Cardiovascular Journal of Africa: Vol 32 No 5 (SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021)

CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 32, No 5, September/October 2021 AFRICA 277 The Neglected Tropical Diseases and other Infectious Diseases involving the Heart (the NET-Heart) project is an initiative of the Emerging Leaders section of the Inter-American Society of Cardiology (IASC) whose purpose is to expand knowledge on CV involvement of infectious diseases and to help identify barriers to diagnosis and treatment. 4 This review is part of the NET-Heart project and describes the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of CV manifestations of dengue. An algorithm is also proposed for the detection and treatment of CV complications with dengue. Methods An electronic systematic review of the literature was conducted in PubMed, MEDLINE, Cochrane and Lilacs databases to identify any relevant studies or reviews detailing an association between dengue and CV involvement. The selection of articles was made according to the following criteria: (1) publications issued from 1980 to the present; (2) case series, case reports, clinical trials, systematic reviews and pronouncements of professional associations and scientific societies; (3) human studies; (4) English and Spanish language; and (5) articles referring to CV involvement in dengue. Studies were excluded if the full text was not accessible. The keywords used were chosen according to the MESH terminology: ‘abnormalities, heart’, ‘cardiac’, ‘heart failure’, ‘pericarditis’, ‘pericardium’, ‘endocardium’, ‘conduction disorders’, ‘arrhythmias’, ‘syncope’, ‘blood vessels’, ‘acute stroke’, AND ‘Dengue’. The search was conducted by two blinded authors (DAG and CEGM). First, relevance based on title and abstract was determined. Selected publications were then further reviewed for relevance using the full text. Kappa interobserver was calculated and disagreement was solved by consensus. A secondary search was conducted by reviewing the reference lists of the included articles. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews andMeta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement was used in conducting and reporting this systematic review. 5 Results The study selection flow chart for the different phases of the systematic review is presented in Fig. 2. From a total of 160 studies obtained in the initial search, 28 documents fulfilled the Fig. 1. Global dengue burden, 2014. Adapted from Guzman MG and Harris E. Lancet 2015; 385 : 453–465. 2 Records identified throughout database searching ( n = 163) Records after duplicates removed ( n = 160) Records screened ( n = 160) Full articles assessed for eligibility ( n = 38) Studies included in qualitative synthesis ( n = 28) Articles excluded based on title and abstract ( n = 122) Full articles excluded, due to lack of relevant information ( n = 11) Additional records identified through the search in references ( n = 2) Fig. 2. PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) diagram for the evidence review selection of the literature .