14th International Congress
THE "NEW FRONTIERS"
OF ARRHYTHMIAS 2000

Jan. 29 - Feb. 5, 2000
Marilleva, Trento, Italy

RT-127

Ventricular tachycardia in Chagas’ heart disease

Ivan Mendoza, Federico Moleiro, Juan Marques, Francesca Misticchio, Alvaro Matheus, Freddy Rodríguez, Ivan Mendoza Britto, Julio Guerrero, Agustin Castellanos.
Section of Cardiology, Tropical Medicine Institute, Central University of Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela, Memorial Hospital, University of Miami, Miami, USA

Chagas’ heart disease as a problem of public healt

American trypanosomiasis or chagas’ disease, first described in 1909 by Carlos Chagas who also discovered its aetiological agent and mode of transmission, is a disabling and potentially lethal disease¹. It is caused by the flagellate parasite trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan harbores by a variety of domestic and wild animals¹. The insect vectors of the disease are present throughout most South and Central America, and their zone of distribution extend across the southern United States, where at least some of these vectors are infected with trypanozoma^2,3. Charles Darwin probably contracted the disease during his expedition to South America, as suggested by his description of the “benchuca” sting and the nature of his late life symptoms⁴. Although the true prevalence of Chagas’ heart disease is unknown, these rough estimates indicate that in Latin America, 20 million people are thought to have Chagas’ disease and 90 million are considered to be at risk of infection². It is the most common cause of dilated cardiomyopatly in countries where the disease is endemic^5,6.