A patient with HIV disease may develop reactivation of a Trypanosoma cruzi infection. Severe disease may be associated with a high mortality rate.
Types of involvement in reactivation disease:
(1) acute meningoencephalitis
(2) T. cruzi brain abscess
(3) acute myocarditis (which may be superimposed on chronic cardiac Chaga’s disease)
(4) skin lesions and/or erythema nodosum
(5) lesions within the abdomen (peritoneum, stomach, intestines)
Features of acute myocarditis:
(1) new arrhythmia
(2) pericardial effusion
(3) acute heart failure
(4) sudden deterioration in existing heart disease
Misdiagnosis is frequent. This may be mistaken for toxoplasmosis, other infectious disease or progression of an existing disorder.
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Specialty: Infectious Diseases
