Human African trypanosomiasis & heart

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Human African Trypanosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease resulting from the infection with the parasite Trypanosoma brucei. Neurological compromise often dominates, and the impact of cardiovascular involvement has not been fully investigated. Recently, publications indicate that cardiovascular compromise is more frequent than previously thought. Early detection of cardiac complications may be of utmost importance for healthcare teams.

Area covered

As a part of the ‘Neglected Tropical Diseases and other Infectious Diseases involving the Heart’ (the NET-Heart Project), the purpose of this article is to review all the information available regarding cardiovascular implications of this disease, focusing on diagnosis and treatment, and proposing strategies for early detection of cardiac manifestations. An electronic systematic literature review of articles published in MEDLINE, PubMed and EMBASE was performed. From 50 initial studies, 18 were selected according to inclusion criteria. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement was used for conducting and reporting this review.

Expert opinion

Cardiovascular compromise through infiltrative and inflammatory mechanisms seems to be frequent, and includes a wide spectrum of severity. Conventional 12-lead electrocardiogram could be a useful test for screening cardiovascular manifestations and used as a guide for considering specific treatments or more sophisticated diagnostic tools.

KEYWORDS:

• African trypanosomiasis
• cardiovascular diseases
• global disease patterns
• heart
• neglected diseases

Article highlights

• Despite control and surveillance activities, Human African Trypanosomiasis is still endemic in tropical-subtropical regions of the African Continent

• Cardiovascular manifestations may be obscured by rapid neurological deterioration, and have not been studied in depth until recently

• Cardiovascular involvement is more frequent than previously thought, and can aggravate the clinical course of patients in specific situations

• Strategies for early detection and treatment of cardiovascular complications can reduce the burden of this disease

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.