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Review
. 2021 Mar;46(2):129-137.
doi: 10.1007/s00059-021-05020-7. Epub 2021 Jan 27.

Neglected cardiovascular diseases and their significance in the Global North

Charle André Viljoen  1   2 , Julian Hoevelmann  1   3 , Elani Muller  1 , Karen Sliwa  4   5
Affiliations
Review

Neglected cardiovascular diseases and their significance in the Global North

Charle André Viljoen et al. Herz. 2021 Mar.

Abstract
in English, German

Due to increasing global migration, the spectrum of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is changing in developed countries. Up to 3% of migrants arriving in Europe have underlying CVD. Despite their high global prevalence, conditions such as rheumatic heart disease, Chagas disease, endomyocardial fibrosis, tuberculous pericarditis, peripartum cardiomyopathy, and pulmonary hypertension are often under-recognized, and, as a result, neglected in industrialized countries. Many of these conditions, and their causes, are often unfamiliar to the health-care providers in host countries. In this review, we summarize the epidemiology, etiology, clinical presentation, diagnostic work-up, and management of neglected CVDs that have an increasing prevalence in the Global North.

Durch die Zunahme der globalen Migration ändert sich auch das Spektrum von kardiovaskulären Erkrankungen im globalen Norden (d. h. in industrialisierten Ländern). Bis zu 3 % der in Europa eintreffenden Migranten weisen kardiovaskuläre Vorerkrankungen auf. Trotz ihrer hohen globalen Prävalenz bleiben kardiovaskuläre Krankheitsbilder wie die rheumatische Herzerkrankung, Chagas-Krankheit, endomyokardiale Fibrose, tuberkulöse Perikarditis, peripartale Kardiomyopathie und pulmonale Hypertonie häufig unerkannt und werden daher in Industrienationen als vernachlässigbar eingestuft. Viele dieser Erkrankungen und ihre Ursachen sind dem Gesundheitswesen im globalen Norden nur unzureichend bekannt. Im vorliegenden Übersichtsartikel werden die Epidemiologie, Ätiologie, klinische Präsentation, Diagnostik und Therapie von häufigen kardiovaskulären Erkrankungen im globalen Süden zusammengefasst, welche aufgrund der zunehmenden Migration und Globalisierung eine zunehmende Prävalenz in der westlichen Welt aufweisen.

Keywords: Chagas disease; Endomyocardial fibrosis; Pulmonary hypertension; Rheumatic heart disease; Tuberculous pericarditis.

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