[Prevalence of renal infarcts in autopsies of chronic Chagas disease patients].

Renal infarction (RI) is usually secondary to arterial obstruction due to emboli originating from the heart. Chronic chagasic patients may present cardiac alterations originating from intracavitary thrombi, even without congestive heart failure (CHF). In this study RI incidence was comparatively evaluated in chronic chagasic individuals, in different anatomoclinic forms and in non chagasic individuals. There has been a review on necropsy reports of individuals aged 20 or over. In 259 necropsies, 78 (30.1%) were chagasics, and 19 of them (24.4%) developed RI, while 27 (15.0%) of the non chagasic individuals presented RI. The ages of chagasics with RI were similar to those of non chagasic individuals. A significant prevalence of RI and thrombosis among chronic chagasic individuals has been found. A significantly higher prevalence of RI among chronic chagasics having CHF (52.6%) was observed when they were compared to other forms of chronic Chagas disease and when compared to non chagasic individuals. It was concluded that RI was more frequent in chronic chagasic individuals, specially those who developed CHF, which probably played a role in the renal manifestations and systemic hemodynamic changes in those patients.