RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHAGAS-DISEASE IMMUNOREACTIVITY IN PERICARDIAL FLUID AND SURVIVAL OF CHILDREN

Pericardial fluid (PF) obtained at autopsy has been used for the study of fluid pericardium proteins in noninfectious and infectious disease s such as Chagas' disease. The aim of the present study was to determi ne the immunoreactivity to Chagas' disease in PF obtained at autopsy f rom children in an endemic area. A total of 251 autopsy records were s urveyed from the files of the Medical School of Uberaba, Brazil, of ch ildren ranging in age from stillborn to 14 yr who had died between 196 8 and 1992. The reactions for Chagas' disease (immunofluorescence, com plement fixation, and hemagglutination) applied to PF were recorded. T hirty-four children (13.5%) showed positive reactions to Chagas' disea se. The frequency of immunoreactivity was significantly related to age -group distribution (chi(2) = 13.4; P < 0.005). Children with negative PF tests who had died between 1 and 60 days of age presented a median survival time of 13 days; positive children presented a median surviv al time of 4 days (Z = 2.1; P = 0.02). These data indicate that the pr evalence of Chagas' disease is high among pregnant women in southern B razil. In addition, they also suggest that ''anti-trypanosome antibodi es'' detected in PF may be 1 of the indicators of age of infant death and may possibly play a role in the course of the disease in children born from mothers with Chagas' disease.