| dc.description.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. | |
