Image analysis of nucleomegalic cells in Chagas' disease placentitis

Villous stroma nucleomegalic cells harbouring intracytoplasmic parasites are an unusual finding which appears to be restricted to Chagas' disease placentitis. Ploidy analysis of these cells in two cases (twelve nuclei in Case 1 and 26 in Case 2) showed these nuclei to contain quantitatively abnormal DNA. Only a few were diploid, the rest proving to be tetraploid, hypertetraploid and even aneuploid. Little is known about the pathogenesis of these macronuclei. However, since these cells contain large numbers of parasites it is possible that a parasite-induced derangement of the cell cycle at G2 phase may be operative.