Absence of Nocturnal Fall in Blood Pressure Detected by Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring in Acute Chagas Disease Patients with Oral Infection

Background The involvement of the autonomic nervous system is one of the mechanisms proposed to explain the progression of myocardial lesion in Chagas disease. Evidences have shown changes in sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system since the acute phase of the disease, and studies to clarify the pathophysiological and prognostic value of these changes are needed. Objetives To assess blood pressure profile by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) in normotensive patients with acute Chagas disease (ACD) without apparent cardiac damage, and the influence of the infection on nocturnal blood pressure fall. Methods ABPM was performed with 54 patients with ACD and a control group composed of 54 age- and sex-matched normotensive individuals. The alpha level of significance (type I error rate) was set at 5%. Results In the total of 54 patients, 74.0% did not show nocturnal fall in systolic blood pressure, 53.7% did not show nocturnal fall in diastolic blood pressure, and lack of both nocturnal fall in SBP and DBP was observed in 51.8% (*p