Avaliação vestibular por meio do vídeo Head Impulse Test em pacientes com insuficiência cardíaca

Abstract

Introduction: Heart failure (HF) has a high prevalence, several etiologies and high mortality rates. Vestibular symptoms, secondary to HF, are not commonly studied, but it is known that, in addition to generating physical symptoms, they can lead to impairments in the performance of these patients' social activities. Objective: To verify the association between the findings of the clinical assessment of postural balance, the gain of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR), the self-perception of cardiological and vestibular symptoms with advancing age, in patients with HF. Method: Cross-sectional, analyticaldescriptive, observational, prospective study, structured in two stages: (1) Report of three cases on high-frequency vestibular evaluation in patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy. (2) Clinical and objective assessment of vestibular function in patients with HF, divided by age group. Participated 34 subjects submitted to clinical assessment of postural balance, quality of life questionnaires and vestibular evaluation through the Video Head Impulse Test (vHIT). Results: There was a prevalence of reduced VOR gain in vertical semicircular canals (SCC), as well as some impairment of postural balance in patients with HF, whether Chagasic (study 1), multifactorial or ischemic cardiomyopathies (study 2). In study 2, there was no significant association between VOR gain, self-perception of cardiac and vestibular symptoms with advancing age. However, there was a statistical association of the results of the Unterberger-Fukuda Test with parameters evaluated by vHIT, between age groups. Conclusion: In both studies, there was a predominance of chronic vestibular hypofunction, of peripheral origin, in patients with HF, regardless of age and etiology.