Scintigraphy for the detection of myocardial damage in the indeterminate form of Chagas disease.

Background: Non-invasive cardiological methods have been used for the identification of myocardial damage in Chagas disease.

Objective: To verify whether the rest/stress myocardial perfusion scintigraphy is able to identify early myocardial damage in the indeterminate form of Chagas disease.

Methods: Eighteen patients with the indeterminate form of Chagas Disease and the same number of normal controls, paired by sex and age, underwent rest/stress myocardial scintigraphy using sestamibi-99mTc, aiming at detecting early cardiac damage.

Right ventricular wall "ischemia" findings using a dual isotope protocol.

A 74-year-old man with a history of diabetes and arterial hypertension, presented with right ventricular failure, remarkable jugular venous distension, hepatomegaly, and swelling of the lower extremities. He was complaining of atypical chest pain and was referred for an echocardiogram and a myocardial perfusion SPECT imaging study. The echocardiogram showed normal left ventricular function with a dilated right atrium and right ventricle, severe tricuspid regurgitation, pulmonary hypertension, and an atrial septal defect with bidirectional shunt.