[Anesthetic management for a pregnant woman with Chagas cardiomyopathy]

Chagas disease, or American trypanosomiasis, is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, which is native to the Americas. We report the case of a 35-year-old woman in her 37th week of pregnancy who required a cesarean section after being diagnosed with chronic-stage Chagas disease involving the heart and the digestive system. We discuss the anesthetic technique used, the principal pathophysiologic features of the cardiomyopathy and megaesophagus seen in this disease, and their implications for anesthetic management. We review the different clinical stages of the disease, its diagnosis and treatment, and the main routes of transmission, with special emphasis on the transfusion route in nonendemic areas.