de Figueiredo Brito BO, et al. - In a large cohort of patients with Chagas disease from an endemic area, researchers assessed baseline electrocardiograms and tried to establish a link between the number of electrocardiogram alterations and high levels of NT-ProBNP in Chagas disease patients. A total of 1,959 Chagas disease patients were examined; 1,084 of them had Chagas cardiomyopathy. In 11.7% of this population, heart failure was suggested by NT-proBNP levels. One or more electrocardiographic alterations had an odds ratio of 9.12 to have NT-proBNP elevation. Men vs women were found to have more major ECG abnormalities. An independent association of the presence and the number of typical electrocardiographic alterations of Chagas disease with the severity of the cardiomyopathy was seen.