas heart disease should be taken into account in the functional evaluation of the patient and plays a key role in the exercise prescription before physical training.