Clinical and morphological characteristics associated with sudden cardiac death in patients with Chagas' disease

The medical records of 24 patients with Chagas disease who died suddenly, between 1982 and 1988, were examined in an attempt to determine the clinical profile of sudden death in Chagas disease. Patient age ranged from 33 to 72 years (average: 51). Seventeen (70%) were male. Five (20%) were asymptoma...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:European heart journal 1993-12, Vol.14 (12), p.1610-1614
Main Authors: BESTETTI, R. B., FREITAS, O. C., MUCCILLO, G., OLIVEIRA, J. S. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Arrhythmias, Cardiac - etiology
Biological and medical sciences
Cardiac Complexes, Premature - etiology
Chagas Cardiomyopathy - complications
Chagas Cardiomyopathy - diagnosis
Chagas Cardiomyopathy - pathology
Chagas' cardiomyopathy
Death, Sudden, Cardiac - etiology
Dyspnea - etiology
Electrocardiography
Female
Heart Aneurysm - etiology
Heart Block - etiology
Human protozoal diseases
Humans
Infectious diseases
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Parasitic diseases
Protozoal diseases
sudden death
Trypanosomiasis
Trypanosomiasis (South American)
ventricular aneurysm
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The medical records of 24 patients with Chagas disease who died suddenly, between 1982 and 1988, were examined in an attempt to determine the clinical profile of sudden death in Chagas disease. Patient age ranged from 33 to 72 years (average: 51). Seventeen (70%) were male. Five (20%) were asymptomatic. Dyspnoea at rest was observed in 16 (66%) and palpitations in eight (33%). On physical examination, arrhythmias were observed in 14 (58%), ankle swelling in 13 (54%) and liver enlargement in 12 (50%) patients. Twenty-three (95%) patients had an abnormal resting electrocardiogram: ventricular premature contractions were observed in 19 patients (79%) and a left anterior fascicular block in 14 (58%). The chest X-ray revealed cardiomegaly in 20 patients (82%), which was moderate in three (13%) and severe in 11 (45%). At autopsy, mean heart weight was 496 g. Dilatation of all cardiac chambers was detected in 22 (91%), and apical aneurysm in 19 (79%) patients. When compared with symptomatic patients, asymptomatic patients with Chagas disease had a higher frequency of normal physical examination (3/5 vs 1/19, P
ISSN:0195-668X
1522-9645
DOI:10.1093/eurheartj/14.12.1610