Most of the disability and deaths from Chagas disease result from chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy, a condition that develops in approximately 20-30% of individuals infected with T. cruzi.
The cardiac complications are the most severe and are characterized by arrhythmias, aneurysms and heart failure. Sudden death as a result of ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation accounts for two-thirds of the deaths from Chagas disease, followed by heart failure and thromboembolism.
Some studies have revealed a higher prevalence of Chagas disease and chronic Chagasic cardiomyopathy in women relative to men, while large numbers of patients with Chagasic cardiomyopathy are first infected as children.
