Frequency of hypertension in chronic Chagas' disease: retrospective clinical study.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the frequency of hypertension in chagasic patients, as well as its clinical behavior and cardiologic findings.

METHODS

We carried out a retrospective study with 225 patients with chronic Chagas' disease and hypertension (104 males), mean age of 55.1 11.8. These patients were being followed up in the outpatient care clinics from 1984 to 2000. The study assessed the clinical, electrocardiographic, and radiological viewpoints.

RESULTS

Of the 225 hypertensive patients (prevalence = 33.3%), 78 (34.7%) had mild hypertension, 108 (48%) had moderate hypertension, and 39 (17.3%) had severe hypertension. The association of left anterosuperior divisional block and right bundle-branch block occurred in 39 cases (17.3%), and enlargement of the cardiac area on radiological examination occurred in 93 (44.9%) of the 207 cases studied. The undetermined form of Chagas' disease was the most prevalent, 30.2% of the cases, followed by the form associated with conduction disorders in 27.1%, and the isolated form of conduction disorders in 21.3%.

CONCLUSION

Chagasic patients had a frequency of hypertension similar to that of the general population, and the clinical profile of the hypertensive chagasic patients seemed not to differ a lot from that of the chagasic patients.