Prevalência das arritmias cardíacas em portadoras de doença de Chagas, sem cardiopatia aparente durante e após a gravidez / Prevalence of cardiac arrhythmias during and after pregnancy in women with Chagas' disease without apparent heart disease

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate cardiac arrhythmias during and after pregnancy in women with Chagas' disease without apparent heart disease using dynamic electrocardiography. METHODS: Twenty pregnant women with Chagas' disease without apparent heart disease aged 19 to 42 years (26.96 ± 3.6) and a control group of 20 non-chagasic pregnant patients aged 16 to 34 years (22.5 ± 4.8). The patients were submitted to passive hemagglutination and indirect immunofluorescence for the detection of Trypanosoma cruzi evaluation, and electrocardiography, echocardiography and 24-h dynamic electrocardiography. RESULTS: Supraventricular premature depolarizations were observed in 18 (90 percent) patients and ventricular premature depolarization in 11 (55 percent) patients of both groups during pregnancy. After delivery, supraventricular premature depolarizations were present in 13 (60 percent) chagasic patients and in 16 (89.4 percent) control patients (P<=0.05). Ventricular premature depolarization were observed in 9 (45 percent) chagasic patients and 11 (57.8 percent) control patients. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of ventricular premature depolarization was similar for the chagasic and control groups during and after pregnancy. The incidence of supraventricular premature depolarizations was similar in the two groups during pregnancy, while after delivery a predominance was observed in the control group compared to the chagasic group

Causas básicas de morte em chagásicos idosos / Basic causes of death in elderly chagasic patients

Determinaram-se, ocm bases em dados clínicos e necroscópicos, as causas básicas de morte de 100 chagásicos idosos (grupo A), 100 idosos näo chagásicos (grupo B) e 100 chagásicos näo idosos (grupo C). Em relaçäo a B, o grupo A teve um número significativamente maior de mortes por cardiopatica hagásica crôn e "mega" digestivos e menor de neoplasias malignas. Quando comparado a C, o grupo A teve, em grua significativo, mortalidade maior por enfisema pulmonar e neoplasias malignas e menor por cardiopatia chagásica crônica. Esta causou 26 óbitos súbitos inesperados entre os näo idosos, mas nenhum entre os idosos