Comparison of outcome between Chagas cardiomyopathy and idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy

Little is known about the outcome of patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy in comparison to that of patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy in the contemporary era. To compare the outcome of chagasic patients with chronic systolic heart failure secondary to Chagas cardiomyopathy with that observed in patients with IDC in the contemporary era. A total of 352 patients (246 with Chagas cardiomyopathy, 106 with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy) prospectively followed at our Institution from January, 2000 to January, 2008 were included. All patients received standard contemporary medical therapy. In Cox proportional hazards model multivariate analysis, digoxin use (Hazard Ratio=3.17; 95% Confidence Interval 1.62 to 6.18; p=0.001), need of inotropic support (Hazard Ratio=2.08; 95% Confidence Interval 1.43 to 3.02; p