Frequency of hypertension in patients with chronic Chagas disease and its consequences on the heart: a clinical and pathological study.

BACKGROUND Data from the literature on the frequency of concomitant Chagas disease and hypertension are controversial and, when available, do not mention the consequences of this concomitance in the natural history of either Chagas disease or of hypertension. OBJECTIVE To assess the frequency of concomitant Chagas disease and hypertension and the clinical and anatomopathological consequences of this association. METHODS The cases were selected from necropsies performed in the Department of Pathological Anatomy of Hospital e Maternidade Celso Pierrô of Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas and divided into three groups: CH + SH group, of patients with Chagas disease plus hypertension; CH group, of patients with Chagas disease without hypertension; and SH group, of patients with hypertension without Chagas disease. The variables of gender, age, race, clinical forms of Chagas disease, and electrocardiographic and anatomopathological findings were statistically analyzed. RESULTS In this assessment, a total of 101 (2.9%) cases of patients with Chagas disease was found, and 33 (32.7%) of them also had hypertension. A slight predominance of the male gender was observed; racial distribution and mean age were similar in the three groups. Severe hypertension was not frequently found among chagasic patients. When present, hypertension did not change the clinical and anatomopathological findings compatible with Chagas disease. CONCLUSION The frequency of hypertension in chagasic patients was similar to that observed in the general population. Hypertension, when present in chagasic patients, occurred in those with a higher mean age. The concomitance of hypertension and Chagas disease did not change the natural history of either one of the two diseases.