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Electrocardiographic Characteristics in a Population with High Rates of Seropositivity for Trypanosoma cruzi Infection

This study was conducted in Posse, a rural community in Goiàs, Brazil. Persons were recruited into the study through house-to-house sampling of all houses in the sampled area. Blood samples were collected for seropositivity assessments for Trypanosoma cruzi and an electrocardiogram was assessed using a portable system. The results demonstrate significant differences between seropositive and seronegative persons for electrocardiographic (ECG)–derived traits. Seropositive persons had substantially longer QRS and QT intervals than seronegative persons. The PR interval was significantly different between seropositive and seronegative persons. Conduction abnormalities were observed more frequently in seropositive than seronegative persons. Right bundle branch block, an ECG abnormality typical of Chagas disease, was observed in 15% of seropositive persons compared with less than 1% of seronegative persons. Results indicate that T. cruzi infection and subsequent Chagas disease will continue to be major health problems for the foreseeable future in this typical rural area of Brazil.

Received February 11, 2007. Accepted for publication May 27, 2007.

Acknowledgments: We thank Antonio R.L. Teixeira for his contributions to initiating this project, FIOCRUZ and the Brazilian Ministry of Health for logistical assistance, and the people of Posse for their generous cooperation with this long-term study.

Financial support: This research was supported by grants HL66480 to S. Williams-Blangero and MH59490 to J. Blangero from the National Institutes of Health. This work was conducted in part in facilities constructed with support from the Research Facilities Improvement Program under grant C06 RR017515 from the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health.

^* Address correspondence to S. Williams-Blangero, Department of Genetics, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, PO Box 760549, San Antonio, TX 78245-0549. E-mail: sarah{at}darwin.sfbr.org

Authors’ addresses: S. Williams-Blangero, E. Rainwater, and J. Blangero, Department of Genetics, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, PO Box 760549, San Antonio, TX 78245-0549. T. Magalhaes and R. Corrêa-Oliveira, Centro de Pesquisas Rene Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. J. L. VandeBerg, Department of Genetics, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, PO Box 760549, San Antonio, TX 78245-0549 and Southwest National Primate Research Center, PO Box 760549, San Antonio, TX 78245-0549.