[Coronary arteriosclerosis and myocardial infarction in chronic Chagas' disease]. / Aterosclerose coronariana e infarto do miocárdio em chagásicos crônicos.

PURPOSE: To evaluate both the frequency of myocardial infarction and coronary atherosclerosis as well as the pathology of the later in necropsied chronic chagasic individuals. METHODS: Systematized gross and light microscopy were performed in hearts, especially at the three main coronary arteries. Eighty-nine hearts were studied, 35 chronic chagasics and 54 nonchagasics, all from males. Statistical tests were used for frequency analysis. RESULTS: Myocardial infarction occurred in 8.6% chagasics and in 7.4% nonchagasics. Coronary atherosclerosis was detected in 71.4% of chagasics and in 74.1% of nonchagasics. Its morphology was similar for both groups and indistinguishable from the classical descriptions of atherosclerosis. There were no cases showing lesions compatible with accelerated coronary atherosclerosis. CONCLUSION: The frequency of myocardial infarction and coronary atherosclerosis was the same for both chagasics and nonchagasic individuals. The morphological findings for the studied arteriopathy were identical for the two considered groups. However, it seems that the frequency of myocardial infarction is higher in chagasics with normal coronary arteries (with or without minimal atherosclerotic lesions), as compared with nonchagasics.

Second recorded case of human infection by Echinococcus oligarthrus.

The paper reviews a previously published case of hydatid disease in the human heart of a Brazilian person who died of tetanus. Based on present knowledge about the distinguishing characteristics of Echinococcus granulosus, E. vogeli, and E. oligarthrus, it was recognized that the infection was due to E. oligarthrus, mainly based the morphologic features of the hooklets of the protoscolex. This is the second human infection due to E. oligarthrus and the first showing wall features of cysts. Therefore, some human infections of polycystic hydatid disease observed outside the range of the bush dog, the only definitive host of E. vogeli (Panama to Northern Argentina), may be due to E. oligarthrus rather than to E. vogeli.