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[Male sex. Prognostic factor in Chagas' disease]
A C Barretto1, E Arteaga, C Mady
1Instituto do Coração, Hospital das Clínicas, FMUSP.
Insights
Male Chagas
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Epidemiology
Context:
- Chagas' disease affects millions globally, with cardiac involvement being a major concern.
- Understanding sex-based differences in disease progression is crucial for targeted interventions.
- Ventricular dysfunction and arrhythmias significantly impact patient prognosis.
Purpose:
- To investigate potential sex-based disparities in ventricular function and arrhythmia incidence among Chagas' disease patients.
- To determine if male patients exhibit a higher prevalence of cardiac abnormalities.
- To correlate ventricular dysfunction with arrhythmia occurrence in relation to sex.
Summary:
- A study of 631 Chagas' disease patients (329 female, 302 male) analyzed ejection fraction (EF) and ventricular tachycardia incidence.
- Male patients showed a significantly higher frequency of depressed ejection fraction (p < 0.0001).
- Ventricular tachycardia was more common in patients with ventricular dysfunction, irrespective of sex.
Impact:
- Results indicate greater myocardial dysfunction in male Chagas' disease patients.
- This finding may explain the observed worse prognosis in males.
- Highlights the need for sex-specific monitoring and treatment strategies in Chagas' disease management.
Purpose:
To verify if the ventricular function and the incidence of arrhythmias in patients of both sexes could be predominant in male patients with Chagas' disease.
Methods:
Six hundred and thirty one patients were studied, 329 female and 302 male, with age of 10 to 64 years old (mean 40). All patients were submitted to M mode echocardiographic study to analyse the ejection fraction (EF). To verify the importance of the ventricular dysfunction in male and female patients, they were divided according to the EF in three groups: A) normal EF, B) EF between 0.64 and 0.45 and C) EF less than 0.44. The incidence of ventricular tachycardia was analyzed at the stress test or 24h Holter studies.
Results:
The number of patients with depressed EF was more frequent on male patients (p < 0.0001). The incidence of ventricular tachycardia was similar in both sexes, however it was more frequent in patients with ventricular dysfunction.
Conclusion:
Our results show that there are greater myocardial dysfunction on male patients, what could explain the worse prognosis observed on patients of this sex.