RESUMO
PURPOSE--To determinate the circadian daily and weekly variations in the incidence of sudden death due to Chagas' disease. METHODS--In 50 chronic chagasic individuals with sudden death due to Chagas' disease and in 473 individuals with natural, not sudden death, we analyzed both the day of the week and the time of the death. Statistical tests were applied to determine the significance of the difference between proportions and averages. RESULTS--For the chagasic group the values indicated a highly significant excess of lethality for the period between 12 and 6pm. The occurrence of the sudden death was the same in the different days of the week for both groups. CONCLUSION--The observed results suggest that the sudden death associated with Chagas' disease has a circadian pattern with a vespertine peak. Weekly variations in the sudden death of chronic chagasic individuals were not detected