Abstract | PURPOSE OF REVIEW: RECENT FINDINGS: Most people with chronic T. cruzi infection have the intermediate form of disease, but approximately 2% of infected persons will progress to Chagas cardiomyopathy per year. The risk of T. cruzi transmission with liver or kidney transplantation appears to be substantially less than that with heart transplantation. For patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy undergoing heart transplant, a structured clinical and laboratory monitoring protocol is necessary to monitor for T. cruzi reactivation. Recent data indicate that laboratory monitoring of peripheral blood with polymerase chain reaction testing can identify reactivation prior to the occurrence of symptoms and allograft injury. SUMMARY: Transplant clinicians should exercise vigilance in surveillance for Chagas disease in both organ donors and recipients. Although Chagas disease may seem uncommon, it is pervasive in endemic and several nonendemic countries, including the United States and Spain.
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Authors | Evan P Kransdorf, Phillip C Zakowski, Jon A Kobashigawa |
Journal | Current opinion in infectious diseases
(Curr Opin Infect Dis)
Vol. 27
Issue 5
Pg. 418-24
(Oct 2014)
ISSN: 1473-6527 [Electronic] United States |
PMID | 25023742
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
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Topics |
- Chagas Disease
(diagnosis, epidemiology, prevention & control)
- Heart Transplantation
(adverse effects)
- Humans
- Liver Transplantation
(adverse effects)
- Population Surveillance
- Prevalence
- Public Health
- Risk Assessment
- Risk Factors
- Tissue Donors
- Trypanosoma cruzi
(isolation & purification)
- United States
(epidemiology)
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