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Enfermedad de Chagas - Treatment

Nombres alternativos

Tripanosomiasis americana

Tratamiento:

Se debe tratar la fase aguda y la enfermedad de Chagas reactivada. Asimismo, se debe tratar a los niños nacidos con la infección.

El tratamiento de la fase crónica generalmente se recomienda tanto para niños como para adultos. Los pacientes adultos deben decidir con su médico si se trata la enfermedad de Chagas crónica.

Se usan dos fármacos para tratar esta infección: benznidazol y nifurtimox.

Ambos fármacos tienen a menudo efectos secundarios, los cuales pueden empeorar en las personas mayores.

Los efectos secundarios pueden abarcar:

  • Dolores de cabeza y vértigo
  • Inapetencia y pérdida de peso
  • Neuropatía
  • Problemas para dormir
  • Erupciones cutáneas

Expectativas (pronóstico):

Alrededor del 30% de las personas infectadas que no reciben tratamiento desarrollarán enfermedad de Chagas sintomática o crónica. Pueden pasar más de 20 años desde el momento de la infección original para que se presenten problemas cardíacos o digestivos.

Los ritmos cardíacos anormales (arritmias, taquicardia ventricular) puede causar la muerte súbita. Una vez que se desarrolla la insuficiencia cardíaca, la muerte generalmente ocurre al cabo de algunos años.

Complicaciones:

  • Miocardiopatía
  • Agrandamiento del colon (megacolon)
  • Agrandamiento del esófago (megaesófago) con dificultad para deglutir
  • Cardiopatía
  • Insuficiencia cardíaca
  • Desnutrición

Situaciones que requieren asistencia médica:

Solicite una cita con el médico si hay posibilidades de que esté infectado con la enfermedad de Chagas.

  • Reviewed last on: 9/15/2010
  • David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc., and Jatin M. Vyas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital.

Referencias

Kirchhoff LV. Trypanosoma species (American trypanosomiasis, Chagas' disease): Biology of trypanosomes. In: Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R, eds. Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone; 2009:chap 277.

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