The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Sep 2000
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialProgressive chronic Chagas heart disease ten years after treatment with anti-Trypanosoma cruzi nitroderivatives.
A randomized ten-year follow-up study involving 91 Chagas patients and 41 uninfected controls was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of nitroderivative therapy. Anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies were consistently lower one year after treatment than 10 years thereafter (P < 0.001). ⋯ Electrocardiograms recorded a gamut of alterations several-fold more frequent in Chagas patients, regardless of treatment, than in uninfected controls (P < 0.001). These results show that nitroderivative therapy for T. cruzi infections is unsatisfactory and cannot be recommended since it fails to eradicate the parasite or change the progression of heart disease in chronic Chagas patients.