Evidence of Chagas disease in seronegative Brazilian patients with megaesophagus.
Int J Infect Dis
; 14(11): e974-7, 2010 Nov.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-20833571
BACKGROUND: After 100 years of research, Chagas disease (CD) remains an important public health problem in Latin America. The symptomatic chronic phase is usually characterized by cardiac or digestive involvement and diagnosis currently relies on the measurement of Trypanosoma cruzi-specific antibodies produced in response to the infection. However, the detection of parasite DNA in seronegative persons has been reported. METHODS: The prevalence of CD in a population with esophageal disorders was assessed by conventional serology. We also detected T. cruzi DNA in blood samples of seronegative and inconclusive patients by nested polymerase chain reaction (N-PCR). RESULTS: The seroprevalence of CD determined by conventional serologic tests (indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)) was 79% in 513 patients with esophageal disorders. Out of 41 blood samples, N-PCR was positive in 31 (76%) cases for which serology was negative or inconclusive. CONCLUSIONS: As all patients presented with clinical signs suggestive of the digestive form of CD and most of them were born in endemic areas, we highlight the importance of improving diagnosis of the disease and the implications for blood bank screening. Our data suggest that N-PCR is effective in the detection of T. cruzi DNA in patients with inconclusive or negative serology, and it may eventually be useful in the determination of the etiology of megaesophagus.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Trypanosoma cruzi
/
Acalasia Esofágica
/
Doença de Chagas
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
America do sul
/
Brasil
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Int J Infect Dis
Assunto da revista:
DOENCAS TRANSMISSIVEIS
Ano de publicação:
2010
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Brasil
País de publicação:
Canadá