Department of Veterinary Integrative Bioscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
J Vet Intern Med. 2019 Jul;33(4):1695-1706. doi: 10.1111/jvim.15516. Epub 2019 May 22.
Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, causes sudden death and chronic heart disease with no currently approved treatment.
To report epidemiologic and select cardiac characteristics associated with T. cruzi infection in dogs presenting to a teaching hospital in Texas.
Three hundred seventy-five client-owned dogs.
A retrospective search of medical records identified dogs tested for T. cruzi antibodies or with histologic T. cruzi parasites. Data retrieved included signalment, location of residence, reported reason for testing, cardiac troponin I (cTnI) concentration, and ECG abnormalities.
Trypanosoma cruzi-infected dogs (N = 63, 16.8%) were significantly younger than negative dogs (N = 312) (mean, 5.9 ± 3.8 versus 7.4 ± 4.0 years; P = .007) with no difference by sex or breed. Ninety-one breeds were tested; the highest percent infected were non-sporting (10/35; 29%) and toy breed (10/42; 24%) groups. The odds of infection were 13 times greater among dogs with an infected housemate or littermate (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.94-50.45; P < .001). Infected dogs were more likely to have ventricular arrhythmias (odds ratio [OR], 2.19; 95% CI, 1.15-4.33, P = .02), combinations of ECG abnormalities (OR, 2.91; 95% CI, 1.37-5.99; P = .004), and cTnI >0.129 ng/mL (ADVIA; OR, 10.71; 95% CI, 1.60-212.21; P = .035).
Dogs infected with T. cruzi were identified in Texas in many breed groups including breeds affected by well-described heart diseases that mimic Chagas disease suggesting a need for increased awareness, including knowledge of when to consider testing.
由原生动物寄生虫克氏锥虫引起的恰加斯病可导致突然死亡和慢性心脏病，目前尚无批准的治疗方法。
报告在德克萨斯州一家教学医院就诊的犬中与克氏锥虫感染相关的流行病学和特定心脏特征。
375 只患犬。
通过对病历的回顾性搜索，确定了接受克氏锥虫抗体检测或有组织学克氏锥虫寄生虫的犬。检索的数据包括年龄、居住地、检测原因、心肌肌钙蛋白 I（cTnI）浓度和心电图异常。
克氏锥虫感染犬（N=63，16.8%）比阴性犬（N=312）年轻（平均 5.9±3.8 岁比 7.4±4.0 岁；P=0.007），但在性别或品种方面无差异。测试了 91 个品种；感染率最高的是非运动犬（10/35；29%）和玩具犬（10/42；24%）群体。与感染的室友或同窝犬相比，感染的可能性增加了 13 倍（95%置信区间[CI]，3.94-50.45；P<0.001）。感染犬更有可能出现室性心律失常（比值比[OR]，2.19；95%CI，1.15-4.33，P=0.02）、心电图异常组合（OR，2.91；95%CI，1.37-5.99；P=0.004）和 cTnI>0.129ng/mL（ADVIA；OR，10.71；95%CI，1.60-212.21；P=0.035）。
在德克萨斯州，发现了来自多个品种的犬感染了克氏锥虫，包括一些已被描述的心脏疾病的品种，这些疾病与恰加斯病类似，这表明需要提高认识，包括了解何时考虑进行检测。
