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[Chagas disease--review of 8 simultaneous cases of acute Chagas myocarditis: 25 years later]
1Instituto de Cardiologia do Rio Grande do Sul, Fundação Universitária de Cardiología, Porto Alegre.
Purpose:
To analyse the evolution of 8 cases of Chagas' disease after a microepidemy of 17 cases which occurred in Teotonia-RS-in 1965 and to discuss the importance of oral contamination in Chagas' disease.
Methods:
All 8 patients are followed at the IC/FUC-RS-Brazil since 1980. Clinical examinations, blood tests, ECG, Cx-Ray and Echo were made in 1991.
Results:
None of the eight cases presented any sign of chronic Chagas' disease manifestation. The blood tests, ECG, Cx-Ray and Echo were normals. Only one case showed a immunofluorescence of 1/20.
Conclusion:
1) The follow-up after 25 years in all the 8 cases did not show clinical alterations or any chronic manifestation of Chagas' disease. All the tests performed had normal results; 2) the oral transmission must be considered definitive in Chagas' disease.