Parasitic cardiomyopathies.

Fifty-one parasitic cardiomyopathies studied for periods ranging from 1 to 14 years were analyzed. In 32 cases chagasic etiology was demonstrated and in 19 cases toxoplasmic etiology. In the chagasic cases the diagnosis was confirmed by serological study and/or xenodiagnosis. In one of these patients an aneurysmatic dilatation of the left ventricular cavity was found. The clinic picture showed cardiac insufficiency and deleterous arrhythmias in 18 of the 32 cases. The rest of the patients had precordial pains. The mortality of the group was 12.5%. In toxoplasmic patients the diagnosis was made by periodical serological study, considering only those cases where concomitant clinical activity and pathological antibody response was demonstrated. In three cases the parasite was recovered from the myocardium and in another from a peripheral gland. The clinical picture in these groups consisted of precordial pain and arrhythmias in 14 cases, and cardiac failure in 13 cases. The mortality rate for the group was 42%.