What does Chagas disease do to the heart?

Early in the disease course, chronic Chagas heart disease can be clinically silent but can progress to dilated cardiomyopathy with heart failure, ventricular arrhythmias and conduction disturbances, stroke, and other systemic or pulmonary embolisms.

What does Chagas do to the heart?

Chagas cardiomyopathy represents the most frequent and serious complication of chronic Chagas disease, affecting about 20-30% of patients, potentially leading to heart failure, arrhythmias, thromboembolism, stroke and sudden death.

What are the symptoms of Chagas cardiomyopathy?

Conduction system disturbances, atrial and ventricular arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, systemic and pulmonary thromboembolism and sudden cardiac death are the most common clinical manifestations of chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy.

What organ does Chagas disease affect?

Also called American trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease can infect anyone. Left untreated, Chagas disease later can cause serious heart and digestive problems.

What type of cardiomyopathy does Chagas cause?

Chagas disease (CD) is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan parasite that can cause acute myopericarditis as well as chronic fibrosing cardiomyopathy.

Chagas disease: seen from the heart

What are EKG findings typical of Chagas cardiomyopathy?

The earliest manifestations are usually conduction system abnormalities, usually right bundle branch block and/or left anterior fascicular block. Other early changes may include segmental left ventricular wall motion abnormalities.

What is the major concern for chronic Chagas disease patients?

In later years the infection in those patients can cause the destruction of the heart muscle and nervous system, consequent cardiac arrhythmias or progressive heart failure and sudden death.

How fatal is Chagas disease?

Chagas disease (T. cruzi infection) is also referred to as American trypanosomiasis. It is estimated that as many as 8 million people in Mexico, Central America, and South America have Chagas disease, most of whom do not know they are infected. If untreated, infection is lifelong and can be life threatening.

What parasite attacks the heart?

Protozoa and helminths are two parasites groups known to be pathogenic to the human heart. Trypanosoma cruzi, Trypanosoma brucei, toxoplasma, plasmodium and Leishmania are the most frequent protozoa that can establish infections in human resulting in a wide spectrum of cardiac manifestations.

How do doctors test for Chagas?

The diagnosis of Chagas disease can be made by observation of the parasite in a blood smear by microscopic examination. A thick and thin blood smear are made and stained for visualization of parasites.

What are 4 signs of cardiomyopathy?

What is the prognosis of Chagas disease?

Many people may remain asymptomatic for life and never develop Chagas-related symptoms. However, an estimated 20–30% of infected people will develop severe and sometimes life-threatening medical problems over the course of their lives. A dilated esophagus or colon, leading to difficulties with eating or passing stool.

What is chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy?

Parasite-dependent inflammation and myocardial damage - Chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy is an acquired cardiomyopathy characterised by sparse inflammatory infiltrates, minimal parasitaemia, low-grade tissue parasitism, and intense and extensive reparative and reactive fibrosis (Rossi 1991).

What is the mortality rate of Chagas?

Chagas disease causes approximately 10,000 deaths per year globally. Up to 30% of infected people develop symptoms. Chagas disease can cause: Stroke.

What are the symptoms of heart parasites in humans?

Which parasite causes most deaths?

Of all parasitic diseases, malaria causes the most deaths globally. Malaria kills more than 400,000 people each year, most of them young children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Can parasites move to your heart?

Some parasites may directly or indirectly affect various anatomical structures of the heart, with infections manifested as myocarditis, pericarditis, pancarditis, or pulmonary hypertension.

Does Chagas affect the brain?

The involvement of the central nervous system (CNS) during human acute and chronic Chagas disease (CD) has been largely reported. Meningoencephalitis is a frequent finding during the acute infection, while during chronic phase the CNS involvement is often accompanied by behavioral and cognitive impairments.

What are the neurological symptoms of Chagas disease?

In the chronic phase, it presents as neuritis that results in altered tendon reflexes and sensory impairment, and is reported in up to 10% of the patients. Isolated cases of central nervous system involvement can also include dementia, confusion, chronic encephalopathy and sensitive and motor deficits.

How common is Chagas disease in USA?

More than 5 million people worldwide have Chagas disease. In the United States, there are estimated to be at least 300,000 cases of chronic Chagas disease among people originally from countries of Latin America where Chagas disease is endemic.

What is the most common ECG finding in Chagas disease?

The most frequent ECG alteration was the change of the T wave and ST segment, ranging between 16.6% and 100% (37.86% in our study). The presence of right branch blockage, characteristic of chronic disease, was present only in 5%-25% cases (1.94% in our study).

How do I know if I have structural heart disease?

As structural heart disease progresses, you may have one or more of the following signs and symptoms: Chest pain. Irregular heartbeats. Shortness of breath.

What are ECG signs of infective endocarditis?

On EKG, endocarditis may be characterized by conduction abnormalities, low QRS voltage, ST elevation, heart block, ventricular tachycardia, and supraventricular tachycardia.

Can you cure chronic Chagas?

Once Chagas disease reaches the chronic phase, medications won't cure the disease. But, the drugs may be offered to people younger than age 50 because they may help slow the progression of the disease and its most serious complications.

What are the first signs of a weak heart?