TY - JOUR
T1 - Chronic Chagas disease with advanced cardiac complications in Japan
T2 - Case report and literature review
AU - Imai, Kazuo
AU - Maeda, Takuya
AU - Sayama, Yusuke
AU - Osa, Morichika
AU - Mikita, Kei
AU - Kurane, Ichiro
AU - Miyahira, Yasushi
AU - Kawana, Akihiko
AU - Miura, Sachio
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was partly supported by a grant for Research on Regulatory Science of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan ( H23-iyaku-ippan-003 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
PY - 2015/10/1
Y1 - 2015/10/1
N2 - Due to the unprecedented recent increases in global migration, Chagas disease has become a global health threat and its epidemiology has drastically changed. Here we describe the first case in Japan of benznidazole treatment for chronic Chagas disease characterized by advanced cardiac complications. A 55-year-old Japanese-Brazilian woman who had previously presented with chronic heart failure was diagnosed as having Chagas disease and treated with benznidazole to prevent aggravation of her cardiac complications. However, benznidazole administration was stopped on day 56 due to severe drug-induced peripheral neuritis. Sixteen months later, her serologic test for Trypanosoma cruzi is still positive and she is being followed regularly by cardiology. Despite an estimated prevalence of over 4000 cases in Japan, only a few cases of Chagas disease have been reported. A Medline search revealed only 7 cases identified between 1995 and 2014 in Japan: in 6 cases, complications of chronic Chagas disease were apparent at the time of presentation, and sudden death occurred in 2 of these cases due to cardiac complications. This clinical case and literature review re-emphasize the urgent need to establish a surveillance network and improve the diagnostic methods and treatment framework for Chagas disease in Japan.
AB - Due to the unprecedented recent increases in global migration, Chagas disease has become a global health threat and its epidemiology has drastically changed. Here we describe the first case in Japan of benznidazole treatment for chronic Chagas disease characterized by advanced cardiac complications. A 55-year-old Japanese-Brazilian woman who had previously presented with chronic heart failure was diagnosed as having Chagas disease and treated with benznidazole to prevent aggravation of her cardiac complications. However, benznidazole administration was stopped on day 56 due to severe drug-induced peripheral neuritis. Sixteen months later, her serologic test for Trypanosoma cruzi is still positive and she is being followed regularly by cardiology. Despite an estimated prevalence of over 4000 cases in Japan, only a few cases of Chagas disease have been reported. A Medline search revealed only 7 cases identified between 1995 and 2014 in Japan: in 6 cases, complications of chronic Chagas disease were apparent at the time of presentation, and sudden death occurred in 2 of these cases due to cardiac complications. This clinical case and literature review re-emphasize the urgent need to establish a surveillance network and improve the diagnostic methods and treatment framework for Chagas disease in Japan.
KW - Benznidazole
KW - Chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy
KW - Migrant
KW - Peripheral neuritis
KW - Trypanosoma cruzi
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U2 - 10.1016/j.parint.2015.02.005
DO - 10.1016/j.parint.2015.02.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 25744336
AN - SCOPUS:84924601241
SN - 1383-5769
VL - 64
SP - 240
EP - 242
JO - Parasitology International
JF - Parasitology International
IS - 5
ER -
