title: Post-cardiac transplant reactivation of Chagas' disease diagnosed by skin biopsy.
abstract: Reactivation of Chagas' disease in immuno-compromised hosts may represent a recognizable clinical syndrome that can be diagnosed by examination of skin biopsy specimens of characteristic lesions resembling ordinary bacterial cellulitis. This syndrome appears to result in significant morbidity, which can be avoided with the institution of prophylactic therapy for Chagas' disease. An awareness of this complication of immunosuppression is of paramount importance for the thousands of asymptomatic persons infected with Chagas' disease currently living in the United States and abroad.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, New York, New York 10032.
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Libow
authors.forename: V P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Beltrani
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Silvers
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Grossman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000977:Antiparasitic Agents; D001706:Biopsy; D002481:Cellulitis / Q000473:pathology; D002598:Chagas Cardiomyopathy / Q000601:surgery; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007868:Leg Dermatoses / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009547:Nifurtimox / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012008:Recurrence; D012876:Skin Diseases, Parasitic / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000977:Antiparasitic Agents; D009547:Nifurtimox