title: Reactivation of Chagas Disease in a Patient With Follicular Lymphoma Diagnosed by Means of Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction.
abstract: We report a case of Chagas disease reactivation in a patient with stage IIb follicular lymphoma in the cecum. He was admitted to the hospital with neutropenia and fever. He had a history of right hemicolectomy 6 months earlier and had received the sixth cycle of chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide/doxorubicin/vincristine/prednisone/rituximab. Blood and urine cultures were negative, but the fever persisted. Reactivation of Chagas disease was confirmed by means of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Parasitic load was 577 950 parasite equivalents/mL. The patient began treatment with benznidazole 5 mg/k per day every 12 hours. After 1 month, the qRT-PCR control was undetectable. The patient completed 60 days of treatment and is currently asymptomatic. Trypanosoma cruzi qRT-PCR may become a useful diagnostic method for reactivation of Chagas disease.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Section.
authors.forename: Maria I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Garzón
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology Laboratory.
authors.forename: Ariel G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology Laboratory.
authors.forename: Maria C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Goy
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology Laboratory.
authors.forename: Teresita
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Alvarellos
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Section.
authors.forename: Abel H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Zarate
authors.affiliation: Hematology Section , Hospital Privado Centro Médico de Córdoba , Argentina.
authors.forename: Ana L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Basquiera
authors.affiliation: Hematology Section , Hospital Privado Centro Médico de Córdoba , Argentina.
authors.forename: Juan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Section.
authors.forename: Juan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Caeiro
keywords: chagas disease; immunocompromise; qRT-PCR; reactivation