We report a case of sudden death from hemopericardium consequent to spontaneous rupture of the right ventricle in a 49-year-old chronic chagasic woman. To our knowledge, this is the third reported case of spontaneous cardiac rupture with chagasic cardiomyopathy. In our case we believe that the thinning of the anterior right ventricular wall, its large ray curvature and the increased ventricular pressure were factors favoring the rupture. There was no infarction and the chronic cardiopathy was significant. It caused the thinning of the rupture region through chronic myocarditis.
Chagas' disease; Sudden death; Chagasic cardiopathy; Cardiac rupture