[Relationship between ventricular arrhythmia and cardiac function in Chagas disease].
OBJECTIVE
It is well established the association between heart failure and arrhythmias in different cardiopathies. There are no studies in Chagas' myocardiopathy that analyze the relation between arrhythmias and left ventricular function.


METHODS
We studied 629 patients with Chagas' disease, divided in 3 groups, according to ejection fraction obtained through echocardiographic study (normal, between 0.64 and 0.45, and below 0.44).


RESULTS
At conventional ECG, the presence of ventricular arrhythmias was respectively in the 3 groups: 15%, 36% and 64%, showing higher incidence when left ventricular function was getting worse.


CONCLUSIONS
Ventricular arrhythmias in Chagas' disease are frequent in patients with normal ejection fraction, and become more intense as ventricular dysfunction progresses.
Barretto
A C
AC
Instituto do Coração do Hospital das Clínicas, FMUSP, São Paulo.
Mady
C
C
Ianni
B M
BM
Arteaga
E
E
Cardoso
R H
RH
da Luz
P L
PL
Pileggi
F
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002598:Chagas Cardiomyopathy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000469:parasitology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D013318:Stroke Volume; D016276:Ventricular Function / Q000502:physiology
Relação entre arritmia ventricular e função cardíaca na doença de Chagas.