Right-Sided Cardiac Thrombosis and Pulmonary Thromboembolism in Chronic Chagas Disease: A Review of Clinical Features and Post-Mortem Examination

Pulmonary thromboembolism (PE) is a potential major complication in patients with chronic Chagas heart disease (CChD). The source of PE is the right-sided chambers instead of deep vein thrombosis. Little is known regarding risk factors, clinical picture, and the clinical course of patients with PE secondary to CChD. The aim of this review was to try to provide doctors with such data. We searched for papers related to PE in CChD patients in the PUBMED from 1955 to 2020. Twenty-six manuscripts were retrieved, of which 12 fulfilled entry criteria and were included in the study. Right-sided cardiac thrombosis or PE was confirmed on morphological or imaging studies. A total of 431 patients with PE were reported. Age varied from 30 to 85 years. About 332 patients were reported to have chronic heart failure (CHF), whereas 41 (9%) sudden cardiac death (SCD) at autopsy. Clinical manifestations reported were sudden onset dyspnea was found in 1 patient, haemoptysis in 2, worsening CHF in 2, and chest pain in 1. An X-ray chest was reported for 6 patients: abnormalities consistent with PE were found in 3. The resting electrocardiogram (ECG) was reported for 5 patients: it was abnormal in all. One study reported a mean left ventricular ejection fraction of 42.1 ± 18.7%. The prevalence of right-sided cardiac thrombosis varied from 66% to 85% patients. PE was the cause of death in 17% of patients. The clinical diagnosis of PE in patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy (ChCM) is very difficult in the absence of a prediction score that performs well. However, in the presence of haemoptysis or worsening heart failure (HF), abnormal ECG, or chest X-ray, the diagnosis of PE should be raised, and patients promptly referred to detailed Doppler Tissue Echocardiography and computed tomography angiography, and treated in a timely manner.